Really Wal-Mart do you want to keep customers - UPDATED

[SassyAshley]

I have to admit I am getting really fed up with trying to shop at Wal-Mart. I have multiple locations I can shop at and have on occasion decided certain locations do not meet my needs so I shop else where but it seems like every time I shop at Wal-Mart lately not matter what location there is an issue.

Locally I have one large Superstore, although all of out local Wal-Mart as Superstores this one is quite a bit larger than the rest and used to be the location to shop at. Had the best selection the most helpful staff but not anymore. Now when you go in they never have stock on anything actually looking at their shelves at times you would think the store is closing, it is really actually quite sad I can walk in with a list of 20 items and walk out with 3 because none of the other items were in stock. The employees are ridiculous if you can find one which is a task in it's self they can never help you, the moment you ask them a question they stare at you like a deer in headlights and than tell you they cannot help you and to find another employee, not let me get someone to help you but instead telling me to go and find someone else. As well the last two times I have been into this location and tried on clothes I was told by the person working the change room when I went in "when you are done please make sure all items are hung or re folded properly in the same way they were found before you brought them to change room and when you are done do not just put the clothes on the desk". I am sorry but seriously, I understand they are working retail and not making a high wage but is this not your job if you are working in this department.

Thank last night I went to a different Wal-Mart to do some grocery shopping only to be informed about a month their Price Match Policy has been changed and they will not longer price match a competitors coupon. Now I admit I was one of the lucky ones, mine took RexAll, Coupon Zone so really I did not care about the change that is fine I will just go to RCSS to use my Coupon Zone Coupons, your loss their gain. But it was my understanding as per Wal-Mart's coupon policy they would accept a competitors coupon as a price match as long as the final price of the item was shown on the coupon. Apparently this is no longer their policy if it says the store name on the coupon even if the final price is shown they will not price match the item. Which was fine I told them I would just not take those items, but I was than asked why I thought I could do this and I was very honest, I did it just a couple weeks ago with no issue and I have done it at multiple locations with no issue, but again I said that is fine than I do not want these items.

After the CSM left the cashier than informed me that Wal-Mart has started to crack down on Price Matching and Couponing and it will very soon become a lot harder to do both at any location as Wal-Mart now has a zero tolerance rule for cashiers when it comes to Price Matching and Coupons if they are caught accepting something they should not they will be fired on the spot, no warnings no nothing you are done do not finish your shift just leave. My mom who was shopping with me said that is a bit drastic not to mention by law you must give 3 written warnings to which the cashier replied you don't do your properly you are let go, Wal-Mart is no longer going to tolerate incorrect Price Matches or Coupon use and can do this because they have made their cashiers aware that this is policy. Now I am all for following the rules and double and triple check my price matches and coupons to make sure everything is right. I said to the cashier if I knew this was your policy I would not even tried to do those price matches as I said before I did it recently and have done it at multiple locations before with no issues to which the cashier than said well be prepared for a lot of what we accept and do not accept to change. We now have weekly meetings on the changes being made and as I said zero tolerance so cashiers will not longer take a risk and will just deny it which we are being told is allowed as it is our job on the line. She said every week there are new will accept this but won't accept that and the policy is constantly changing, to which I said well if your policy is constantly changing how is anyone to follow it since from what I have seen the changes are not being made public to which I was told you will find out at cash.

I am really hoping what I was told was wrong and as soon as I can find Wal-Mart's email address they will be getting and email from me. Which will include how horrible their contact me form is on their web site because it only allows 1000 characters, I need more than 1000 characters. But if this cashier was right my days of shopping at Wal-Mart will soon be behind me and RCSS will be getting more of my business because lately they are a lot more Price Matching and Coupon friendly.

As well might as well add this I was very sad to see our local Wal-Mart still has tons of Christmas stuff but none of it is marked down. All of the holiday kits are still full price, Christmas Baggies are more expensive than regular baggies. It is after Christmas mark it down and literally every where you go there is still Christmas stuff at full price.

Please note these are my experiences and I know others have wonderful experiences at Wal-Mart, I am just saying I have not recently and this goes back as far as October/November having issues. I was willing to accept that maybe it was the holiday season but for me personally it is not getting any better.

