Saturday, September 15, 2007

How to have a successful price matching experience at Walmart

Based on personal (last night) experience, I would advise you:

1. Do not visit the Spokane Valley Wal-Mart at 7:00 pm when the lines are humongous.
2. Do not change lines because you think it will be faster.
3. Do not get the 50ish female cashier with graying hair in a french braid.
4. Pay attention when you notice she seems to be taking a LONG time with the guy in front of you.
5. Be concerned when she begins individually wrapping your flour and rearranging the order you have placed your items on the conveyor belt.
6. Do not try to price match your salmon with a coupon that says "Any seafood item" AND has a picture of salmon on it--because she will tell you it's doesn't specify, in words, salmon.
7. Make sure you have every price match documented with the store and the ounces, because SHE WILL CHECK.
8. Do not try to get peanut butter granola bars, instead of honey and oat granola bars, because she will have to call over a supervisor.
9. Do not try to save $8 on your meat, because it rings up as a unit and not in pounds, because you will have to call over the supervisor and then the manager, before she will give in and let you have it.
10. Pay no attention to the 8 PEOPLE line behind you, one of whom will say, "Really, if you are going to do this, you should have a sign on your cart that tells people to get into another line."
11. Do not lose your temper when she will not give you a 6 oz container for the 7 oz container price, because they are not exact matches.
12. Do not try to tell her the price of the meat, as you figured it at home, because she will want to, with scratch paper and a pencil, figure it out herself while everyone hates you behind you.
13. Do not try to leave right after you pay, because she will want to show you, using your mile long receipt, each item you price matched, where it was deleted and how it was repriced.
14. Do not calculate the 38 minutes you were in the Walmart line, because it will just make you mad.
15. Remind yourself and your husband that you saved $19 and it was probably worth the cashier from hell.
16. Make sure your husband takes a picture of your annoyance when you get home, because you will want to blog about this for sure.

16. Tuck right into the Ben&Jerry's Karamel Sutra you bought (price matched for $2.50) when you get home. It will make everything all better.

16 comments:

Lorena said...

This is why there are days when I just can't ad match. Sorry for your experience!

And, you know what a good and rigteous girl I am, but I would have given the cart-comment person the finger.

Ilene said...

I didn't even know that Wal-mart price matched. I did know that Wal-Mart checkers are the coupon Nazis. Bravo to you for sticking to your guns. Don't worry about the people behind you, they KNOW it is the checker's fault.

It is also interesting to me that the Wal-Mart checkers are never motivated to get the zillions of people waiting to pay for their stuff out quickly. They seem to like to drag out every person's shopping trip as long as possible. As I walk up to the check-out line I take a deep breath and say a prayer.

At least times like these you know exactly what your blog topic will be for the day!

Thanks for the info about Friday McDonald lunch. Sounds divine.

Paige said...

What is price match? WalMart has meat? I'm not qualified to be your friend. I know nothing about your exciting life.

Celia Fae said...

Uh, did you know that Safeway delivers? If you order more than $100 its free. I will blog about it so you can learn.

Do you think your husband felt sorry for the checker because she didn't know what she was getting into?

Nortorious said...

What's price matching? Does it have anything to do with coupons? My husband clips coupons and puts them in a neat pile. Then I put that neat pile into the trash and get on with my life.

Erin said...

If anything drives me to toss the old WofW out the window and begin drinking heavily, it will be WalMart. Seriously.

Carie said...

This is why I only go to Wal-mart when in dire,dire need. I am a SuperTarget?Costco girl myself. I have found here in MO that their prices are the same if not cheaper at Target. (pronounced Tar-shay.) And I stopped buying my meat at Walmart after an incident. That is all I am going to say.

Nae-nae said...

Ahh gotta love super-walmart. But I would gladly go through the many ordeals to have one in Boston

bloggingchristy said...

Okay, THE EXACT SAME SITUATION HAPPENED TO ME ON SAT. NIGHT AT A WAL-MART IN TULSA OK! Can all Wal-marts have the same old lady checker who you want to scream at when you finally get your turn to check out. But you know you won't say anything to her or the manager because she's an old lady. Can't they be greeters or something?

P.S. We were at Wal-Mart at 8:00 at night with kids who had been in the car all day with no naps. And we left at 9:00 and we spent 30 minutes in line!!!

Lorena said...

One more thing...you look way good after that experience...skinny too! Check out the arm muscles!

Paige said...

I need to know what price matching is. So I can never do it. It sounds hard.

Anonymous said...

On the other hand - if you go early on a Saturday morning, and find the short, spunky older lady who is always giving the customers good natured grief, you will find that she is fast and fun and will "remind" you of price matches you missed on your own...

mandy* said...

You just made that lady famous! The next time I visit my in-laws, I'm going to drive to the valley, go to Walmart and look for the 50ish, gray haired check-out lady. Want to go with me??

Linsey said...

price match? I'm confused, is this new fangled fancy first world thing? In Peru you just put the item on the conveyor belt and pay the price - sometimes it is the same price as advertised and sometimes it isn't - either way the exchange rate is 3 to 1 so you are generally happy with the outcome. seriously, what is price match?

Jessica said...

Price matching: the only good thing about WalMart is that they will match their competitions prices if you have close to exact matches (depending on who you get). All you need to do is tell them the name of the store and the price. I do it every once in a while, because it is obviously a huge hassle. On good days I save between $8-15 (enough for my Friday playdate at McDs), which is sometimes worth my effort, sometimes not.

C. Jane Kendrick said...

Or better yet, skip Wal*Mart all together.