Weird Wal-mart ammo story

[huntsman]

So I'm at WW on Friday I tell the kid behind the counter to give me a box of UMC .45acp($23.97) he tells me the total and it's more than I expect so I ask him what it rang up as, he says $28.97 plus tax, now I can see the tag says $23.97 so I ask him what on the tag ?

He says UMC .45acp but he says the SkU's don't match and they're not allowed to make price corrections so I can either take it at $28.97 or void the sale, I told him put it back on the shelf.

 

[Impureclient]

Replace UMC .45acp with box of Ritz crackers or bottle of Gatorade. Wrong prices, tags, mark-up, mark-downs, etc happen all day every day.
I would have asked him to call a manager over and more than likely if it was labelled at $23.97 they would have overrided the higher price.
$5 is worth a minute extra wait I think. Usually it's much less...$0.50?...so not worth the hassle.

 

[we are not amused]

Yes, always compare the SKU codes on the self price tag with the SKU code on the product.

Not just at Wal-Mart, but everywhere, for everything!

There is a lot of product out there that looks similar, but has widely divergent prices, and it is very easy for either the self stocker, or a customer to misplace an item.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Had a similar experience. I walked away without buying.

 

[Zach S]

I would have had him call a manager, they would have likely given you the lower price.

Elsewhere in the store, I have a habit of comparing SKUs since folks will pick something up, look at it for one second, and put it somewhere else instead of back where they got it.

The ammo cabinet is under lock and key, accessible to only a few employees. Lazy customers are out of the equation.

The last time I was in that situation, I didnt have to say anything about the price difference. She charged me the lower price from the shelf. Then went to the ammo cabinet to fix the mistake.

 

[pjeski]

Here in Michigan you would get the lower price plus compensation of between $1 and $5.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I had the same thing happen in my local Wal Mart, it just happened to be M&Ms the day after Easter. We asked to speak to the manager, she took one look at the tag and told the associate to sell the M&Ms we already had at that price then change the tag

 

[ourichie]

Here in OK they have to honor the lowest price. If not, weights and measures can fine them..... big time.

I had that happen once at WW. they had the 250rd value packs of UMC .45 and the prce charged was 15 bucks more than the shelf price. I was buying 2 and when the kid behind the counter would not honor the shelf price, i had him call his manager over. His mgr wouldnt honor the price so i informed them that I was going to file a pricing complaint with Weights and Measures.

He called a store asst manager over, gave him the story and the assm pretty much said "give him the lower price you idiot; I dont want to get fined."

 

[Twiki357]

I always check the SKU to the shelf also, unless there’s a shelf full of the item. To many people shift things around, but that’s not likely in a locked case. I would have called the manager too. Just the principal of it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

 

[Blue Brick]

Call weights and measure, big fine for Wal-Mart.

 

[Geno]

Correct, regarding Michigan. On a comical note, back in 1990, my bride and I were on a trip to Chicago to see family and for me to purchase a Rolex. We went into a Tiffany store on Michigan Avenue. Said store had a beautiful Rolex errantly priced at $900.00! That was way under the accurate price. Let's say, they left off both a number and a comma. The salesman told me that under Illinois law, they had to honor the price for 90 minutes. Needless to confirm, I bought my first Rolex, way, way, way under true value.

Errors happen. Follow the laws. They are there for your protection, and their protection.

Geno

 

[Drail]

While I understand why it is done I really hate shopping at a store that refuses to put prices on items in their store.

 

[GAF]

Bought a 42 inch tv at wal mart $468. It was suppose to be marked $598.
They honored the lower price with out any problem.

 

[TRX]

Some states have laws about mismarked prices. Mine obliges the retailer to sell at the marked price, but that was written back when items actually HAD price tags instead of (maybe) a tiny tag on a shelf somewhere within eight feet of the item. I'd say at least 20% of the items I pick up with intent to purchase have no tag on the shelf. No, I'm not going to stand in line at the customer service desk to find out how much it costs, nor am I going to put it in the cart without knowing. I usually just drop whatever it is on the floor and walk away.

 

[stringnut]

Asked the price on a pressure washer at the local Tractor Supply Store. Scanned 125 less than should have been. Lady said they would honor the price if purchased before she corrected it. Jumped right on that one!

 

[bannockburn]

Have had the same thing happen to me on occasion but sometimes it's the other way around: the price at the register is less than the marked price on the merchandize or on the shelf. Never any questions asked or need for a manger as the store always honors the price at the register.

 

[Field Tester]

Weren't they recently sued over something like this?