**UPDATE**
I sent an email to Wal-Mart asking for clarification back, this is response I got back regarding my Price Match being denied

As of the ****** store we apologize that your coupon was refused but our Ad-Match policy states that we will match the advertised price of any competitor for any identical product but it is
not applicable to clearance sales, combination promotions,double or triple coupons, after-sale rebate offers, preferred customer discounts, or random discounts.
We have forwarded that off to the correct department and as I said if a call back is required please respond with your phone number.

I have now emailed Wal-Mart back including a photo of the Price Match I was denied asking for an answer in writing to tell me if in future I should be able to make this price match or not. Also explaining to them but I do not want surprises when I get to cash as I live on a budget and do not want to be forced to leave a portion of my groceries at cash due to "New Polices" that apparently their customers are not being made aware of until at cash according to my store at least.

I will update again once I hear back.

[Frugal Lisa]

The only reason I will shop at walmart is if I have an overage coupon. Other than that I have no reason to go there. I always leave mad and never get what I went in for because of poor stock. The biggest problem with walmart is that they never have enough floor staff and the staff they do have is always crabby.

Target and and rcss get my money over walmart any day.

[Natalka]

It is very rare that we ever enter a WM.

Vote with your feet and just shop elsewhere.

[beckie.c]

OP sounds like your experiences have been super frustrating, I'd have given up a long time ago if that was what I had experienced. I avoid Walmart as much as possible but do end up purchasing most of my toiletries there. I like supporting places with awesome customer service (like our Coop Marketplace) and that pay their staff well. If the cashier was telling the truth, they really aren't treating there staff all that well with this "No-tolerance" policy. I'd definitely be switching stores to somewhere that valued my business

[Tweets77]

I too hate Walmart! I stay away from those stores as much as possible.

[Decaf]

Everytime I use a coupon, cashier act like they've never seen a coupon in their lives. I almost lost it last time using a coupon there, cashier ran to customer service, line is really long so I followed her there to try speed things up.

Cashier: Is it okay accept this coupon?
CS: NO, it's a rebate
Me: No it's not
CS: Yes, you have to mail to the address on the coupon
Me: The address on the coupon is To Retailer... P.O. Box 3000 Saint John...is the standard address for coupon, not rebate. Retailer accept the coupon from customer then submit coupon....
CS: Okay, accept the coupon just this ONE time.
Cashier: I'm sorry I have to check but last time I accept a coupon I got in trouble...
Me: (Thinking) Just read the damn coupon then no body will get in trouble. Meanwhile the line became really long, my sister is grumbling about me trying to save $2

[SassyAshley]

Well if it is true what my cashier told me I think this is going to become the norm when it comes to shopping at Wal-Mart a CSM called or cashiers constantly running to customer service can we accept this, can we accept that. I used to enjoy shopping at Wal-Mart but now I never know what to expect when I walk in.

Everytime I use a coupon, cashier act like they've never seen a coupon in their lives. I almost lost it last time using a coupon there, cashier ran to customer service, line is really long so I followed her there to try speed things up.

Cashier: Is it okay accept this coupon?
CS: NO, it's a rebate
Me: No it's not
CS: Yes, you have to mail to the address on the coupon
Me: The address on the coupon is To Retailer... P.O. Box 3000 Saint John...is the standard address for coupon, not rebate. Retailer accept the coupon from customer then submit coupon....
CS: Okay, accept the coupon just this ONE time.
Cashier: I'm sorry I have to check but last time I accept a coupon I got in trouble...
Me: (Thinking) Just read the damn coupon then no body will get in trouble. Meanwhile the line became really long, my sister is grumbling about me trying to save $2

[walkonby]

hmmmm, very interesting thread. Maybe WM has just had enough of being the place many people go to for Price Matching and using their coupons. Sad, perhaps management is making these changes because they have witnessed their cashiers backed up spending a great deal of time on " couponing " instead of what they want to be paying them for which is ringing as many customers through as possible. Since WM has been so accommodating up until now I will forgive them if they clamp down.

