Walmart Changes Price Policy Amid ‘Scamming’ Controversy

This article has been updated with new information since its initial 08/18/22 publish date.

When you think of low prices and incredible deals, Walmart is likely one of the first stores that pops  into your head. The corporation is well-known for their practically unbeatable price tags—but back in July, one TikTok user made claims that the store is actually overcharging customers, because those price tags might not keep their promises.

More recently, Supermarket News reported last week that until now, when online Walmart customers were offered a substitute item for an out-of-stock product, the shoppers were automatically charged for the lower-priced item. Soon, if the recommended substitute costs more, Walmart customers will have to pay the higher price, according to a leaked internal memo sent to Walmart store managers last Friday, as reported by Business Insider. “Moving forward, customers will now pay the list price for specific substitution items made on their order,” the memo obtained by Business Insider states. “Customers and members will receive updates about this change in the Walmart app at various points in their shopping experience.”

According to the published reports, this new policy will go live in the coming weeks. “As we continue to expand our popular online pickup and delivery service, we’re giving our customers more control of how and when items are substituted, including enhanced preferences and the ability to approve or reject substituted items,” a Walmart spokesperson recently told Best Life. “This flexibility is an important part of how we continue to give our customers more control over their pickup and delivery experience.” Walmart apparently doesn’t expect much of a pushback from customers over their new pricing policy, Business Insider reported. “There will be a bit of a transition period,” the spokesperson told Insider, “but overall, this is pretty common.”

On July 29th, TikTok user @brennasbakery posted a video to the platform warning shoppers about Walmart’s “overcharging” issue. “You guys, Walmart is scamming people, so listen up,” she said. “They’re jacking up their prices. They’re ripping you off. I don’t know how this isn’t a lawsuit yet.” Wait… what?!

That certainly is a surprising allegation, considering Walmart’s affordable reputation. But Brenna shared a pretty convincing anecdote in the video, which has since garnered over 50,000 likes. “I was just at Walmart,” she begins, explaining that she stopped by the store for some items to make a cake. She then goes on to say that she had previously checked the price of Wilton chocolates on Walmart’s website and saw that they were priced at $2.62, and found the same price listed on shelves. (Not bad!) However, the issue arose when Brenna arrived at the store and went to check out.

“I went to ring them up but they were ringing up for $4 dollars each,” she stated. Okay, that’s definitely a little fishy. Luckily, once Brenna pointed the issue out to the cashier, she adjusted the price accordingly. However, the shopper claims that five other items rang up as higher than their listed price. Yikes! (Sounds like the store is definitely trying to pull the wool over shoppers’ eyes.) “I understand inflation is making a lot of prices go up,” Brenna reasoned. “But if the price is also indicating something online, you can buy it for that price online, and it’s that price in the aisle, they’re scamming you. They’re purposefully marking up prices because most people are not gonna check that when they’re checking out.”