Lady Buys At Walmart, Then Notices Something On Her Receipt
It was a regular day of shopping at Walmart in Lincoln, Arkansas. The store was abuzz with many people going about their business. A woman was collecting her groceries for the week as she wheeled her shopping cart through the aisles. But the normality of the day would change when she turned up to the cashier at the checkout counter. When she was ready to pay for her items, something was wrong, something she had never seen before. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she had an inkling that wouldn’t let the thought that something wasn’t good leave her mind. What it turned out to be would flip Walmart on its head and send a sense of insecurity throughout the thousands of loyal Walmart customers. This story might make you think about where you choose to go shopping next.
Walmart wasn’t always the massive mass-product, multi-chain store network we know it as today. Once upon a time, Walmart was the result of a risk taken and a reward received after hard work and a successful business model. Sam Walton opened the first ever Walmart on July 2nd, 1962 and it was in Rogers, Arkansas. The first goal of Walmart was to sell products in bulk but at a minimum cost. They wanted to be able to beat competitor’s prices, as well as increase their profit margin. It was definitely a risky move, but it was a calculated risk that paid off. Throughout the past 50 years Walmart has grown into one of the most influential hypermarkets in the United States, but it has also expanded to other countries across the globe. In fact, Walmart has placed their stores all over the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and even in Africa. The massive franchise hasn’t been without its own trials of bribery and corruption, especially in Mexico. Other difficulties the company has faced includes the likes of online shopping websites like Amazon.com. Walmart has become an American household name, as well as a staple in the homes of America. It is as much a part of America and American life as its very culture is.
The story you are about to read is not just one that will show you a side of mass marketing that you have never considered, but also the side of humans that perhaps we should all pay attention to. We’re living in a fast-paced, rapidly-changing and unpredictable world where from one moment to the next, your life can be turned completely around. But perhaps the most important point to ponder, is that most often than not, we are the ones who make that turn.
Walmart – The Revolution
We’ve been privileged to have the wonders of Walmart at our convenience for over 50 years now. The chain stores offer us variety at low costs, meaning that we can get more of what we want at affordable prices. But even with all the pros that Walmart has brought us, it hasn’t gone by without its fair share of controversy.
Walmart The Revolution
Like A Regular Day
It was July 22nd, 2017, and it seemed like a regular day for shoppers at Walmart in Arkansas. One of those shoppers was Sharon Bufford, going about her regular grocery shopping. She had just finished choosing all the products she wanted and she headed to the checkout counter.
Like A Regular Day
Something Strange
As Sharon loaded her groceries on the conveyor belt, she watched as the attendant passed her items through the barcode scanner. When all the items had been scanned, the cashier told her the price of her groceries. But it sounded like more than she expected.
Something Strange
Trying Not To Think About It
Even though she felt like the price total didn’t match what she had bought, she decided to leave. Other shoppers were lining up behind her, waiting to pay for their goods so she didn’t want to make a scene.
Trying Not To Think About It
Checking It Over
Once Sharon arrived home from Walmart, she remembered that she wanted to review her receipt. She felt certain that she was overcharged, but when she took a look, it all seemed to add up correctly. Since she had never felt this feeling before, she forced herself to take another, closer inspection of the receipt.
Checking It Over
Finding The Mistake
On the second inspection, Sharon noticed what made her charge come up more than she thought it would. There was an item on the receipt that was called, “JAJKET” and she paid $10 for this mystery item. it wasn’t just a strange item, it had a nonsense barcode too. Sharon was very confused.
Finding The Mistake
Demanding Answers
Her first move was to give her local Walmart in Clinton a call. She was not going to take this unnecessary charge lying down. She was determined to hear what this mystery “JAJKET” thing was that she supposedly bought without her own knowledge. After a few rings, someone picked up the line and the complaint started.
Demanding Answers
Additional Information
Sharon explained what had happened at the checkout counter, and how she only truly revealed what had happened once she got home. But then she remembered that when the cashier scanned the butternut squash, the price magically popped up to $10 but that seemed a bit expensive. Was the butternut squash related to the “JAJKET”?
Additional Information
What’s With The Butternut Squash
Sharon told her story during an interview, “The butternut squash came up but a second after it went through the butternut squash it rang ten dollars because I saw it flash and I thought gosh that’s a lot of money for butternut squash. I just assumed it was the butternut. Then she rang the spaghetti squash and it came up too well then when I got home and I looked in between them and there was something for ten dollars and I didn’t know what it was.”