 

[PabloJ]

I rarely went to Walmart for ammo. The department was all they way in the back and they always had to track down person with cabinet key. I was elated to just pay $1 or less per box more to get it at my LGS. For example blue box of 9x19 Lawman at LGS was $16 and white box or blue/burgundy boxed junkmo wasn't much cheaper at Walmart. Another big plus LGS would sell > 3 boxes at a time. Going to Walmart for ammo is pretty much waste of time and effort.

 

[Rittmeister]

I have all but given up on Wal-Mart. Ammo was the only thing I bought there after a while, and now my WalMart is still observing a 3-box limit. Doesn't matter what you buy, whether it's boxes of 5 shotgun slugs or boxes of 100 9mm, you can only buy three boxes.

 

[PabloJ]

Walmart sporting department is tiny and ammo delivery per order is probably also tiny therefore they need to have three box policy to have something other than bare shelves at any given store. Perhaps they don't have knowledgeable enough people to order 7,62x39, .30-30, 9x19, .22lr instead of .300mag or .30/06,....or perhaps they just get certain order w/o ability to alter future order. Typical ammo buyer at Walmart isn't savvy enough to realize they can get many ammo offerings at LGS or place like BassPro for less. I think most have been brainwashed by BS slogan "Save money live better..." or is it "Live better save money".

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Years ago, when my future ex-wife was a department manager at our local WM(before it became a "super store"), I checked out the guns and found a beautiful Winchester Model 70 featherweight in 30.06. The marked price, no upc codes in those days, was $360.00(minus 10% associate's discount). I asked the guy behind the counter (there were at least 2 people ALWAYS at the counter in those days) if that was the correct price. He checked and said, no that was actually the price for a Remington Model 700 ADL but he would have to honor that price if I wanted to buy it.....I did. The price should have been $406.00, I got it for $324.00 plus tax.

 

[Tirod]

Ammo stocked behind the counter in a locked cabinet on the wrong SKU sticker isn't a consumer putting it back wrong. It's likely an employee who didn't pay attention.

A patient and friendly explanation that "I saw it on the shelf with a $23 price is why I asked for it" might have gone further.

"I tell the kid to give me" says a lot about the way the transaction was initially handled, I'm not surprised things went downhill from there.

Nonetheless, product is put on shelving in the wrong place all the time, and Weights and Measures isn't likely even going to return your phone call in the same day. They are mostly guys driving around in heavy trucks checking scales and gas pumps, getting someone else out of the office to drive from the next metro over just to arbitrate the price of a misplaced box of ammo is only possible in the life of an internet poster.

Honest mistakes like this happen every day, a polite and respectful approach can win the day either way. Very few intend to beat down the store, and an empowered and well taken care of employee would head off adding to his managers workload by taking care of it himself.

I work retail, and I can tell you how you approach the clerk is pretty much how you will be treated in return. In balance, most employees can respond in kind and keep their job. It's when it doesn't seem justified that there is something else going on, and 9 times out of 10, that manager treats that employee in a biased and unfair manner. It rolls downhill from there.

THAT is how I talk to their supervisor - put the onus on them by not allowing the clerk to handle a simple mistake and fix it so I can be a happy customer. There's your insight into Walmart management - they can't trust their employees to do the right thing and would rather lose the sale first. Not the clerks fault he's doing what he was told.

Keep that in mind when you walk in next time, it's the manager's attitude in the way he handles his employees that they in turn handle you.

 

[huntsman]

"I tell the kid to give me" says a lot about the way the transaction was initially handled, I'm not surprised things went downhill from there.

I was asked can I help you? I replied yes give me a box of the Remington(UMC) .45acp. I don't see how this is an inappropriate response? nothing went "down hill" I was cordial and he was only following orders.

I only posted this here because this was the first time I've ever had an issue buying ammo from WW and to be honest I was debating whether to buy because I felt that $23.97 was too high, as it was actually higher I came to my senses.

What I believe the issue to be was that the Price of Remington ammo went up and they didn't bother to change the label yet.

 

[bhk]

Many, many years ago (decades and decades ago when Walmart was really a rather new thing and everything was not as computerized as it is now), the sporting goods department had an HR single barrel shotgun priced at severaly hundred dollars and (next to it) a bull-barreled .264 Winchester Model 70 for 60 or 70 dollars. It was obvious the hang tags had been switched or placed on the wrong guns to begin with. I told them of the switched tags several times over a period of a few weeks and no corrections were made. I finally bought the Model 70 for 60 or 70 dollars.

 

[herrwalther]

The Wal-Marts in this area are notorious for placing merchandise on the shelves next to the wrong price markers. I spend most of my time shopping there carrying something to a price checkers they scatter throughout the store. Ironically enough the one thing I do notice they label properly is the ammo, still too high though.