If you set foot in Walmart, there’s a seventy-five percent chance something crazy happens to you!
All content has been edited for clarity.
Mother’s Day
“I was a single parent when my son was ten years old. We had no family around except for my aunt, and no friends as we had only recently moved to the area.
It was Mother’s Day, and my son wanted to buy me a Mother’s Day gift. I was really proud of him, as he wanted to do it all by himself with his own money. I had not put him up to this. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea from him and he wanted to do it then and there.
He wanted me to take him to Walmart and drop him off there so he could buy the gift in secret. I was to wait at my aunt’s house which was less than half a mile away, and he would call me to come to pick him up when he was done shopping. I gave him my cell phone so he could call my aunt’s house. So according to plan, I dropped him off and watched him enter the store with his jar full of change he had saved up.
After a little while, I got the call to pick him up. I drove right over and picked him up. He was fighting tears because he wasn’t able to buy the gift. This was very upsetting for me, as my son has Asperger Syndrome and is normally very stoic in demeanor. He almost never gets teary unless he is extremely upset.
His shopping went fine and he had found what he wanted. The issue was the cashier wouldn’t take his money because it was in change. She told him he had to go take it to a bank and come back. That obviously wasn’t going to happen as it was a Sunday and Mother’s Day. He was just a kid and she was expecting him to just head out and find a bank.
That was so stupid and mean-spirited of the cashier at Walmart to turn away a kid who had the money to buy his Mom a Mother’s Day gift just because his currency was in coins. I guarantee the founder of Walmart, Sam Walton, did not have that kind of business profile in mind when he created the company that was supposed to be family-oriented.
To this day, I have a hard time getting myself to shop at Walmart anymore due to the cruelty of that cashier, and that was eighteen years ago. That cashier broke my son’s heart. I have only seen him cry two other times in those eighteen years, so you can see how harsh her response to the young boy with a jar of coins on Mother’s Day was.
My son has the biggest heart, and as an adult and is the first to help anyone in need.”
She Ruled The Parking Lot With An Iron Fist
“My son needed new earbuds so he and I went into Walmart to get them. My daughter didn’t want to come in so I left her in the car.
When I got out five minutes later, there was a security woman standing outside my car, screaming my license plate repeatedly into her walkie-talkie. My daughter looked quite frightened by her.
Our conversation went something like this:
Her: ‘How old is your daughter?’
Me: ‘Eleven.’
Her: ‘How dare you leave an eleven-year-old alone in the car? She can’t take care of herself!’
Me: ‘I was in the store for five minutes. Also, she is Red Cross certified as a babysitter and takes care of an infant and a toddler weekly.’
Her: ‘What if someone threatened her?’
I didn’t say anything, I just pointed to our ninety-pound Saint Bernard in the car with her.
Her, running out of arguments: ‘What if she overheated?’
To be fair, it was in August.
Me, getting exasperated: ‘She’d open a window or the door.’
Her: ‘How’d you like me to call the police?’
Me: ‘Go right ahead.’
At that point she gave up and left, and so did we.
Security jobs seem to attract people on power trips, it’s not unique to Walmart.”
Fraud Alert
“I had just moved to another state at the time. I called my bank and gave my new address. I thought I was good. Nope, my card declined at Walmart. I called the bank and they put a fraud block on my card for being used in a different state.
I told them, ‘Look at my address, it is in the same state as this Walmart. There is no fraud, so take the block off now.’
They did.
So I got back in line, swiped my card, and the charge was declined. Guess what? Fraud block again.
The manager came over to void the transaction again. So I told her I would go to the Credit Union and get cash then I would be back.
She said, ‘No you won’t, we don’t want your money from your card and your cash isn’t good here, you clearly don’t have the money. Get out of my store and never return.’
I took her with me to the in-store ATM and checked my balance, printed the receipt, and it showed almost two million available balance. This was part of my inheritance. Never returned to that Walmart.”
Ignored At The Deli Counter
“The second to last time I went to a Walmart was to get my oil changed. I had always gone there in the past and they would change my oil while I was doing my shopping, so I expected to be out of there in roughly an hour. Nope.
