This article has been updated since its initial publish date.
Groceries are expensive enough as it is right now. With inflation driving prices through the roof, self-checkout scams, and surcharges for delivery orders being added to the mix, the last thing you need when you ring up your items at the register is to see an even higher number than the one you calculated in your head.
As it turns out, that’s exactly what keeps happening to Walmart shoppers—and they’re speaking out about the alleged overcharging across the internet.
Yup—people have reason to believe that these stores are charging anywhere from few cents to a few dollars more for each item at the register and even charging for mysterious items, adding a significant amount to their grocery totals. Learn more below.
Walmart overcharging
As noted in viral TikTok videos, specific Walmart stores have been fined and sued multiple times for charging more than the price items are marked as.
One shopper, Mary Bach, won $180 in court over an overcharge of just two cents. Bach referred to the store's method of overcharging as "electronic bait and switch."
Other shoppers have experienced similar situations. Some have even reported "price-gouging" and "double-charging," which you can read about here.
@charmaineaguidinglight #walmart #scammedme #lloydminster #canada #payattention #fyp #fypシ #overcharged #becarefull #checkyourbill original sound - Charmaine
Walmart scanning extra items
In addition to overcharging, some have reported being charged for entire items they didn't mean to buy. "I want to give all the lovely people that love shopping at Walmart a warning," TikTok user @charmainguidinglight, a.k.a. Charmaine, started one video.
She shared a story of a time in which she noticed a mysterious charge for "footwear" on her receipt. Luckily, the cashier removed the charge—but only after what seemed to be a large hassle and extensive search to ensure Charmaine did not, in fact, purchase any footwear.
Charmaine begged the question: "What the heck is going on?! You need to watch what they're scanning at Walmart everywhere," she urged viewers.
Walmart prepaid card self-checkout scam
A man who goes by @eddiestrange4 on TikTok also said that he recently almost paid nearly double what he intended to because someone swiped a gift card at his self-checkout register before he rang up his own items.
"I just want everyone to be careful and look out at Walmart," he said at the beginning of his video back in May. Eddie noted that he recently went to Walmart for some simple groceries that should have only cost him around $55. But after he scanned everything, he noticed the total was much higher, at a whopping $130.
When he called an employee over to try to get to the bottom of the issue, something suspicious happened. "She comes over, opens up my screen, and deletes something on the very top that said 'Card,'" he says, noting that the employee double-checked that he hadn't purchased a pre-paid card.
"Somebody probably swiped a card before you got here and left," Eddie remembers the employee explaining.
This isn't the first time someone has spoken out about this self-checkout scam. Another shopper told a similar story back in January.
Eddie says he later realized what had happened: "You can buy these cards and put money on them," he explained, using video game cards, with which people can make in-game purchases, as an example.
"Somebody swiped their card and left the store, and if I come in and buy $500 worth of groceries, I'm not going to realize that there's an extra $75 charge," he goes on. "People are obviously walking in, swiping their card, and putting an amount on it... and you just paid money to their card without your knowledge." Yikes!
In order to avoid this issue, our best option is always to double-check (and even triple-check) your receipt before leaving the store.
