Hassle at WalMart

[Kooter]

Wal-Mart cheated him and it is up to them to make it right.

you are right a multi billion dollar company is going out of their way to screw this guy out of his $15.


sounds to me he cheated himself, because as stated in the original post the counter jockey was "... the untrained dufus at the counter didn't know how to work the register, or sell a fishing license, etc.". if he doesn't know how to work a register and he doesn't know how to sell a fishing license then it stands to reason that he isn't going to know the difference between a box of 40 and a box of 45. should have checked his purchase before he left.

 

[Bill Hook]

you are right a multi billion dollar company is going out of their way to screw this guy out of his $15.

Intentional or not, that is still a fact. Whether it becomes theft by deception or fraud IS a matter of intent.

 

[caseydog]

I also think it's intersting that a WalMart employee would be predisposed, or automatically assume, that their customers are dishonest, or are likely to be pulling a 'fast one'.

Then you have no idea how many scams are run on big retail outlets daily, the craftiness of the criminal mind would astound you.


Lets do this again and see if we can get it clearer , If he had come back in out the parking lot on the same trip he bought the ammo with all 5 boxes in tow that would have made an immediatly believable scenario.

If you think the following scenario is far out then you have no concept of retail loss prevention in a large outlet and this has nothing to do with the actual product purchased , could be ammo or hairspray:

Joe Shyster has a reciept for 5 boxes of ammo he shot up last week and he needs some more but he's tired of paying $19.97 for it so he sees the .40 for $14.97 and gets him a box, walks outside to de truck and leaves the $14.97 reciept in the truck and grabs the week old $19.97 reciept and walk back into the store and right up to customer service and tells them he was given a wrong box, and he wants the .45 that he paid for. Ok so they do it for him , he just got a box of 45 for $14.97.

Based on what some Police type folks have learned from busted scammers , I'd bet this scam is run at least 5 times a day at your local WalMart , sometimes by "crews" who have several ID's for each crew member and know when shifts change and such. No it's probably not run on ammo , but add the liability policy factor of ammo returns and it becomes much easier for the clerk to throw up a red flag , and you and I are safer for it.

As to the liability , think about it , Tamperers will take their time to learn what their doing as evidenced by the Tylenol tamperings a few years back.
Do you actually think there are no anti-gunners who are rabid enough to have thought of this , to discredit us by blowing up our own guns in our faces ??? Nevermind the cheapskate schmoe who just wants to fill the box with cheap reloads , they are a secondary problem. The world is full of bad people , thats probably why you own a gun in the first place. Why is scamming so hard to believe ?

 

[moa]

My Wally World story is this.

Visit store and notice great price on some quality ammo. I decide to buy 500 rounds. The clerk behind the counter, who apparently is an immigrant from India or someplace like that, calls the manager to see if it is okay to sell 500 rounds of ammo.

I did get the ammo, but have not been back to the store in years except on one or two occasions. Not real convenient anyway.

 

[hops]

Wally world will solve this problem soon. Self checkout stations are poping up in grocery stores and I have also seen them at Home Depot. You get it, you check it, you pay for it and you bag it. I'm sure the criminals will figure out a way in continuing their livelyhood inspite of technological innovation to make it more difficult. Where there is a will there is a way.

 

[Majic]

For all the camera disscussions, the customer also has a receipt showing the time and date of purchase. Security tapes of that time period should also show the clerk getting the ammo, scanning it, and placing it in the bag. If the camera at the customer service desk can identify the differences in the boxes, the tape of the purchase should be able to show the same. Then there will be proof if there was a mistake or not. The use of cameras can benefit both parties and a good lawyer will reconize that fact. If Walmart attorneys introduce the tapes at the time of the exchange, then the defense can ask for the tapes of the original purchase.
Still that's a lot of hassle for a mere $15.

 

[racenutz]

For all the camera disscussions, the customer also has a receipt showing the time and date of purchase.