Nearly four hours later, they finally had my oil changed. I was beyond mad. I had already asked to speak to the manager on duty at about the two-hour mark, and the only excuse he could give me was they had taken too many cars in and didn’t have enough help. Well, that sir, is not my problem. You should have realized it and acted accordingly. It’s a good thing I hadn’t purchased any frozen foods, I would have taken them back and not been very nice about it either.
My last time in a Walmart was on my birthday this year. I had worked a day shift and was kind of tired, so I decided to skip going out and just get some roast beef and a bottle and head home and spend the rest of the day with my dog, Bandit. So I gathered up what I wanted and headed to the deli to get the roast beef. There was one young lady behind the counter and she was waiting on a couple, or so I assumed. She did make eye contact with me, but she continued to talk to the couple. She wasn’t getting them anything from behind the counter, she was just talking to them. I did everything I could to let her know I was tired. I yawned, I stretched, I even leaned on the shopping cart, all to no avail. She never gave me a second look, so I left all my stuff, except the bottle, on the counter, and left. I bought the bottle and used the receipt to give the girl a very poor review.
I haven’t been back since. I have been in retail my whole life and would never treat a customer that way.”
Her Husband Must Look Intimidating
“My husband had just left Walmart after getting me some hay and produce for our guinea pigs. This was roughly ten o’clock at night, so it was dark. He was sitting in his car finishing a text to his buddy because you know, don’t text and drive. He was minding his own business, the car running but parked.
He saw a woman in his peripheral vision coming near, her head buried in her phone. She proceeded to open his door thinking it was her car. Honest mistake, right? Usually, the person would apologize, state their mistake, and be on their way. Not her.
She opened the door and was greeted by him saying, ‘Hello?’
Her eyes were glued to her phone screen but at the sight of him and the sound of his reply, she proceeds to scream bloody murder, and take off running, obviously to her own vehicle.
This was slightly comical, but also dangerous. A woman screaming and running in a parking lot at night. Anyone could have thought she had been attacked, and it made me angry for my husband as he easily could have paid a consequence for doing absolutely nothing wrong. On the comical side, he claimed he peed a little when she screamed.
Another incident happened while he was standing in line to checkout. There was a mother with her young daughter, around my daughter’s age, ahead of him in line. Minding his own business, he saw the little girl look at him and again, let out the loudest, most blood-curdling scream he had ever heard.
Everyone stared at him like he was on To Catch A Predator and his only reaction was to hold his hands up and give a very confused look.
The mother thankfully diffused the situation and said, ‘We taught her to scream if a stranger ever scared her.’
Que even more confusion.
‘What did I possibly do to frighten her?’
I did have a good laugh with this one, especially since I feel he handled it perfectly. Not running off or reacting other than to show his hands showed he wasn’t guilty of any wrongdoing. But seriously, what’s with all the screaming at Walmart?
As I said, he’s far from a scary man and is a big teddy bear. My daughter adores him, and he’s the kindest and most gentle soul I’ve ever known. And yet, two females, within a week of each other, screamed at him out of unwarranted fear. Walmart, always a good time.”
Dyed Meat
“The last couple of times I shopped there were my last. In 1997, when the Walmart grocery side was relatively new, we purchased a couple of steaks for dinner that night. We should have raised a flag when we noticed the dates were blurry. When we got home, we noticed our hands turned red when we handled the meat. It also had a rather odd smell. We rinsed the meat and the red disappeared only to find a sad-looking chunk of beef. It seemed like the store had used a red dye to keep the steaks looking nice while in the package.
The very last time I was there I had an ankle injury so I was on crutches. I was hunting for rug shampoo and it was not where one would expect it. I circled through the store and finally found help. They directed me to where I started but couldn’t go with me to show me when I said I had already been there. I think I spent seventy-five minutes in the store and talked with four associates who were clueless. I was furious and storming out of the store when I finally found the shampoo in a special sale area near the registers and in the women’s clothing section. I purchased the shampoo and swore I would never return. That was 1997 and I seriously doubt I will ever shop there again.
