Here’s my experience of the worst customer service EVER at Walmart Canada.
Years ago I had a Bissell carpet shampooer but it broke and was thrown away. Since then I’ve rented carpet shampooers as needed.
One of life’s unexplained mysteries is in a house with laminate floors and tile floors is that every time my dogs throw up or have diarrhea, they always manage to aim for the rug or carpet instead of one of the floors that’s easy to wipe off and clean.
I’ve been looking to get a carpet shampooer specifically for pet stains. I found one I liked on Bissell’s website, but I rejected it because they use Fedex for shipping. Nothing against Fedex, it’s not like they’re UPS who suck. I live in the country and we lock the gate when no one’s home, before I buy anything online I make sure it’s delivered by Canada Post where I get my mail at a post office box in the local Shopper’s Drug Mart. Couriers can’t schedule a time so I can’t be sure the gate will be unlocked when a courier is delivering, so it’s more convenient to have parcels shipped by Canada Post to my mailbox. I’ve gotten all kinds of packages there in all sizes. The staff have a locked room behind their counter where they keep packages. The largest package I ever got was a saddle that was packed in a big, old TV box and weighed over 30 pounds.
The Bissell website wasn’t able to deliver their carpet cleaner by regular postal service so I didn’t purchase from them. I can’t predict when someone will be home and the gate open, and then it’ll be a missed delivery. Couriers are extremely inconvenient for me because of the timing whether or not someone is home to accept the package.
I found a carpet shampooer on Amazon, but it wasn’t exactly the one I wanted. I know Amazon uses Canada Post because I make a few purchases from them and it’s delivered to the Shopper’s Drug Mart where my post office box is. I thought about buying it, but then I spotted a carpet shampooer at Walmart. Again, not exactly what I was looking to buy, but it was good enough, it was on sale for $30 off, and on the web page it said it delivers by Canada Post.
https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/bissell-proheat-pet-advanced-deep-cleaning-system/6000196048175
Scroll down a bit to the specifications to see it’s shipped by Canada Post. These specifications will become even more important in a minute.
I’ve never placed an online order with Walmart but I figured it would be easy enough because Walmart is always bragging about being as good as Amazon when it comes to online sales. And Amazon is EXCELLENT. Great shopping and check out experience, Amazon that is, not Walmart Canada. And the times I’ve needed to speak to a customer service rep it’s taken no longer than a couple of minutes. Amazon is AMAZING!
In Walmart’s checkout area, I had trouble entering my address. Walmart Canada’s system kept trying to default to a different post office box, about a 20 minute drive away. It doesn’t matter how far away. A wrong address is a wrong address. I finally got an option to make my correct address stick, and I was able to proceed. Everything else in checkout went smoothly and I received confirmation my Bissell would arrive by October 17, 2017.
On October 17, 2017 I received an email from Walmart Canada that my package had been delivered on October 16, 2017.
Very strange. I didn’t have a “you have a package” card in my mailbox when I was at Shopper’s the day before, but perhaps the staff were too busy to do the parcel notifications and it was done after I’d stopped at Shopper’s Drug Mart. No matter. I returned the next day. Still no card in my post office box. I asked the clerk and she checked the parcel room.
Nothing.
Hunh? Why would Walmart Canada lie to me and send me an email that my package had been delivered? Lying like that is outrageous. What good does lying about a parcel delivery do for Walmart Canada? Makes the company come off as a bunch of lying scammers!
I checked Walmart’s email and saw that they’ve sent my Bissell by Loomis. Why would they do that? Couriers don’t deliver to post office boxes.
I checked Loomis web page and it says they don’t deliver to post office boxes. I was able to track my package and Loomis had marked it “undeliverable”.
I phoned Walmart Canada using the number on their customer service page: 1-800-328-0402. This is the worst piece of shit automated phone system I’ve ever been stuck on. A caller can not get a REAL LIVE PERSON. The automated system also gave me a recorded message that the Bissell had been delivered on October 16, 2017.
I finally resorted to filling out the contact form on their web page and included my phone number. I complained about their useless phone system. I wanted to speak with someone about my missing Bissell and why they didn’t ship it by Canada Post, and what they plan to do to make this right.
Most companies would be busting their butts to fix the situation and sending out a replacement overnight express. Not Walmart Canada. This is NOT the home of good customer service.
Here’s the response I got from some fool named Marilou on October 19, 2017:
Hello Cheryl,
Thank you for your e-mail.
We apologize for the inconvenience. To arrange a pick-up at a Canada Post location, the order must meet the following size requirements:
• Item weight less than 66 lbs
• Does not exceed the maximum length of 78.7″
Some of our products can only be shipped to your home. There are two reasons why an item may not be suitable for Canada Post pickup.
- It’s too large or too heavy.
•Some orders come directly from third party vendors that are unable to ship to a Grab & Go locker or a Canada Post location. We are working to make it possible for them to ship to these locations.
We tracked your order 2333672293 for 1 BISSELL ProHeat Pet Advanced Deep Cleaning System through Loomis Express. Their records show the package is in transit.
Please do not reply to this email. If you require additional information or assistance, please call us at 1-800-328-0402. Our lines are open 7 days a week, from 8 am to 10 pm EST.
Sincerely,
Marilou
Customer Care Centre
Walmart Canada
Now if everyone remembers looking at the specifications on Walmart Canada’s web page for the Bissell it weighs 19.7 pounds. Let’s say with packaging no more than 25 pounds. It also says it’s 45” assembled. It comes in a box unassembled and the handle must be screwed onto the bottom half. In a box the height would be smaller, but let’s just call it 45”. The weight and the length still come in well below Canada Post’s guidelines that dumb ass Marilou has just rattled off to me. It’s not too big or heavy. Remember Canada Post delivered a saddle to me that was heavier and kind of awkward to carry in a big box.
