Last Updated on December 27, 2021 by Laura Ritterman
Price discrepancy between prices advertised in local advertisements, or prices listed on the shelves and how they ring up happens more often than you think. You need to know how to handle this situation and which errors can be corrected.
There are few things as frustrating as getting to the register after a full shopping trip at Walmart only to discover that the item you were thrilled at getting on sale wasn’t on sale, but instead on the wrong shelf or listed with the wrong price.
Worse yet, you get home and wonder why your estimate for your shopping trip was so wrong only to discover the error at home. Here is a quick guide for what likely happened and the remedies available to you.
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Walmart Wrong Price Policy 2022
When a product is listed with the incorrect price at Walmart, customers are entitled to receive the difference back up to $20. If the price discrepancy is greater than $20, the decision will be escalated and determined by the Walmart manager.
Why are Products Priced Incorrectly at Walmart
Walmart ships and sells a half trillion dollars’ worth of goods every single year and so if something can go wrong in retail, the mistake has happened at least once in a Walmart.
These are just a few causes for the wrong price being listed.
- While computing systems are helping out in a big way, there are some moments when mistakes are unavoidable. Employees occasionally list the wrong price on the shelf pricing the entire shelf errantly lower or higher.
- Customers occasionally enter in to the comedy of errors, picking up an item and then changing their minds an aisle later. While no one will believe the pricing for a box of cereal found in the bedding department, a king sheet returned to the twin section of the bedding can definitely give someone the wrong impression for the pricing.
- On occasion an advertisement for prices will go out before the staff has had a chance to reprint pricing tickets for items in the store. While Walmart stores pride themselves on efficiency and timing for price changes, there are occasional products that slip through the cracks.
Do Walmart Honor Incorrect Pricing?
If Walmart has advertised an incorrect price, they will honor their wrong price policy. You should discuss any wrongly advertised price with the Walmart management.
Will Walmart Price Check A Mispriced Item At Check Out?
Yes Walmart will check the mispriced item at checkout.
A fresh new twist in the issue is with the convenience of self-checkout. If you notice while checking out that there is a price difference, you will need to flag down the associate who is floating between stations.
He or she will confirm the issue and either issue an override or summon a manager. From that point on, the change will continue as per usual.
The magical number is $20. If the price difference is less than $20, the team member in charge of the register can amend the pricing of the item.
If the price difference goes over $20, a mandatory price check needs to take place and the store manager needs to investigate the reason for the pricing difference.
It will become clear very quickly if it was store error or customers rearranging stock.
It is important to note that the store manager is under no obligation either by law or by store policy to honor the price difference. However, as the face of Walmart for that community, it is completely under his purview to keep the peace and grant the difference.
See Also: Does Walmart Price Match?
What Can I Do If Walmart Has Over Charges?
Before we dive into what to do, let’s establish what you really want to avoid. The quickest way to not have your way is to make a scene. Store employees and store managers are real people, sometimes parents of children who also throw tantrums. Always remember to remain calm.
With that disclaimer stated, just know, for starters, you are only going to know there was a price difference if you are paying attention to the prices. Unless your recall is razor-sharp, you aren’t likely to remember every price of every item you reach.
If you are in the store, just calmly let the associate know that there is a discrepancy between what rang up on the register and what was on the shelf. The associate is on your side, so there is no need to debate or treat them like the enemy.
They want to help.
Often times, it’s a simple call and a few dollars difference in your favor is easy enough to override.
In the occasion that the price difference is over the $20 threshold, you may need to show the advertised price or walk to the aisle with the store manager to show where you took the product from the shelf.
It will take a little bit of time, but the managers are always willing to spend time on the customers in the store, especially if it is going to help them correct an in-store error.
If you notice the difference when you get home, bring the receipt with you to customer service on your next trip to the store. Again, you will want to show the manager where the product was and allow them to make a call.
Walmart Wrong Price Policy Canada
The price policy for Walmart in Canada requires Walmart to provide customers with the item free of change should the product price be incorrect. In Canada, customers can also receive a $10 off the price of the product in question.
See Also: What is Walmart’s return policy
Conclusion
The best way to approach the situation is to know that the store associates and managers are there to work alongside of you to ensure you have the best shopping experience you can. If they can make a call to fix an honest mistake, they will.
You are growsly mistaken, in you beliefs, on Walmart’s price checking, or reimbursing the difference on mis priced items.
Walmart in Palm Desert and the whole Coachella Valley, CA, in fact, does not honor price match, price check, correcting a mis priced item, or reimbursing customers the difference.
If an item is mis priced on a shelf, they pull the item and don’t allow customers to purchase it, same as an item that has no label. If the shelf price if cheaper than the scanned price, the customer is to pay whatever it scans at, no exceptions and in no way do they allow their employees to perform price checks, when a customer brings up a discrepancy.
It just happened to me 15 minutes ago. I went in to buy dog food and the shelf price listed it at $35. 29, when I go to the checkout and scanned it it came up at $37.23. I mentioned it to the manager that was standing at the door, with two other employees, joking around, which I was told that they do not offer price checking but they would inform their stock personnel so that they would work at getting the pricing more accurate and thank you for bringing up the discrepancy. So they expected me to pay the higher price for the item even though it was listed at the lower price on the shelf as well as on the website. As far as I remember I believe that is illegal.
Just think how much money in one day alone Walmart must make off of people by scamming them into pain a higher price for items. Cuz a good majority of people do not pay attention to what listed prices as opposed to what it scans at. In the us alone I would assume it’s probably in the millions.
I feel a lawsuit coming on.
I bought 3 packs of Imperial stick margarine. The price advertised was 98 cents. After I checked out and paid, I noticed I was charged $1.23. I went to customer service and the young lady and I walked back to the fridge. She removed the 98 cents and firmly told me she would refund the difference but she only had to let me have one pack for 98 cents and the rest of them for $1.23. She said if I didn’t agree I was free to put them back and someone else would buy them. Very rude!!! I didn’t come to Walmart looking to get over on anyone, I came to shop. If the price had been $1.23 it would have been up to me if I wanted to purchase the item. I would have bought it anyway. But if it’s marked 98 cents, thats what I expect to pay. The way the associate treated me was as if she was giving me my money back out of her own pocket.