Oh, I did return to my local wally world the day I received my concealed carry permit. That seems to be a right of passage for trying out the new permit.”
Creative Criminals
“This was by no means Walmart’s fault, however, one day at home I received a call from the police. Needless to say, I was very surprised. I was asked to report for an interview. They would not give me any information on why aside from telling me I had been accused of a hit and run.
It turned out an insurance scammer pulled their car with rear damage up to my parked car when I was in the store and took a picture of it. Then they left the scene and called the cops to report me for hitting their car and fleeing.
The only way I got out of it was by informing the cops they had actually left the scene, not me. They couldn’t put it together when they had arrived on the scene and the scammer was long gone.
I pressed the cop several times to get the security video from Walmart showing the scammer in action. He didn’t bother seeking video.
He could tell from my insistence if I had done any nefarious I wouldn’t want to suggest he get video proof of it. I wish he had because he could have charged the fraudster.
I hate seeing people get away with such ridiculous stuff. Some people, sigh.”
Doing The Most
“I went to Wal-Mart to pick up medications for my aging parents along with some adult diapers and cleaning products. I always swing by the pajama section for novelty tees and found one I liked. I was in a hurry and decided against it.
After checking out, I realized I forgot a can of Lysol. I returned to grab it, placed it in the cart, and proceeded towards the register. On my way back, the tee I admired caught my eye again so I searched for my size and tossed it into the cart. I went to the register, paid, and continued to exit.
I was picking up my bags to head out the door when a man, in plain clothes, grabbed my arm and yanked me away from my cart.
The man said, ‘I saw you put that in your cart.’
I responded, ‘Huh?’
He said, ‘This,’ and lifted up a bag to reveal a can of Lysol, ‘I saw you try to steal it.’
I responded, ‘Oh no, I didn’t see that under the bag when I was paying for my t-shirt. I’ll run back and pay for it now. Sorry.’
He retorted, ‘Yeah right. You’re shoplifting. You need to come with me. I need your driver’s license.’
He pulled me from my spot by my arm.
I yelled, ‘Get off of me,’ and yanked my arm away. I explained how I back-tracked for the Lysol, became distracted by the tee, and upon tossing the shirt into the cart, it landed on the bag concealing the can.
I added, ‘I paid $80 for all my items. Why would I steal a $4 can of Lysol?’
The man said, ‘I hear that excuse all the time.’
I responded, ‘Sure you do. It was an honest mistake. I shop here all the time. Why would I rob the place? I’m not giving you my ID and I’m going.’
I grabbed my bags and headed toward the parking lot. I was right out when one, no two, no three, no four police cruisers came rushing towards me, surrounding me, lights and all.
One of the cops said, ‘Hello. I’ll need to see your license please.’
I handed him my ID. He told me to lean against his car while five officers ran my license and one stayed to question me. I explained about forgetting the Lysol. I mentioned the tee and how the bag covered the can. I told him I had money and intended to pay.
The cop asked, ‘How much did you spend?’
I said, ‘Eighty dollars. I have the money to pay. If I was going to steal something why would I pick a $4 can of Lysol? This makes no sense. I shop here every week.’
The cop, nodding his head in agreement, responded, ‘Right, right.’
Upon reviewing the receipt he went to the cruiser and discussed it with the other guys. The assistant store manager was with them.
The officer with my license came back and handed it to me with the receipt.
The cop said, ‘They’re not going to pursue this but they’ve decided to trespass you. You cannot return to any Wal-Mart, anywhere, ever.’
They all left. I looked up to see everyone in the window staring at me as I was holding two oversized bags of adult diapers. So embarrassing.
Being ‘trespassed’ wouldn’t be a big deal but it was the only store in town that had a selection of adult diapers. Plus, I needed access to the pharmacy for my parents’ medicine. I sort of knew the overnight managers from shopping there, in scrubs, after my shift at the hospital. Over the phone, they told me to just tell my story to the general manager when he returned from vacation on Monday.