The reason it’s in transit is because Loomis doesn’t know what to do with it other than mark it undeliverable. Probably on its way back to Walmart Canada.
Here’s another laughable thing. The email address from Walmart Canada is heretohelp.ca@walmart.com
Who thinks Marilou was “here to help” me. All she did was come off as a fool justifying why they couldn’t send the Bissell by Canada Post when quite clearly it’s well under the dimensions Canada Post parcel service needs.
Marilou is NOT “here to help” because she does piss all and has no interest in fixing this. All she’s preoccupied with are the dimensions packages need to fit in to ship by Canada Post.
I try the phone number again in the “here to help” email. Yeah I’m as big a dumb ass as Marilou because I still can’t get a real live person on Walmart Canada’s automated phone system.
I filled out the customer service form again with my phone number and ask how does Walmart Canada plan to make this right.
On October 20, 2017 I get a response from another unhelpful person at Walmart Canada’s customer service department. And yes,I use the term “customer service” very lightly.
Hello Cheryl,
Thank you for contacting us.
I hope the following information will clarify any questions you may have regarding our shipping policies.
SHIPPING DESTINATIONS
Currently, Walmart.ca can ship to locations in Canada
Listed below are the carriers that Walmart uses for Ship to Home:
1. Canada Post
2. Loomis
3. Sameday Worldwide
4. Canpar
5. ASL
To find out more information, please see our help section.
We apologize that you do not have the option to choose a carrier, we ship items depending on the availability of carrier. If you prefer Canada Post, you may select the option Canada Post Pickup.
In order to better assist you please reach out to us at 1-800-328-0402. Please do not reply to this email, our lines are open 7 days a week, from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm EST.
Sincerely,
Vinia
Now I realize that neither of those two geniuses, Vinia or Marilou, work in Walmart Canada’s shipping department. But clearly someone who works in that department when they slapped my address label on the box would have seen it’s going to a post office box and called the appropriate shipper, which can only be Canada Post. When I put in my post office box number, it is RPO = Royal Post Office. That’s how post office boxes are designated in Canada and that’s how we must address them. It appears that Vinia claims that I do not have the option of choosing how it’s shipped, and then says that I can choose Canada Post. The reality is there was nothing in the checkout process where I could choose shipping. You’d think the shipper could figure out that addresses with post office boxes RPO must go by Canada Post because couriers won’t deliver to post office boxes.
Again, I’m a slow learner and tried that phone number one more time and didn’t get a real person. I sent one more contact form asking how Walmart Canada plans to fix this and make it right. All I want now is a refund, but seeing as how I can’t get a real live person on the phone number provided and the “customer service” staff at Walmart Canada refuse to phone me…..
I did not get a response from Walmart Canada after my third attempt, clearly no one there is “here to help”.
Walmart Canada has no intention of getting my Bissell to me.
I am mad! I want a refund and I can’t get hold of a real live person to assist me.
I do the only thing I can do and phone Mastercard and put in a chargeback seeing as how Walmart Canada lied to me an email that my product was delivered when it wasn’t. That’s good enough for a dispute because Walmart Canada lied and I’m holding on to that email.
Walmart Canada will now have to provide proof to Mastercard of my signature at delivery which they can’t do. Besides Loomis still has the Bissell somewhere in transit.
Let’s be very clear. Loomis are not the liars here. Loomis shows they still have the Bissell and it’s undeliverable. Only Walmart Canada, who stole my money and won’t deliver my purchase, is lying about the Bissell being delivered to me.
So what’s the lesson I’ve learned from all this?
That Walmart Canada’s customer service department is useless.
Maybe this all has to do with salaries. If Marilou and Vinia are making minimum wage – in my opinion they’re overpaid! Useless staff who don’t care about making things right.
Perhaps Walmart Canada needs to find good staff who actually care about customers and doing whatever it takes to make things right and pay them a good wage.
You get what you pay for Walmart Canada!
It might help to pay the shippers a decent wage too so problems like this don’t happen. Like what kind of moron calls a courier to ship to a post office box? Only Canada Post can deliver there.
People who pay attention to detail and people who actually care about customers and providing top notch customer service are making decent salaries at other companies.
You get what you pay for Walmart Canada!
Why can’t Walmart Canada do the right thing? If you’re unable to deliver a package, the right thing to do is send an email apologizing and refund the credit card.
The wrong thing to do is send an email and lie that the product has been delivered.
At least Mastercard is giving me good customer service and helping me through the dispute process.
That Bissell was my first online order with Walmart Canada.
And that will also be the last order.
The customer service at Walmart Canada is the complete opposite of Amazon who provide excellent customer service the couple of times things have gone wrong and they have real people answering the phones.
Walmart Canada will never offer the same high excellence in customer service as Amazon as long as they have incompetent staff like Marilou and Vinia working there. And the scary thing is, those two are probably the top staff in that “here to help” department.
It’s simple. I either want the product I paid for or I want Walmart Canada to give me a refund. Walmart refused to do either.
All Walmart gave me was the runaround.
Edited to add, Walmart Canada isn’t done with me yet. Click here to read The Continuing Saga Dealing with Walmart Canada Buffoons.
Do you have any horror stories about the lousy customer service at Walmart Canada? Leave a comment below.
