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Customers abused Walmart's price matching policy to obtain PS4s for under $100, forcing company to edit policy

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Nov 2014 10:22 User comments (17)

Customers abused Walmart's price matching policy to obtain PS4s for under $100, forcing company to edit policy

Walmart has shut down part of their price matching policy which was being abused by scammers.
Earlier this month, the giant retailer announced it would price match select retailers including Amazon, meaning if you found a price for your item cheaper online, you could bring in a screenshot and Wal-Mart would match the price.

Unfortunately, there were those that took advantage of the vague wording by Wal-Mart and made fake Amazon sales pages offering the PS4, Xbox One and other big ticket items for cheap, even under $100.

The scam forced Walmart to update the policy, eliminating third-party vendors, marketplace vendors or auction sites from price match.

"We can't tolerate fraud or attempts to trick our cashiers," Wal-Mart said, in a statement. "This kind of activity is unfair to the millions of customers who count on us every day for honest value."

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17 user comments

120.11.2014 07:55

honest value...? wal-mart...? hmm

220.11.2014 22:42

and it only takes someone to save a retailers site in web format html edit it and still screw you over lol

321.11.2014 10:36

Originally posted by megadunderhead:
and it only takes someone to save a retailers site in web format html edit it and still screw you over lol
Keep in mind that individuals such as ourselves can also use Amazon to sell items.

So I'd imagine someone could use Amazon to set up a fake listing for a new PS4 for sale. Then it's just a matter of printing out the ad and going in to Walmart.

421.11.2014 11:40

Originally posted by bhetrick:
Originally posted by megadunderhead:
and it only takes someone to save a retailers site in web format html edit it and still screw you over lol
Keep in mind that individuals such as ourselves can also use Amazon to sell items.

So I'd imagine someone could use Amazon to set up a fake listing for a new PS4 for sale. Then it's just a matter of printing out the ad and going in to Walmart.

Actually MarketPlace wasn't covered under there policy so people would have to fraud their scams to reflect them as SOLD BY AMAZON.

The biggest problem with Walmart's price match model is that they don't check what is being price matched to see if it is current or fraudulent and most of the time if you are reasonable about the scam price you can verbally say you say it for this price and they will honor that. Now keep in mind that they screw their employees to counter their poor policies.

521.11.2014 13:07

Originally posted by Mr-Movies:
Originally posted by bhetrick:
Originally posted by megadunderhead:
and it only takes someone to save a retailers site in web format html edit it and still screw you over lol
Keep in mind that individuals such as ourselves can also use Amazon to sell items.

So I'd imagine someone could use Amazon to set up a fake listing for a new PS4 for sale. Then it's just a matter of printing out the ad and going in to Walmart.

Actually MarketPlace wasn't covered under there policy so people would have to fraud their scams to reflect them as SOLD BY AMAZON.

The biggest problem with Walmart's price match model is that they don't check what is being price matched to see if it is current or fraudulent and most of the time if you are reasonable about the scam price you can verbally say you say it for this price and they will honor that. Now keep in mind that they screw their employees to counter their poor policies.
At wages they pay do you really think they will get people smart enough to check the veracity of the ads on line? Apart from this I would not be surprised if more than 75% to 80% of the staff have no inclination to safeguard WatMart's financial interests. Most of them are probably working there out of sheer desperation!

621.11.2014 14:11

Yes in fact there are many very smart people stuck there because good jobs are hard to get in this wonderful economy. Most of the morons that do work there are on overnights the day shifts, with exception to a small group, are very smart. It is the corporate office that is the major problem. In fact Walmart has a pretty good AP and is better about prosecuting crime in their stores in comparison to other retailers. Then they make these boneheaded decisions.

You should be surprised because your inclinations are inverted, I now this for a fact, no inclinations applied!

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 21 Nov 2014 @ 2:12

721.11.2014 15:11

I only buy from Walmart if I'm price matching.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 21 Nov 2014 @ 3:13

821.11.2014 16:43

I weep for Walmart and its travails. Our taxes go to support the underpaid employees of this disgusting chain. But be sure and line up for the 6PM opening on Thanksgiving Day to get your greedy paws on some crappy piece of Chinese electronics. I'm sure the employees would rather be dealing with crazed customers than being at home with their families on this holiday.

921.11.2014 20:17

Originally posted by rbi149:
be sure and line up for the 6PM opening on Thanksgiving Day to get your greedy paws on some crappy piece of Chinese electronics. I'm sure the employees would rather be dealing with crazed customers than being at home with their families on this holiday.
Yup. I used to shop Black Friday once in a while, but screw that these days! Too many stores forcing employees to work when they ought to be home with their families. If I ever host a Thanksgiving party, when I write the invitations I will make sure to shame anyone missing my get-together to go shopping.

1021.11.2014 20:56

WAL*MARX
Always corporate greed, ALWAYS!!!

1121.11.2014 21:21

You have more corporate greed with Target, ToysRus, HomeDepot, Staples, and so many others, plus they are far from Communists so the Marx doesn't work either. Other than that you're batting 000.

1222.11.2014 04:44

Most places that do price matching usually flag competing prices that are ridiculously low (esp. items that have very little markup) as suspicious/incorrect (some sites occasionally list wrong prices for things temporarily). Their PoS systems should at least have a warning feature that prevents 'blindly' marking down certain items (again, at least all that go considerably below wholesale cost), so that it least gets more scrutiny. For a PS4, anything more than ~$50 off should be highly suspect. The under $100 ones, I woulda just laughed at the people and told them to get the F outta the store and never come back. Of course, Amazon should also be held accountable for letting bogus sellers sign up with them.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 22 Nov 2014 @ 4:47

1322.11.2014 11:03

Walmart's POS doesn't flag the cashier when marking down items based on sales from other retailers but it does limit the amount of the markdown, anything below 50% discounting requires a manager override and in most cases the manager will do the override. Other retailers will check prices online if they can to verify discounts but Walmart doesn't provide their sales people this luxury. In fact they can't easily check prices on their own website, now isn't that smart on corporates part!

From a consumer stance Walmart should be a good place to buy from, they return just about anything for any reason and their prices are normally lower than anyone else.

1422.11.2014 14:46

Well, I don't buy cheap Chinese plastic garbage.

But when it come to food: I usually buy 1/3 to 1/2 cheaper somewhere else that Walmart.
So price matching, save you money for something else that have great VALUE & is when a Good Shopper came into the game, in stead to just give your Hard Earned Money "back" to the same or the others Blood Suckers Corps.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 22 Nov 2014 @ 2:56

1522.11.2014 21:45

Fark walmart,couple years ago i tried to pricematch walmart to walmart.com and store would not match their online price.since that i hate walmart and would give my business to anyone else

1630.11.2014 08:49

Originally posted by Mr-Movies:
Yes in fact there are many very smart people stuck there because good jobs are hard to get in this wonderful economy. Most of the morons that do work there are on overnights the day shifts, with exception to a small group, are very smart. It is the corporate office that is the major problem. In fact Walmart has a pretty good AP and is better about prosecuting crime in their stores in comparison to other retailers. Then they make these boneheaded decisions.

You should be surprised because your inclinations are inverted, I now this for a fact, no inclinations applied!
reminds me of the time I went to walmart and over the loudspeaker they told all the staff to congregate for a meeting in the baby section and I overheard the manager grilling the staff about employees thieving from each other. I couldn't believe it!

1730.11.2014 20:49

Management isn't real professional there for sure!

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