What’s With The Butternut Squash?
A Loyal Customer
If it had been any other establishment, perhaps Sharon wouldn’t be so adamant for answers. However, she was a loyal customer who bought her groceries at Walmart on a regular basis. She wanted answers because she knew for a fact that a wrongdoing had been committed.
A Loyal Customer
A Hidden Item
Eventually Sharon received an answer about the extra $10 charge. But instead of giving her an answer that would relax her, it confused her. The Walmart customer support representative explained that the “JAJKET” item was a so-called “phantom” item. The representative then revealed that the item didn’t exist at all, and that appeared on customers’ receipts at random.
A Hidden Item
Making Demands
It was clear that Sharon wanted a refund, and she fully deserved it. The local Walmart didn’t fight her for it and agreed that she deserved to get her money back. The store manager told her to come to the store to get her refund, but that wouldn’t be the end of it.
Making Demands
Other Complaints
With a little more research, Sharon realized that some other customers were having issues with Walmart’s hidden charges game. Some claimed that they noticed certain products coming up with higher charges than normal.
Other Complaints
Chasing The Phantom
Sharon felt very uncomfortable with what she was hearing, and she wanted to take the issue further to see if it was really true. But what stood out most for her was the Walmart store representative admitted something very serious and harmful. Was it possible that the representative admitted they had been using a phantom code to charge customers extra money at random?
Chasing The Phantom
A Relentless Ghost
What Sharon exposed about that strange conversation with a Walmart employee sparked even more outrage. The employee explained that aside from this “phantom code” being operational, it is impossible to remove it from Walmart’s cashiers’ systems. This meant that this nonsense item had definitely charged many others too.
A Relentless Ghost
Taking To Social Media
Sharon Bufford was not ready to let this secret remain uncovered at the cost of other shoppers. She first emailed Walmart’s corporate office and then she did what most people do – she turned to social media. Sharon uploaded a picture of her receipt, and detailed the story of what happened on Facebook.
Taking To Social Media
Going Viral
When Sharon’s story hit the internet, it hit it hard! The story took off and became viral; everyone was talking about the phantom $10 item at Walmart. The public was both angry and concerned, no-one knew if they had fallen prey to this scam.
Going Viral
Conspiracies And Theories
Just like any big story, once Sharon’s came to surface, everyone had a theory about the extra $10 charge. Some suggested that Walmart was looking for a way to make extra money without the customer’s knowledge. Even though it was only ten dollars, it would add up to something significant if it was being done nationwide.
Conspiracies And Theories
The Cashier
Some people dismissed that idea, but they provided their own. Others believed that the extra charge was set up by the cashier in order to be able to pocket the extra money for themselves. The idea was that the cashier would be able to take the money out of the cash register after the customer had left.
The Cashier
Passing The Blame
Although it seemed like a plausible excuse to blame the cashier, others weren’t buying it. Some critics claimed that it would be a lot easier to mislead the public’s attention and anger to a “single cashier” than have to face the idea of a major issue inside the Walmart’s business model.
Passing The Blame
Just A Missing Barcode
The reason, as some put it forward, could have simply been a missing barcode for an item. The claim was that it could have come down to a simple human error who entered a number by mistake without noticing. But that begs the question – “how would that have charged someone $10?”
Just A Missing Barcode
Feedback From Walmart Employees
Some light was shed on the situation when employees of Walmart and other people who worked in retail commented on her post. They explained that if a cashier mistakenly enters just the number ‘1’, then it’s most likely this charge would have occurred. It could have been entered when the cashier was entering a quantity.
Feedback From Walmart Employees
The Barcode Purpose
No-one needs an explanation as to what a barcode is, but what most people don’t know is that the multitudes of barcode number and line combinations is virtually unlimited. Having said that, the barcode system is so specific and accurate that every time an item is scanned, it cannot make a mistake.
The Barcode Purpose
Before Barcodes
it’s almost impossible to imagine a time without bar codes, but that’s how life was. A cashier had a list (or memory of a genius) that had the price of every item the store stocked. Each time the cashier added another item, the register would make a “ding” sound – hence the term, “ring it up.”