Assuming their inventory records were accurate before the transaction, they would now show that the store was minus one box of .40 S&W & plus one box of .45 ACP.

If it was me I'd just go buy a .40 S&W, you ca never have too many guns

 

[R.H. Lee]

<<<----------------smacks self in forehead.

Majic said

For all the camera disscussions, the customer also has a receipt showing the time and date of purchase. Security tapes of that time period should also show the clerk getting the ammo, scanning it, and placing it in the bag. If the camera at the customer service desk can identify the differences in the boxes, the tape of the purchase should be able to show the same. Then there will be proof if there was a mistake or not

OF COURSE!

That is so deceptively simple, yet it would end the argument. Brilliant.

I don't know what you do for a living, Majic, but you are worth every penny they pay you

racenutz hit the 10 ring, too. I had never thought of either solution, as obvious as they seem.

Thanks

 

[Hkmp5sd]

with the local FFL, my blood pressure is actually lower when I leave than when I went in.

Not me. Drooling over the guns on display and trying to prevent myself from making a compulsive purchase usually jacks my blood pressure to around 3000 over 2000.

 

[pbman]

We should e-mail a link to this thread to wally world.

 

[ScottS]

I can totally relate to the hassle factor. Here's my latest attempt to buy ammo at Walmart (Amherst, NH).

Me: "Box of the Winchester Value-Pak 9mm, please"
Clerk: "Boy, we sell this stuff like hotcakes. Sure one box is enough?"
Me: "Well...I guess you better make it two. Do I have to pay for it here?"
Clerk: "Nope. Here ya' go."

Bastards...I'm never going back there again.

Scott

 

[TamThompson]

The service sector is so bad these days, you have to check everything you buy before you leave. This particularly applies to fast food--I sit there at the window and look in the bag. About 1 time out of 4, there's something wrong with my order.

 

[BluesBear]

Well it's apparant that none of y'all are familiar with the quality of the camera and video equipment used at W-M/Sams.



If you think anyone would be able to tell which boxes were which you've been watching too much CSI.

 

[esheato]

Interesting thread. I tend to side with Riley on most of this. Reason is, a single box of ammo is too pidley for a DA to get worked up about. Not saying I would have handled it the way his buddy did, there were other ways to go about it.

Too pidley to get worked up about? Ohh..so that makes it ok? Or possibly a lesser degree of shoplifting because it's not enough to prosecute him over? I think not. Just because it's not expensive enough for someone to get "worked up over" does not mean it's permissible. Let me quote caseydog:

HighRoad my butt !

I've read all these posts, and I still think it's shoplifting.

Ed

 

[DMK]

There's an old saying that I think is appropriate to this thread:

"Two wrongs do not add up to a right."

 

[J.J.]

ok lets see how many cameras do you see in the ceilings of wal-mart? 24 hours a day 7 days a week running that would be a large large amount of film

Usually places do things like erase the old tapes after a couple days unless something happened.

So that is not a fix to anything I am afraid

 

[Pendragon]

Last week, I bought a game controller for my PC at Wal-Mart.

The sign under it said $19.99 and was for the Saitek brand.

It rang up at $29.99 and with all my other items, I noticed the amount was too high (was paying cash).

I said - that controller is supposed to be $19.99 and the girl did not bat an eye and adjusted it on the spot.

Today I went back and noticed that the sign was indeed right under my controller, but it if for a joystick, not a game pad.

I honestly thought I was being over charged - should I "make ammends"?

Or should I just chalk it up to an error in my favor since I got taken by getting the wrong kind of ammo last time (.40 when I asked for .45)?

Interesting question.

My decision to do nothing was based on laziness, not on ethics.

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Zundfolge,

It seems that what Wal-Mart carries varies with the local. I went into a branch in an 'iffy' ethnic neighborhood and noted that they were not even selling ammo.