[…] up to my post of the Worst Customer Service EVER at Walmart Canada, I was forced to contact Mastercard to put a chargeback of $203. 29 for a Bissell carpet shampooer […]
I’m dealing with a similiar situation but my shipment contained baby formula. Definitely a time sensitive delivery. I’m actually on hold with Walmart going on 45 mins, at this point I’m just hanging on to see if anyone actually answers. The only way I was able to speak with alive person was by selecting the online grocery option and that person transfered me….and here I sit 45 mins later.
I ordered 3 cases of baby formula on Dec 30th after visiting multiple stores that were an hour away from my house and they were all out. But I wasn’t worried I could get it online. I received a shipping notification on Dec 31st…expected delivery date was Jan 5th. Perfect! I had enough formula to get me through. When I tracked the package there was no info on tbe loomis site….I contacted loomis and they said maybe it was picked up by a different courier so I didn’t give it much thought. The package didn’t arrive on the 5th but we also had a snow storm I figured that would cause a slight delay. When the package didn’t come on Monday, I started trying to contact Walmart.
I started with the useless toll free number, literally no selection under the online option will get you to a live person, If you select 0 that will get you disconnected.
I then tried social media, I explained I was running out of formula and was told the correct department would get back to me in a couple days. When I explained I only had two cans of formula left they stopped replying.
Today loomis was finally updated with some information. When I contacted the courier they said the package was just picked up today.
In summary Walmart are a bunch of liars, the email they sent on the 31st stating my package was shipped was a big fat liar. If I knew the actual status I wouldn’t be sitting her tonight with only two bottles of formula in the fridge debating what formula I’ll switch my son too – I’ve already been through several that have not agreed with him. I’ll thank you in advance when my baby is screaming in agony because the new formula doesn’t agree with him. I honestly thoight the package would be here today, I literally cried when I tracked the package and it was in Ontario.
Aw Kim. I feel your pain. Especially when you have a time sensitive issue and a hungry baby. Coming by mail a package going anywhere in Canada by mail should take one week. It was a long weekend but bottom line is you should have received it by Monday the 8th at the very least. A courier should get it there slightly faster. Almost anywhere in Canada by courier even by ground is 5 days at the most. Walmart needs to get their phone line fixed so they don’t lose online customers. We just want our stuff. I’d rather have got my carpet shampooer instead of my money back. And right now I’m ahead. I put in a chargeback with my credit card and a month later after one of the bigwigs at Walmart read my article cause I emailed them, all of a sudden I got a refund. In the wrong amount. But that’s for my trouble as far as I’m concerned!
I hope you get your baby formula. That’s just terrible you’re down to the wire. It’s like being out of diapers too and you can’t get them. Both are crucial. It’s not like you’re waiting for a case of pop. You need your product in a timely manner. And you’d like to have a real live person help you! I hope it gets through. I hope you come back and let us know how long you ended up on hold. I hope your week gets better!
After being on hold for an hour and 20 minutes I finally spoke with someone at which time I was told my issue would be put on high priority and Someone would EMAIL ME. Email! I had to laugh. I’ve yet to get an email regarding my high priority issue but I’ve contacted the shipper and had them send the formula back, there’s not much since getting it now since I’ve had to switch brands. its really mind blowing how difficult it is to reach someone at Walmart….I’m going to stick with amazon going forward. That’s for allowing me to vent on your post 🙂
That’s too bad Kim. And Walmart hires the village idiots to respond by email. At least with Amazon, if they mess up, they’re quick to fix and resend items high priority. Also you can reach someone at Amazon within minutes. At their website you request a callback and inside a minute the phone rings and then you get connected with someone inside another minute. So they have real people to help right away. I hope you get your product one way or another and your baby gets what’s needed!
I called Walmart 5 times to get a refund of $40.54. In the first 4 times, the agents all promised an email response with 24 to 48 hours. But the response never came. A month later, on my 5th call to Walmart, when I was given the same promise, I refused to hang up the phone. Instead, I asked the agent to escalate or give me something solid that is not a promise that would never materialize. The agent gave me the heretohelp.ca@walmart.com email. The refund came after this call. However, after a few days, I saw in my credit card transactions online that Walmart charged me again the same amount that it had refunded me! I called for the 6th time and was told to sen an email with a screenshot of the transaction to heretohelp.ca@walmart.com.
Given the time I spent on getting the refund in vain and all the good efforts of the 6 agents who answered my calls, it is apparent that Walmart is severely inadequate in its online service, parcel delivery, and billing. Its in-store service is still solid. But online shopping, Walmart doesn’t stand a chance against Amazon.
Hi sheeshow. Well first of all way to go for actually getting a real live person on the phone! Wow! That was a real battle for you to go through.
Walmart does have good prices, and many times Amazon doesn’t have exactly what you want, and Walmart might come closer to the brand/size/price that makes a shopper choose them instead.
Overall, when there’s problems, Amazon is much better to deal with. You can get a real person on the phone quickly and their customer service is great. They’re all about doing the right thing to make the customer happy, whether that means a refund or sending out a replacement product.
You are right, Walmart doesn’t stand a chance against Amazon. I’ll never shop online from Walmart again. I’ve placed several orders with Amazon this year and received all in a timely fashion, correctly delivered to my PO box by Canada Post.
Yeah, sad to say, but nothing’s really improved.