Before Barcodes
Walmart’s Investigation
Walmart was quick to jump onto the issue and warrant an investigation. The only problem was that they only took action once the story had already flooded the internet. Walmart in Clinton quickly released a statement that said that customers weren’t facing any danger when it came to overpaying for their groceries.
Walmart’s Investigation
An Honest Mistake
The quick investigation into the $10 overcharge brought by quick answers. Walmart claimed that it truly was an honest mistake of an incorrect barcode being entered into the system. Despite having a quick answer and giving Sharon a refund, the saga wasn’t over just yet.
An Honest Mistake
Still Mysterious
It seemed like everything had been sorted out, but there was something strange that followed the great drama. People quickly recalled what the Walmart representative had told Sharon about the secret item scam. Not everyone was ready to let that sensitive information disappear so easily.
Still Mysterious
Deleted From Facebook
It was weird because after Sharon received her $10 refund, she deleted her post on Facebook about the issue. She posted no follow up about the situation either. The public’s suspicion grew, seeing as that was the only evidence that could have possibly led to a revelation of a great scam based on the phantom item.
Deleted From Facebook
TV Investigation
Television station WUSA tried to find out why Sharon had deleted her Facebook post. They didn’t get much from her, but what they did uncover was that her post (that had been deleted) was the only online claim of this problem. It wasn’t the only claim of this happening, but it was the only one on the internet.
TV Investigation
Labeling A Libel
With the only evidence of the whole ordeal deleted, Sharon could face great backlash. Walmart could potentially sue her in a libel suit – because this claim could potentially destroy Walmart’s name, even if the claims are true.
Labeling A Libel
Walmart’s Statement
Walmart released a statement, commenting, “We immediately began looking into this issue when it was brought to our attention and want to assure customers at our Clinton store that they are only being charged for items they purchase. We isolated the problem our customer experienced to an incorrect product barcode that one of our cashiers entered as she was checking out. The issue was immediately resolved and as a precaution, we’re training the store’s associates on what to look for should anything like that happen again and ensuring none of our other stores are affected.”
Walmart’s Statement
Paying Her Back
The Walmart statement went on to say, “we reimbursed the customer for the incorrect charge, apologized to her and appreciate that she brought this to our attention.”
Paying Her Back
Walmart Abroad
As the heat seemed to die down in America for Walmart, the smell of smoke was coming from neighboring Mexico. The issues Walmart was facing in Mexico was far more than $10, it involved millions of dollars and the Mexican government.
Walmart Abroad
Mexico’s Story
In 2012, Mexico’s Walmart – Walmart de Mexico – was involved in a series of bribery allegations that caught the media’s attention. Mexico became dotted with Walmart stores in a very short amount of time. In fact, it was so quick that many claimed that the speed in which they popped up meant that they were not built legally. The CEO of Walmart de Mexico was said to have personally delivered suitcases of cash to Mexican officials so that he could get building permits.
Mexico’s Story
Covering Their Tracks
Walmart de Mexico’s accounting department would claim that the money they were spending was just legal fees. This would also show on the invoices they sent to Walmart International. But it was an inside source that revealed what was really going, fueling a full investigation. The story then reached The New York Times.
Covering Their Tracks
A Global Issue
Mexico may have been the first country to be involved in bribery, but it certainly wasn’t the last. Walmart officials were allegedly taking and giving bribes in other countries like China, India and Brazil. The claims were that the bribes were the only way to ensure that projects would get done.
A Global Issue
Paying The Price
Walmart wanted to settle the international issues they were facing without as little coverage as possible. In addition they didn’t want to enter a legal battle, or have their name dragged through the mud. At first the government demanded $600 million, but they settled on $300 million in the end.
Paying The Price
Changing Sides
Following Walmart’s international ordeal with bribery and corruption, Walmart decided to become active in fighting corruption. In fact Walmart claimed that they would team up with the US government by setting up a task force that would deal with countries where corruption is considered normal.
Changing Sides
When Walmart Came To Town
Although Walmart changed the American way of shopping for the best, it wasn’t without backlash. When Walmart started to offer bulk shopping and low prices, small mom and pop shops suffered. These small shops couldn’t keep up with Walmart, and as a result many collapsed.
