Walmart Shopper Claims the Store Is "Ripping You Off" by Doing This
A viral TikTok accuses the company of scamming shoppers with a deceptive practice.
Walmart is sometimes lauded for its customer service and the breadth of products it sells, but that pales in comparison to the one thing the retailer is most consistently celebrated for: its low prices. Millions of shoppers go to their local Walmart store every single day to buy the products they need at more affordable costs. But now, one shopper is claiming the retailer is using its good reputation to take advantage of customers—and her accusation has gone viral. Read on to find out why a shopper says that Walmart is "ripping you off."
READ THIS NEXT: 5 Warnings to Shoppers From Ex-Walmart Employees.
Walmart has gotten backlash over monetary concerns before.
Walmart has already been linked to monetary concerns at least once this year. Back in June, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against the big-box retailer, alleging that the company had "turned a blind eye" to fraudsters using its money transfer services for years. According to the agency, investigations by law enforcement found that scammers were able to receive fraudulent payments obtained by various schemes at Walmart stores because the company failed to "properly secure" its money transfer services.
This included Walmart not properly training its employees, failing to warn customers, and using procedures to allow con artists to take out cash, despite the FTC's complaint claiming that Walmart "knew about the role" its money transfer services played in scams and frauds. "While scammers used its money transfer services to make off with cash, Walmart looked the other way and pocketed millions in fees," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.
Now, a Walmart customer has accused Walmart of scamming shoppers out of their money more directly.
One shopper claims Walmart is "ripping you off" through a different practice.
A TikToker just slammed Walmart with a bold allegation. "You guys, Walmart is scamming people, so listen up," a TikTok user named Brenna said in a now-viral video posted to her account @brennasbakery on July 29. In the video, which has since amassed nearly 50,000 likes, Brenna claimed that Walmart is knowingly overcharging customers for products in its stores.
"They're jacking up their prices," she said. "They're ripping you off. I don't know how this isn't a lawsuit yet."
RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter.
She says the company is overcharging customers.
Brenna shared her own experience of being overcharged at Walmart in the video, detailing a situation in which she went to her local store to buy Wilton chocolate candy melts for a cake. According to Brenna, the listed price for the product in store and online was $2.62, but at the cash register, the chocolate was ringing up at $4 per package. She said a cashier adjusted the price when she bought it to their attention, but this wasn't the only item she experienced this with. Five other items rang up at higher costs than their listed prices, Brenna claimed.
"I understand inflation is making a lot of prices go up," she said in her video. "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."
Walmart was recently fined for overcharging customers in one state.
While Brenna's claims have not been independently verified, several Walmart stores have been cited among a list of retailers overcharging customers in North Carolina. According to The Charlotte Observer, at least five Walmart stores in the Charlotte area have recently been fined by the state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Standards Division for price scanning errors.
The newspaper explained that state workers conduct periodic, unannounced inspections in retail stores to see if the prices listed on shelves match prices ringing up at the register. As a result of these investigations, multiple Walmart stores have been forced to pay between $1,700 and $11,800 in fines for error rates ranging between 4 and 12 percent.
"It is always a good practice for consumers to check their receipts as well as the price on the shelf to make sure that they are paying the correct amount and alert managers if they are not correct," Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in a news release, per The Charlotte Observer.
Best Life has reached out to Walmart for comment on Brenna's video, but has not yet heard back.