I ordered a package last Thursday. When I ordered, I was pleasantly surprised that it said it would be delivered the next day via Canada Post. “Wow! WalMart’s really upped its game to compete with Amazon,” I thought. There was problem number one: overpromise and under-deliver. When the next day came and by 4:00 PM the package had not even been processed at the warehouse, I called customer service. Of course, I ran into the infuriating IVR that does not allow you to speak to anybody if you choose any option other than Grocery Pick-up. If you choose online shopping, then Option 1 (Grocery Pick-up), you will get a live agent. That is very obviously by design since they realize their supply chain management and shipping practices for general merchandise are utter trash.
The first time I called on Friday, I was told they would escalate the situation and to wait 24 to 72 hours. I was pretty astounded by this response, given that it was originally estimated the entire process would take 1 day. Now rather than show any expediency, they ask I give them 72 hours to “see” (what exactly, I didn’t even bother asking). I called on Monday, technically 48 business hours later, not expecting much, and that’s exactly what I got. More runaround. Keep in mind that I had spent over $400.00 on my order. At this point I was exasperated and went online to see if this was a common experience or just one-off. Feast your eyes on this site:
https://ca.trustpilot.com/review/www.walmart.ca
From the above (in addition to my own experience) I learned all of the following:
– Make it difficult by design to get through to an agent
– Customer service is a shitshow of poorly-paid Filipino workers who will do basically anything and everything to get off the phone without attending to your concern
– Will constantly be given the runaround until your package is “in transit” at which point they will tell you they cannot cancel the item
– If you call them about any issue with the delivered item, they will tell you to drive to a store and return it and then reorder it online (and sometimes people have stupidly done this twice or three times)
– If you didn’t get your item delivered, you will insultingly have to sign an affidavit implying you’re a dishonest thief and their supply chain management and shipping practices are perfect (ha!)
– They will do anything to stop you from cancelling your order
– They adhere to only the bare minimum of legally requirements. For example, at 30 days past the promised shipping date, various Consumer Protection Acts of different Provinces come into play and they risk being sued if they make it difficult to get a refund. But beyond that, they don’t give a rat’s ass.
– They more often than not use shitty backyard couriers like CanPar, packages often go missing as a result (either theft or poor tracking)
Might be borderline fraudulent:
– If they made an effort at all, they’ve lost control over the very fundamentals of their website/e-commerce platform. They allow scummy third-party sellers to post bottles of Mr. Clean and the like for 1000% markup ($120 bucks, let’s say), probably to dupe some poor old senior with poor vision or cognitive function. And when you cry foul and attempt to call customer service? They have nothing to do with it; contact the third-party seller.
– The censor all negative reviews on their website (honestly, look through that web page I sent you) if it mentions shipping, has photos of damaged goods, or seemingly anything negative.
These last two bullet points are monumentally important because they do more than cheapen the site, they make it a virtual minefield for even people with decent computer literacy. For example, many would assume if you’re buying something from WalMart.ca, it’s being sourced from WalMart. It’s a reasonable assumption given it’s the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer. But no, the website is littered with essentially scam artist (i.e. third-party sellers), and the inability to flag them with poor reviews (like on other “marketplaces” such as eBay) means WalMart is supporting the practice by proxy!! No genuine seller or product rating system to protect the customer, just a censorship system that attempts to protect the WalMart brand and consequently puts the customer at risk.
Armed with this information, I called today (well, yesterday…I have been writing this for a while…lol) and refused to get off the phone. I was very polite–so as not to give them a reason to hang up on me more than not actually wanting to call them asshats–but refused to get off the phone. I stated I had been in their role before and will simply stay on this call for 40 minutes or an hour and their handle time/stats will be ruined for the day. They tried twice or three times after that to still get me off the phone, but when I kept repeating myself and stating it’s up to her how long she wants this call to be, that seemed to illicit a response. She transferred me and the last lady I spoked to seemed very nice and competent (her name was Charm). I believe she actually was a “case manager” as opposed to just claiming such, as she managed to contact the vendor and get my item shipped today (got an email). It’s still, what, 5 days late and yet to arrive, but it is being shipped by Canada Post so I’m pretty sure it won’t be lost (fingers crossed).
The ultimate irony in all this? The item I was buying was an ONLINE EXCLUSIVE for Black Friday (early bird). So there was no way to buy this in a brick-and-mortar store and was a product package specifically designed to compete with the likes of Amazon. I can safely say I will NEVER again use WalMart.ca to order ANYTHING no matter the monetary incentive, so that’s an epic fail on their part. And to be honest, even if I believed the crappy shipping would be a one-time exception (which I don’t), the fact that their customer service department seemingly exists solely to give nothing but the runaround to customers who would just be happy to either have their item or refund means I can never support their e-commerce. Shitty/non-existent customer service in brick-and-mortar stores in the 21st century is somewhat palatable, simply because people generally know what they want, where it is and require very little assistance along the way. But when have a multi-layer supply and delivery chain, you can’t have utterly useless technology and employees running amok as it frustrates the process to no end.
Hello Chris! Well thank you so much for taking the time to write out a lengthy comment regarding your experiences with Walmart’s lack of customer service. And burning the midnight oil to do so!
I really hope you get your package. I hate to say better late than never because there are just some things that when you purchase you expect to be delivered in a timely manner. And way to go for hanging in there and getting someone on the phone and refusing to get off the line until speaking with a supervisor.
In some ways I’m surprised to hear that Walmart hires people in third world countries to handle their phone calls. On the other hand, they can get away with paying them a fraction of what it would cost if they hired a Canadian.
It is frustrating dealing with any company when you’re trying to get a problem solved, and a problem that the company probably initiated, and you just get nowhere. A huge company like Walmart going down the toilet in making things right? The owners and management needs to sit up and pay attention to people sharing their horror stories online.
