A furious finger pointed at Walmart

OK, fellow consumers, here's the bottom line, right at the top: This is about as close a case of bait-and-switch as I have personally experienced in the last decade or so!

First of all, Walmart is currently running national ads boasting that the stores will price-match any other stores' sale prices. I heard a radio ad on the subject today. But just try to claim your "right" as a consumer at the store.

I wanted to buy something I saw in XS Cargo's Boxing Week flyer -- a Dr. Scholl's Paraffin Bath Spa kit -- but to get one, I'd have to drive out to Surrey. XS Cargo was asking $9.99 for this first-quality product (i.e. not refurbished). So I thought "Aha! I'll go to Walmart to take them up on their price-matching offer."

Coincidentally, manager for the Walmart store on Grandview Highway in Vancouver -- Will Semaniuk -- happened to be chatting with store personnel in the pharmacy section when I located the last package of the product (the one that was IDENTICAL to the version shown in XS Cargo's flyer).

Manager Will shook his head, telling me (a) that Walmart would not price-match to XS Cargo because "they sell refurbished goods," and (b) that it was Walmart's policy not to price-match Boxing Week prices.

Pharmacy staff checked the price on the Dr. Scholl's Paraffin Bath Spa kit I had brought up to their till, and it scanned in at almost $53! And just for the record, this unit was EXACTLY the same as the one offered at XS Cargo, and it was definitely not a reconditioned unit!

I mentioned that the policy of not price-matching during Boxing Week seems like false advertising; that Walmart should not be running ads AT THIS TIME OF YEAR if they have suspended their price-matching policy AT THIS TIME OF YEAR. Just to be sure I had heard right, I went over all the details with Manager Will and his minions. One of the pharmacy staff was kind enough to walk me over to a display of SIMILAR units (they only included 2 oz of wax, compared to the 4 oz supply in the one I chose; there were only 30 glove-liners, instead of the 60 included with the XS Cargo unit), that were sale-priced at $29.99. ("A great price, I thought" chirped the sales clerk.) Well, that might SEEM like a great price, but not once you've seen Paree (i.e. a $53 unit clearing out for $9.99.)

As I said, a classic bait-and-switch scenario.

But beyond the illegality of what Walmart is doing, the greatest insult was the manager's ATTITUDE. He looked at me as though I had been caught shoplifting, for heaven's sake. When I said I was going to write about the incident, I seriously thought he was going to have me escorted from the store, but you know me: Never one to back down, I asked for his name, which he gave me VERY reluctantly.

Just for the sake of comparison -- and because I was going there anyway -- I asked Melissa, acting manager at Canadian Tire what their price-matching policy is. She said they would always price-match XS Cargo's published prices, unless the price in question WAS for a refurbished item (especially electronics), or if it was for a "door-crasher" item where the flyer stated something like "minimum 4 available per store." She added that "At Canadian Tire, we would always try to do SOMETHING for the customer, even if we couldn't actually give them the full price-match discount." And she confided that Walmart is having financial trouble these days, so they are locking customers out of "normal" courtesies, like allowing returns without a receipt for good they recognize as their own. Well it's no WONDER Walmart is in difficulty if they turn their backs on good customers and treat them shabbily! I was going to stock up on meats for the freezer, but instead, I left without buying anything. And I urge anyone else who feels humiliated in Walmart to do the same thing.

Just an aside, I don't find Walmart's prices to be better than most nearby stores like Superstore, Price Smart or, yes, XS Cargo. And I've just gotta say that though the underling level staff are very friendly and helpful, they really cannot hold a candle to the competition.

And -- just for fun -- check out this anti-Walmart site.