Last night, I visited this location, which is not a new one for me. In fact, I've been coming to this store for the past 8 years, even though it's not always been the closest one to me. I'm very familiar with this location, but my experience last night left a bad taste in my mouth.
While I won't mention the lack of stock on the shelves--since that's likely out of anyone mentioned's control--I will share what happened at checkout. I went through Register 22, and the cashier was pleasant, so no complaints there. However, as I was leaving, I passed a female employee standing near the exit on the side of the barbershop. I knew she was there to check receipts, so I informed her that I paid using Walmart Pay but wasn't sure how to pull up the receipt on my phone. She suggested I ask my daughter, who also couldn't find the option.
The worker then stepped directly in front of my cart and said, "If you needed to return something, how would you?" I replied, "There's nothing in my purchase that I would need to return, so that didn't even cross my mind." (Just to clarify, all the items in my cart were groceries I had pre-planned for the week, as shown on the list I was holding.)
She continued, "Hypothetically, if you needed to return something, I bet you'd find it." I responded, "Well, no, because nothing here needs to be returned. I would also have the option to ask customer service for assistance in locating the receipt."
Instead of helping, she kept standing there, continuing to instigate the situation. So, I asked her, "Since I know I paid, what happens if I just walk out?" She responded, "That's an option, but something might come with it."
I told her, "Ma'am, I just checked out at Register 22, and you can verify my purchase there, or you can call a manager for help finding my receipt." As we walked back towards the register, she noticed a male manager standing nearby. I explained the situation to him, and at first, he didn't know how to access the receipt on the app either. But after I showed him my phone, he remembered and was able to pull up the receipt.
As I headed back towards the door to show the woman the receipt, I overheard her talking to another coworker, still bringing up the irrelevant question about returns. She then turned to the lady behind me and said she'd check her receipt first. Without even looking at mine, she dismissed me.
After spending over $250 on groceries and going through a cashier lane rather than self-checkout, I didn't expect to be treated like a child being lectured about not locating a virtual receipt, nor like I was sure to be a thief. I understand that theft happens, but when all of my items were bagged except for a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper and a family-sized box of Lay's chips, and I went through a cashier lane, I highly doubt I was a threat. I work every day to uphold the law, and I certainly won't risk going to jail over some chips and soda.
The employees who are tasked with checking receipts should have more training and more decorum when working with the public. I was not trying to be problematic, AT ALL, I just was unsure how to retrieve a receipt on an app that I rarely use and was grilled by an employee who also didn't know how to attain the document she was requesting. read more