Monday came, so I went to see the Walmart GM. Upon walking into the store, I realize he’s my next-door neighbor. He moved in about two months earlier but I never made his acquaintance. I didn’t introduce myself, I just told him what happened.
He. Started. Cracking. Up. ‘Haha! Of course, you weren’t stealing! It’s an honest mistake. You can shop here as long as you like and I’ll discuss it with our head of security. He’s a really good guy, you know.’
I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, he’s an absolute gem.'”
Demoted
“I was checking out and asking the clerk a question about a sale item when a supervisor came over to ask the clerk when she was taking her lunch break.
I said, ‘Excuse me, she is answering my questions, you can wait.’
The supervisor started to give me lip.
I asked for the manager.
She said she was the manager.
I told her she was a poor one, a terrible example of one.
While we were talking, a few customers were behind me as I had not paid yet.
She said she had a right to talk to her employees as she needed to.
I told her if her mommy and daddy never taught her manners I would do it.
She got mad and asked me to leave.
During this discussion, another employee called the real store manager. He came up just as she told me to leave.
I told him what was going on, a customer behind me verified it, and the clerk also said we were talking about an item.
The manager told the supervisor to go to their office and apologized to me.
I paid and left. The next time I went in, the supervisor was a checker.”
I Think This Is Just A Customer Service Complaint?
“Our delivery order was scheduled to be delivered Saturday between 5 and 6 o’clock. Around 6:30, my husband called customer service. They said they were having trouble finding a driver but they were getting one and our order would be delivered. At 8:30 after no communication from the store about our order, my husband called again.
He was told no driver was available and someone would be calling the next day to reschedule. Someone called the next day and scheduled delivery between 4 and 5 o’clock. Again, no one showed up and no communication from the store. A couple of hours later, my husband called the store. Again they said they couldn’t find a driver.
Why offer delivery if you can’t deliver?
My husband offered to drive there and just pick up the order. When he got home, we discovered three items were missing from the order.
The icing on the cake was when I got an email notification because my credit card was being charged for the driver’s tip! What driver?
The lack of communication was totally unacceptable. When the order was delayed, someone from the store should have contacted us each time. I definitely would not recommend grocery delivery from Walmart. Seeing the unprofessionalism and lack of customer service in this experience, I wouldn’t recommend having any sort of business with Walmart.”
Guess Their Age
“I’m no fan of the self-checkout at Walmart and as time passes less of a fan of Walmart period.
My wife and I work evenings and when we go on our once-a-year March trip to Florida we normally get little rest traveling. Last March we worked until 7 o’clock at night and rushed to the airport two hours away. We made our 10:30 flight to Orlando.
We are pretty frugal when it comes to money management so the first thing we did when we hit the ground was go to Walmart for crackers, fruit, and snacks for our time in the condo and beach. We hit Walmart somewhere between 1 and 2 in the morning ready to shop.
Well, because we got out of bed nearly 24 hours prior, we were not thinking straight and were borderline ornery. We had a full cart of goodies and there wasn’t one cashier, just self-checkouts.
We were furious we had to self-checkout and nothing was working correctly. Every item we checked failed over and over and the woman who would clear it was getting more and more frustrated with us. I was ready to just leave the cart, items, and their attitude right there in the store and keep moving on.
From that time on, I decided that I will never self-checkout again. I really wanted to go back to Walmart, fill a cart with small items, go to the self-checkout, and say ‘don’t want to’ and walk out over and over. For years I pondered what will be the Achilles head of the Walmart corporation and I believe self-checkout is a good start to their demise.”
Abandoned Carts
“I went into the store around 9 o’clock on a Monday night. I was shopping and putting stuff into the cart. After I had loaded it up with quite a few items, I stepped away from the cart to look at something.
The store manager saw the cart and thought it was left completely full and unattended by someone. So he grabbed the cart, went up to the front, and had an employee put all stuff back.
Meanwhile, I came back to find my cart gone. I went up to the front inquiring about it. I was told I left the cart alone and had to leave the store immediately.
Well, I was taken aback by this so I told the person to forget themselves and left.”