When I first posted this a year ago I put it on Twitter and linked Walmart. No cursing or anything, just click here and read my experience. And they blocked me. It’s not like I follow Walmart tweets, so no biggie. Probably someone overseas doesn’t want to know about unhappy customers. And that’s a real problem. A big company should be paying attention to what customers are saying about them.
Thanks for the link to the Walmart Canada Reviews. I’ve been reading some of the entries. Frustration runs supreme!
[…] Before I bought the Little Green Pet Machine, I did “buy” an upright carpet cleaner from Walmart, except they never delivered it and I got stuck dealing with the worst customer service ever at Walmart Canada. […]
I received an email saying my order was in. I called the store to let them know I was coming to get it, as directed, before going to pick it up. When I arrived at the store I had to wait another fifteen minutes before an associate brought out my order. (It would have been quicker for me to just buy the item in the store and wait in a check-out line) Anyway, only half the order was delivered. I received another email telling me my order was in. This time I called to check it really was there. The associate told me she could not find it and she would call me back. No call, so I called again a few days later. Still no item. The last delivery date was listed as April 14 so on April 20 I called again. This time there was no record of my order number or name. Yet, I have an email from Walmart with an order number on it telling me to pick up my item. I called again and was told I had to call the on-line service department to get a refund as there was no record of my order. I objected and told the associate this was Walmart’s problem and that they had to solve it, not me. I just got a call to say Walmart would refund the amount. If I had not objected, this would still not be solved. This is the last time I will order from Walmart on-line!
Rosemary, I think this is all part of Walmart’s greater plan of keeping the prices down and wherever they can cut costs, like paying staff at minimum wage level. There’s a high turnover with retail clerks, many Walmart employees are looking for better paying jobs, or at least less stressful jobs, and they don’t care about customer service. They don’t get paid enough to care. I worked a very good paying office job in the service department and part of that was providing good customer service. Countless times our team managed to get a replacement part picked, paperwork done, and to the shipping office minutes before the courier showed up. As one person said – we make the impossible happen. You can be pretty sure that motto is never spoken at Walmart! Especially when it comes to online sales.
It’s one thing for Walmart to contact you and say: “part of your order is ready. Do you want to pick it up now, or do you want to wait until everything is ready.”
Then you can make a decision.
But jerking you around and not giving you all the information, sadly seems to be the norm for Walmart’s “customer service”.
Yeah, really, if the item is on a shelf in the store and you have a general idea where it is, you can probably find it faster than the 15 minutes it took the staff member. Maybe s/he stopped to chat with a coworker for a few minutes. It’s not like Walmart has any sense of urgency.
At least when you buy multiple items from Amazon, they often send you an email saying they have part of the order ready and are shipping it now. The rest of the order will ship as it becomes available and there’s no extra shipping charge for the multiple shipments.
I think it only takes the first experience of ordering online from Walmart to make a decision never to make that mistake again!
Friday before last I decided to buy a pair of shorts online from walmart.ca. I’ve ordered from them plenty of times and have never had an issue before. The next day I ended up going shopping and found myself near a Walmart so I decided to check out their in-store selection. I found the same shorts one size smaller, but $30 cheaper.
Now that should’ve been a red flag. However, I ordered from their big and tall section so I chalked it up to the ordered pair being a specialty size. I decided to buy the new pair and sent a cancellation request from my phone while still in the store. I sent the request to their Tags Weekly department.
On the following Monday, (the first business day after I sent the request) I received a reply saying that- to their credit- the shorts had already shipped and the order could not be cancelled. They also attached a link to the tracking info which for some reason showed the item shipped from the States. Fine. It’s always inconvenient to have to return an item but fine, I’ll do it.
I’ve never had to return anything I’ve ordered from walmart.ca but I figured the worst that could happen would be having to pay return shipping (I’ve also never shipped anything to the US). I emailed back to the Tags Weekly department to inquire on how to return the shorts and why they were shipping from the States. The next day they email back giving me the address to ship the shorts back. They also sent me a notification of a %30 restocking fee for returns sent from Canada.
To clarify; they want me to pay for shipping to the States, and a %30 restocking fee on top of that.
I immediately emailed them again to demand answers. I reminded them I had ordered from walmart.ca and that it was not stated anywhere during my purchase I would be ordering from the US.
Their response: “Dear Alex, It is stated in our listings in the marketplace. I do apologize for the inconvenience.”
To this wholly unsatisfactory response, I reiterated my points and asked about other means of return. I know that you can refuse a parcel and asked what would happen if I returned to sender. I also asked about returning the shorts directly to Walmart (which according to their return policy you can do with ANY item).
They told me I could not return the shorts to Walmart and offered to waive the restocking fee by %15. Didn’t even acknowledge return to sender. By this point I was exhausted with the whole ordeal and decided to take a couple days off from it. I hadn’t even received the shorts yet. I’d deal with it later.
Last Saturday, I was checking my bank account and found I had been issued a FULL refund. I was ecstatic. A miracle had happened. Against my better judgement I decided to message Tags Weekly to ask what had happened. I hadn’t even received the shorts yet. They didn’t respond.
At some point I received the shorts and a return form in my email. I decided that since they had refunded me I would just pay the shipping to get this overwith. I had some questions about the returns form but as I went to email them I noticed a new message from walmart.ca. For some reason they had sent a new shipping notice. This was Wednesday.