 

[c_yeager]

Interesting thread. I tend to side with Riley on most of this. Reason is, a single box of ammo is too pidley for a DA to get worked up about. Not saying I would have handled it the way his buddy did, there were other ways to go about it.

Obviously you have ne experience with retail whatsoever. Shoplifting of ANY item will be prosecuted of the retailer can provide the proper evidence. I have seen people prosecuting for stealing a pack of gum. There is officer discresion on this, in most states shoplifting CAN be a citation instead of a trip downtown. But, i bet that when it comes down to a guy stealing ammunition then he gets the whole trip. If he is DAMN LUCKY the cop and retailer MIGHT agree to give him his box of .40 and take back the box of .45 allong with a criminal tresspass at the store (can't ever go back in).

Like i said before he's lucky wallmart doesnt aggresively pursue theives like most retailors do.

 

[Chuck Dye]

Caveat emptor

There is a whole lot of fo'c'sle lawyering here, worth every penny of the price charged.

I agree with c_yeager and caseydog: regardless of whatever clerical and consumer incompetence went into creating it (would anyone really argue that the clerk deliberately mixed the products?), rectifying the balance of ammo paid for and ammo received was accomplished by an act of theft. I also agree that the bigoted generalizations about service sector workers contribute nothing to the discussion and are decidedly NOT on the high road.

 

[spacemanspiff]

not for nothing, but when ever i buy ammo from wallyworld, they ring up each individual box. so if i buy 5 boxes of PMC .45acp, there are five listings for pmc on the reciept. they never scan the same box twice, they scan each one individually.

and if the reciept in this threads story showed five instances of .45 rung up, i'd be inclined to say that they actually rang up five different boxes of .45.

how that one of .40 got in there is a case for the x-files.

 

[tyme]

rileymc, don't count on it. Most store video cameras are terrible. Combined with typical bad angles, etc., the chance of being able to prove a slight difference in box size is rather remote.

I'm not sure it's shoplifting, though. He walked in. He asked to exchange. They seemed to be okay with it, bringing out a box of .45. Only then did they start backtracking. Seems dodgy. I wouldn't want to be the prosecution or plaintiff in either situation - a shoplifting charge or a civil suit against walmart for providing the wrong ammo (which was the other option besides keeping the ammo or going in and making a scene and getting nowhere).

I'm with everyone else who suggested he should have gotten a .40.

 

[c_yeager]

not for nothing, but when ever i buy ammo from wallyworld, they ring up each individual box. so if i buy 5 boxes of PMC .45acp, there are five listings for pmc on the reciept. they never scan the same box twice, they scan each one individually.

Ya know, now that you mention it....

hmm.

And video isnt necessary for a shoplifting conviction. The stores witness is perfectly adequate in most cases. I bet its not just ONE employee that saw him either.

 

[Highland Ranger]

I don't know of any store that accepts returns on ammo, local retailer or internet.

And frankly, I like it that way. I want to buy FACTORY FRESH ammo, not something that has taken a trip to someone else's house and perhaps accidentally had a few reloads mixed in.

Safer for all of us and good policy - just check your ammo on the way out.

(And everyone needs a 40!)

 

[R.H. Lee]

not for nothing, but when ever i buy ammo from wallyworld, they ring up each individual box. so if i buy 5 boxes of PMC .45acp, there are five listings for pmc on the reciept. they never scan the same box twice, they scan each one individually.

The video at the time of purchase would show the clerk scanned 1 box 5 times, while the other clerk put the ammo in the bag=for a total of 4 boxes .45 and one box of .40

If the clerk had been properly trained, he would have scanned each box separately, and none of this would have happened. Both clerks at the time of purchase admitted they had not been trained.

Admittedly, my buddy did a stupid thing. He regrets it and would not do it again. Did he intend to defraud WalMart? No. Has WalMart suffered any damage or loss? No. Sure, you could say they can't sell the box of .40, but that is their decision. If they hadn't given it to my buddy, instead of the .45 he PAID for, they would have it to sell.