When Walmart Came To Town1
When Amazon Came To Town
In what some people are calling “a taste of their own medicine,” Walmart has suffered at the hands of Amazon. As an online shopping platform, Amazon is offering consumers a place to buy from all over the world. At the same time the company can avoid so many taxes that Walmart can’t.
When Amazon Came To Town
Covering Themselves
In order to protect themselves from going through an ordeal like this again, Walmart took further action. They released a statement to let the public know that their staff was being trained fully to ensure that this issue wouldn’t happen again. They also stated that they would train their staff to learn how to fix a problem like this and spot the issue with speed.
Covering Themselves
Clearing The Air
The whole saga that took place in the summer has left Walmart in a precarious position. Regardless of what allegations were put forward about Walmart having some secret plan to cheat people out of their money, Walmart has proven that it never intended to do so. Investigations have proven this point and it has been confirmed that customers are safe to continue shopping there.
Clearing The Air
Snopes To The Rescue
After the massive story broke about the woman who paid $10 extra, Snopes.com got involved. Snopes is a website that fights to dispel fake stories and myths, and clarify the truths. Their findings concluded that there was no such thing as a “jajket” phantom item.
Snopes To The Rescue
The Dangers Of Social Media
Whether Sharon’s intentions were well-intended or not, the result of her online posting was quite damaging. Walmart managed to recover their image and reputation, but it very easily could have lost it. The dangers of posting on social media without fully knowing or understanding a situation can potentially destroy a business or a person.
The Dangers Of Social Media
A Lesson To Learn
Coming away from this story, we can all learn something valuable. Right in the beginning of the story, a store representative told Sharon that the company had a plan to rip customers off. Instead of investigating the issue further, this ridiculous rumor exploded in the media as a “fact”.
A Lesson To Learn
Final Note
If we all take a second to step back and look at the full picture, we can see a situation more clearly. Instead of jumping to conclusions, which is easier, we should give the other the benefit of the doubt. After all, isn’t it that we state, “innocent until proven guilty?” Sometimes they’re never proven guilty.
Final Note
Getting The Experts
Today brought in Kelli Grant, a consumer reporter to ask her some questions about overcharging in stores. She first suggested that shoppers know what they want from the store. She insisted that it wouldn’t help to argue with a store manager about an overcharge if you didn’t even know what you wanted out of it.
Getting The Experts
Utilizing Social Media
Grant went on to explain that it doesn’t usually help to simply post a complaint on social media. Many times a consumer will have to tag the customer service branch of a company and not just the company itself. A company that consumers can utilize is Stellaservice.
Utilizing Social Media
Price Matches Item
A very important practice is to make sure that the price on the shelf matches the item you take. So if you grab a pack of peanuts and the price tag shows $40, chances are that there was a mistake with the price. Unless of course they’re golden peanuts.
Price Matches Item
True Or False
A blogger posted a tip to customers about Walmart’s policy that drew a lot of attention. She wrote, “If your item rings up higher than the shelf price: If your item is $3 or less you get the item for free, if the item is over $3 you get $3 off your total bill!”
True Or False
Taking It Higher
Immediately people started trying this “trick”, but not everyone got the same response as Samantha. One man explained what happened to him: “I was told one time at the Walmart in Broken Bow, Oklahoma that they did NOT honor that anymore. So, I emailed the corporate headquarters and told them what the customer Service rep. told me and they sent me a check for the $3.00 plus a $5.00 check for my trouble.”
Taking It Higher
Honest Mistakes
Sometimes a mistake can occur because there are so many different hands that are involved in the work. An employee explained from his perspective, “A lot of our shelves are stocked and tagged by vendors (pop, bread, chips, candy, magazines) so the mistakes that they make are not actually the store’s mistakes.”
Honest Mistakes
Just A Skirt
Social media user, Donna Skipper told what happened to her, ” Today I bought a skirt at Walmart, from the clearance rack, that was marked $9.00. When the item was being rung up at the register it came up for $16.94! The cashier noticed the error right away but had to have a CS rep. come over to correct something. When she came up to the register I pointed out to her that I wanted the $3.00 off the price total. She didn’t argue with me and took it right off. So, the skirt that originally cost $16.94 I got for $6.00!”
Just A Skirt
What About Undercharging
A great question circling these arguments now is, what if the store you bought at undercharged you? Would most people go ahead and tell the cashier, or would they keep it to themselves. It’s actually an important question.
What About Undercharging