[SassyAshley]

I can understand if Wal-Mart needs to crack down as lets be honest I know one of the locations I shop in I saw on many occasions people abusing the old Zantac coupons (as in I actually saw one person check out with a number of boxes and when the cashier gave them the total owing they ran back and grabbed more boxes to make it so they had no OP expense and these were the version that said 1 per customer). But at the same time at least in my mind cracking down is one thing, but making it hard or even impossible for people to Price Match and Coupon in their stores even though they offer this service is another thing. I think they can crack down without making it impossible, other stores do it and yes other stores may have more rules which I have no issues with as long as I know the rules before I enter the store I can plan my shopping accordingly. Example being I now do the bulk of my shopping at RCSS but I know walking in they do not Price Match any multi buys (ie 2/$4.00 or 3/$7.00) unless below the price the per unit price is listed, I know this and can plan my shopping accordingly.

[torontogal12]

Fired on the spot for such a small thing?!? That can't be legal, can it?

And don't you know, as a customer, you're supposed to know all the secret policies and when you don't know about them you're supposed to hold up the line and get everyone else angry with you while a CSM comes to explain the new policy you didn't know about.


Aside from the sarcasm, I don't go to Walmart as much as I used to because DH always refuses to go. Doesn't want to wait an hour (not exaggerating about the time here) in the checkout line. And the other customers can be weirdos (I think more so than other stores from what I've seen). Last time we went, a cashier opened up a new checkout and and called us over to check us out, and then another customer proceeded to yell at us from 3 lanes over about how what we did wasn't right? Made it look like we had cut in line and everyone was looking at us as if you could ever cut in line with that many people in the checkout lanes. Ain't no one got time fo' that. And this was a guy who had TEN bags of salt in his cart. Cleaned out the skid when salt is in shortage in the area. Lots of hoarding happens there and empty shelves

Go with my parents only when we have to do a lot of PMs when Freshco is low on stock (not often). I have also noticed they have been rejecting legitimate PMs. Stuff like xxg- xxg sizes. Maybe No Frills is worth a try but I hate that they are out of stock on EVERYTHING and that's an even more frustrating experience. Choose your evil.

[SassyAshley]

Both me and my mom pointed out it would not be legal for them to fire an employee without a warning and to cashier said they can because you are not performing your job properly and since it is a company policy all cashiers are aware of they do it. I personally would still question.

I also fought the new policy as my price match was denied as the policy changed a month ago, well I have not seen anything come out on Wal-Mart's policy changing. I still really feel it is a money grab they are hoping you get up to cashier and your price match or coupon is rejected due to a new policy and you say screw it I need it I will take it.

[CouponingTrini]

I was at Wal-Mart with a sick DS yesterday, when to get Advil with the $3.00 off coupon and picked up 2 glade candles with the $2.00 off coupon. I had printed 2 the CSM accepted them and then a rep form the customer service can over and told her that I photocopied the coupons. The CSM then asked if it was a photocopy, I explained to her that it was a printed off and that I printed 2 of the Advil from the Advil web and that the glade from smartsource.ca, she said she will accept them this time and walked away. The rep continued to talk to the CSM about the coupon, when my transaction was completed the CSM came back, took the coupons and stated reading and checking it again. I asked if there was a problem with the coupon, she said no it ok. She made me feel like I was stealing from Wal-Mart by using the printable coupons there.
I personally prefer to go to Target. Can price use target coupons and manufactures coupon in the same transaction.

[luckbealady]

I just PMd a Shoppers coupon for any Kraft PB for $3.99 either last week or the week before at Walmart. Got the biggest one they had (2kg I think?). The cashier had to check with the CSM first as she'd never heard of PMing a store coupon before. But they didn't have any issues with it (I've also done it before at the same location without problems)

[bargain_hunter_lola]

I've hated WM for a long time. I've only stepped foot in my WM ONCE since Target opened (7+ months ago) and that was to make use of a WM specific coupon before it expired.

They have poor stock, the store is dirty and disorganized, customers are rude and cashiers are a hassle (at least at my location).

I'd like to know if it is legal to just fire a cashier like that? Sounds insane!

[canadascouponeer]

I agree with everything that has been said. The even crazier part is that coorperate could care less about any situations. I have had multiple complaints by calling and email go nowhere. I now shop exclusively at Target, even though it is about an hour away from my home. Never again will Walmart have my business, overage or not