I asked the Tags Weekly department about the notice thinking they made a mistake and were now sending me a new pair of shorts. Apparently they had no record of this new shipment. It was weird but I ignored it and told them I’d ship the shorts back the next day.
Now around 9pm on Wednesday I had an Idea about what happened. I decided to check my bank account to make sure. I was right. Turns out they sent that second shipping notice because they had charged me again! I messaged them to cuss them out and tell them I’d be contesting the charge.
I called my bank and was told that disputing the charge could take a while and that I should try one more time with customer service. Reluctantly I agreed. It was like 10pm by that time and I quit for the night.
Thursday Morning. Was this morning when I started writing this but apparently now it’s 1am on Friday.
I decided to call customer support as I had been dealing with the same incompetent person in the Tags Weekly department this whole time. I jumped through all the automated hoops and got through to a person almost immediately. I proceeded to tell this woman everything that had happened. She found my info, account and the item. She told me a whole lot of stuff that I could barely understand except for one point she made incredibly clear; she could not help me because I had ordered an item from a third-party seller.
Fuck. Me.
That’s right. Apparently, Tags Weekly isn’t some special sale department in Walmart. Oh no, it’s an entirely different fucking company. A fact so hidden that it can only be seen during checkout and understood with prerequisite knowledge. During checkout if an item does say “Shipped by Walmart Canada” specifically, then it is sold by a third-party. To be clear; it does not give this info anywhere on the product page. Not even in the Return Policy or Shipping sections where it reads “No return/shipping information available”. It doesn’t help that Tags Weekly didn’t clarify this to begin with.
I decided to try Tags Weekly again. I acknowledged that this was not technically their fault; that walmart.ca was to blame for this miscommunication. I offered to pay shipping and even tried appealing to their humanity. I told them how stressed this has made me, how difficult it is to sleep, and how waking up is a nightmare. All I want them to do is drop the restocking fee.
“Dear Alex, OK. I will waive the %30 restocking fee down to %15.”
So, later today I’ll be going to the bank to contest this charge. I pray to whichever gods will listen to get this to go in my favour.
Two peices of information I’ve waited to mention;
1 – I’m fighting to get back $66 CAD. Nothing for them, but two weeks of food for me. I’m on ODSP.
2 – I found this out after offering to pay for shipping; $23 CAD to return the item via Canada post. Basically a third what I paid for the item.
Oops. I made a small error. There’s a line in there that should read ‘During checkout if an item doesn’t say “Shipped by Walmart Canada” specifically, then it is sold by a third party.’ It currently says ‘does’ which is incorrect.
Also, I know this isn’t exactly about walmart.ca’s customer service but I figured it’s at least testament to how poorly handled their overall practices are.
Wow Alex! It looks like Walmart is putting you through the ringer. All over a pair of shorts! Why can’t Walmart get it right? And if they can’t get it right = do the right thing and make the customer happy. Whatever happened to that old saying “the customer is always right”? Not a motto a Walmart!
If you haven’t already done so, get a screenshot where the item says its shipped by Walmart. Even if you have to start another phony order to get to that screen.
If you haven’t received either of those deliveries – yeah you can refuse them. It sounds like they’re coming through the mail. Depending on where you live, Canada Post probably won’t bring them to your house but will leave a card in your mailbox where you can pick them up. Either don’t pick them up or call in with the delivery number and tell them you’re refusing the package cause the shipper made a mistake and sent it twice. Whatever you have to tell them. The Canada Post clerk likely doesn’t care the reason.
I don’t quite get how the charge came out of your bank account. I paid by credit card like I do with most online purchases. Sometimes I pay with Paypal and that does come out of my bank account. I just went to Walmart Canada and randomly put an item into the cart and went to check out. All it shows are credit card options to pay with.
I did a search for Tags Weekly – an apparel store – and they take Paypal. They’re in the states but ship internationally. I guess Walmart is trying to copy Amazon and having third party vendors sell through their site. Amazon does a much better job of it especially when it comes to complaint resolution.
On Boxing Day I bought a dash cam through Amazon on sale but it was defective. Amazon could only offer me a refund but suggested I contact the vendor to get a replacement. Bottom line, the vendor lied to me and Amazon refunded my money. It was a fairly pain-free process. http://thelifestyledigs.com/review-yi-1080-dash-camera/
See how it goes with your bank. I hate to say the obvious but if it’s one of the Big 5 they don’t actually care about the little guy. It’ll suck even worse if it’s CIBC you’re stuck with. Banks make their money off big businesses, not the little guys. You’d be better off dealing with a credit union who are more people oriented. Maybe even an online bank like Tangerine or EQ. If you’re thinking about EQ, you can get a $25 bonus if you sign up by July 8/19. Check out my post on how to do that http://thelifestyledigs.com/new-eq-bank-customers-25-bonus/
I hope you get a sympathetic person at the bank who can reverse those two charges. If not, you might get some action through a BBB complaint. Keeping in mind that companies don’t need to respond to the BBB and if they do, they don’t need to come up with a resolution to make the client happy.
Another option is to contact your TV news station. Most of them have a consumer advocacy reporter that is often able to get hold of staff at the company who can make a refund happen and fix problems correctly.
I hope the new shorts are working out for you. And yes $30 cheaper!
Good luck with getting this solved. Come back and let us know what happens!
WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT BY SHOPPING ONLINE AT WALMART!!!!
I will NEVER EVER EVER again buy from walmart online , i purchased all my christmas gift from walmart 2 months in advance. they left me with no christmas gifts few days before christmas , they made me to contact third party email after email , i only received one out of all the orders that got lost in transit .so i asked for refund , promise after promise nothing happened. after several calls i insist to talk to their supervisor , one of staff hanged up the phone , the other one put on hold at least 20 mins , finally supervisor told me i should receive my refund in about 6 days and they address me to the email for higher complain here to help .ca . i think beside of lost the time for 2 months plus no gifts for christmas i have to run crazy in last minute to buy all the gifts . i have to fight to get my money back . I REGRET it so much that why didn’t i buy all my gifts from AMAZON . no matter what walmart lost my trust as a client . PLEASE DON’T BUY YOUR SPECIAL EVENT GIFTS FROM WALMART , YOU WILL BE LEFT WITH NOTHING IN HAND .
Oh Behnaz I am so sorry to hear this. The last thing anyone needs is more stress over the Christmas holidays.
I feel your pain. Not only do you have to rush out and deal with the crowds and the heavy traffic around the malls, but your finances are messed up, tied up with the presents that Walmart or their 3rd party supplier didn’t send.
Keep an eye on getting a refund – in the correct amount – so Walmart doesn’t keep cheating you. If you paid by credit card, contact your card company now and tell them what’s happening. You might need to put a chargeback in, and the credit card has a timeframe when you can do so. If you’ve already contacted them and put them on notice that you’re expecting a refund but are skeptical you’ll receive it. You should contact Global News. They have a consumer affairs reporter who might help you get faster results.
Good luck. And Merry Christmas!
MISSED A PHONE CALL THIS MORNING FROM SOMEONE AT WALMART SO I CALLED RIGHT BACK TO TRACK WHO IT COULD BE, I SPOKE WITH ORIWAHH, (NOT SURE IF NAME IS SPELLED RIGHT AS SHE TOOK OFFENSE TO ME ASKING HER FOR HER NAME. ( GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE ). AND NO BADGE NUMBERS FROM ANYONE, GREAT.
1) IT IS NOT ABOUT THE DAMN REIMBURSEMENT FOR MISSING ITEMS, WADE(CR) RESOLVED THAT PROBLEM THE SAME DAY I SPOKE WITH HIM, AND ESCALATED MY CASE FOR TWO OTHER ISSUES.
2) Lloyd(CR) MESSED THE WHOLE CASE UP BY REMOVING MY NAME AND ASSIGNING HIS NAME TO MY CASE.
3) THE PROBLEM IS WHY WERE YOU IN AND OUT OF MY BANK ACCOUNT ON THREE DIFFERENT OCCASIONS WHEN I AM ONLY CHARGED WHEN I PICK UP THE DAMN GROCERIES?
4) WHY ARE THERE STILL TWO AMOUNTS PENDING IN MY PAPAL ACCOUNT SINCE APRIL 24TH WITH TWO DIFFERENT ASSIGNMENT NUMBERS FOR THE SAME AMOUNT?
5) WHY DO NONE OF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO READ ANYTHING I EVER SEND YOU OR EVEN LISTEN TO WHAT I TELL YOU OVER THE PHONE.?
6) GIVE UP TALKING TO ME ABOUT MISSING GROCERIES, THAT WAS REIMBURSED BY WADE(CR)………..
7) HAVE SOMEONE CALL ME IN THE AFTERNOON (13:00 +) THAT CAN RESOLVE MY PROBLEMS ASAP, ON MY HOME PHONE
==================================
I AM A 69-YEAR-OLD SENIOR, THREE STROKES, MICRO VASCULAR DISEASE. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HIGH CHOLESTEROL, GROWTH ON MY PITUITARY GLAND, DIABETIC WITH TWO BAD KNEES.
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
From: Gary Forgie
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2020 5:27 PM
To: heretohelp.ca@walmart.com
Subject: Re: Order number: 3132041002608 Reference number: 200516-007032
17th Telephone Call Spoke with Quislin. in Customer Service, she will look after my problems within 5 Business day. I will Monitor.
Now 18 CALLS, 6 TRANSFERS, 12 EMAILS, 6 SURVEYS, TOTAL OF 17.5 HRS of my Life WASTED.
Extremely Tired, Upset. Frustrated with Walmart,
I would like to be Compensated for my Time and Energy.(70″ Large Screen Smart TV). would be AOK.
Order Number: 200516-007032
GARY FORGIE
Order number:
3132041002608
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Gary Forgie te: Fri, May 22, 2020 at 3:48 PM
Subject: Order number: 3132041002608 Reference number: 200516-007032
To: heretohelp.ca@walmart.com
BANK STATEMENT COPY AND PAYPAL COPY ATTACHED BELOW: CUSTOMER RELATIONS LLOYD
WADE IN CS REFUNDED ME FOR MISSING ITEMS AND ESCALATED CASE
May 04, 2020 PAYPAL *WALMART _V 41.64
Can someone in Customer Relations who gives a Damn about people and Cares about Customer Service please read this and Call me at Home,
If you just want to apologize and fluff me off please don’t as I am way past Frustrated and you can not Understand.
Nightmare = Very first Time pick Up Grocery Order
16 CALLS, 6 TRANSFERS, 10 EMAILS, 4 SURVEYS, TOTAL OF 14 HRS WASTED
HAVE SOMEONE IN AUTHORITY CALL ME ASAP
GARY FORGIE
Order number:
3132041002608
Order total:
$210.97
between 6pm&7pm
I WAS 15 MINUTES EARLY, CALLED IN AOK, RECEIVED TEXT AOK, FORGOT ME, CALLED IN AGAIN, MANY APOLOGIES, GONE BY 8:30PM
4 ITEMS MISSING
3 DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OUT OF MY BANK ACCOUNT REMOVED, TWO RETURNED (WTF)
PAYPAL BS
———————————————————————————————————————-
Pending
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
– negative$273.83
Apr 24, 2020
Order Placed
Your payment method will be charged when Wal-Mart Canada Corp completes your order.
Transaction ID
O-57T24903K55997255
Details
Amount
$273.83
Pending
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
– negative$273.83
Apr 24, 2020
Order Placed
Your payment method will be charged when Wal-Mart Canada Corp completes your order.
Transaction ID
O-3WD1683111860824U
Details
Amount
$273.83
16 CALLS, 6 TRANSFERS, 10 EMAILS, 4 SURVEYS, TOTAL OF 14 HRS WASTED
HAVE SOMEONE IN AUTHORITY CALL ME ASAP
GARY FORGIE
As a Senior, with Chronic Illnesses, I find my First Time Pick Up Grocery Experience beyond Comprehension
WTF WTF
Was escalated by Wade last week, told to me by Lloyd today who I was warm Transferred to by a Lovely lady in Arkansas, USA. May 16, 2020.
Extremely Tired, Upset. Frustrated with Walmart, I would like to be Compensated for my Time and Energy.(70″ Large Screen Smart TV). AOK
I have to Email my Bank Records from April 22nd to April @4th, as well as my PayPal Records and then wait to be Emailed from Corporate.
TD CANADATRUST BANK STATEMENT COPY
Apr 29, 2020 PAYPAL *WALMART _V 22.97 $1,578.01
Apr 28, 2020 PAYPAL *WALMART _V 21.00 $1,587.48
Apr 27, 2020 PAYPAL *WALMART _V 210.97 $186.03
Apr 27, 2020 PAYPAL * REV 04/22_V 262.82 $397.00
Apr 24, 2020 WAL-MART #3143 37.45 $354.36
Apr 24, 2020 PAYPAL *RE 5.84_V 5.84 $391.81
Apr 24, 2020 PAYPAL *WALMART _V 23.08 $397.65
Apr 24, 2020 PAYPAL * REV 04/22_V 205.66 $420.73
Apr 22, 2020 PAYPAL *WALMART _V 262.82 $215.07
Apr 22, 2020 PAYPAL *WALMART _V 205.66 $477.89
PAYPAL COPY WITH TWO
Statements
Pending
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
– negative$273.83
Apr 24, 2020Order Placed
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
– negative$273.83
Apr 24, 2020Order Placed
Loading transaction details for
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
– negative$273.83
Apr 24, 2020Order Placed
Your payment method will be charged when Wal-Mart Canada Corp completes your order.
Seller info
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
Transaction ID
O-57T24903K55997255
Details
Amount
$273.83
Total
$273.83
Print details
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
– negative$273.83
Apr 24, 2020Order Placed
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
– negative$273.83
Apr 24, 2020Order Placed
Loading transaction details for
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
– negative$273.83
Apr 24, 2020Order Placed
Your payment method will be charged when Wal-Mart Canada Corp completes your order.
Seller info
Wal-Mart Canada Corp
Transaction ID
O-3WD1683111860824U
Details
Amount
$273.83
Total
$273.83
Extremely Tired, Upset. Frustrated with Walmart, I would like to be Compensated for my Time and Energy.(70″ Large Screen Smart TV). AOK
Wow Gary! That is quite a saga! On the bright side – at least you talked to someone at Walmart! Not an easy feat.
In BC you can call 2-1-1 if you’re a senior and want to be matched up with a volunteer who can shop for groceries for you. Not sure where you’re at, but it can’t hurt to call 211 and find out if you can get help!
I feel your frustration. This has been going on for too long. It almost sounds like you should contact Global TV or whoever your station is that you like for news and get hold of the consumer affairs reporter who can help you with this conflict. There’s enough stress going on right now with the pandemic that you don’t need this extra aggravation.
I’m not sure what they charge for the services but some people use Instacart for personal grocery shoppers, because I can understand with your concerns that you want to avoid stores right now.
Moving forward, I’d definitely start with 211 and see if you can get a volunteer shopper. Good luck with all this!
Trying to get some questions answered today before creating an order (my first time). I couldn’t even get questions answered. The email question area sent me a response to my question saying it was “rejected” and will not be answered.
The phone line, the agent couldn’t answer the questions or, even though I verified all my information except for one thing, said they couldn’t help further. I felt this was a Walmart procedural issue (so didn’t blame the agent). So I went to the survey after to give my feedback and after keying in the numbers and waiting to be able to voice record why I was not happy with the service, the survey disconnected. So they know I wasn’t happy with the service from the agent but they don’t know that I blame WALMART for procedural hoops, NOT the agent. I hope the agent is not being put through the ringer for the bad survey result.
The chat line wouldn’t connect for further follow up later.
I quit. I’m not even going to try to purchase anything further. Clearly it has been YEARS and no improvements seem to be occurring.
Hi Kim. I’m glad you found us and thanks for sharing your story. Such a frustrating experience! Your question is rejected? Amazing. Must have been too complex ha ha! Like – what colors does it come in?
It’s really tough right now with coronavirus cases on the increase and many people don’t want to shop in the stores. You’d think Walmart would increase its customer service support for clients contacting them by email, social media, or phone.
I’ve never ordered from Walmart online again, though I do shop inside their store. My online purchases are pretty much always Amazon. Their customer service team is excellent, both in answering calls quickly and coming up with a resolution to make the customer happy. Which ensures repeat business.