topic Re: Computers Are Taking Over.... in Community Chat

Computers Are Taking Over....

PickyPicky3 — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 01:38:32 GMT

....and they're quite mischievous. I ordered a $15 vest from Walmart. For some reason, as soon as Fedex delivered, the price in my WM account changed to $19.11. I called WM customer service and explained what happened.

WM: I'm going to put you on hold. Please hang on.

WM: Our system will only allow us to refund $3.89.

Me: I don't understand. The difference is $4.11.

WM: You are correct, but our system will only allow a $3.89 refund. Please hold on again.

WM: Since we have no other option, we'd like to offer you a $10 certificate with our apology.

Me: I'd be OK with $4.11.

WM: Sadly that's not possible.

Wait till they get really mad.

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

San Antonio Gal — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 08:46:37 GMT

I would have been fine with the 3.89 and not worry about the .22 cents.

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

spent2much — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 01:50:32 GMT

I would have taken the $10 certificate gladly!!!

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

PickyPicky3 — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 02:09:03 GMT

I wouldn't be surprised if Walmart's system shorted 20,000 customers $.22 today. They've been using inventory controlled prices more and more which I hate. One simple programming error probably caused this.

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

chrystaltree — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 03:44:38 GMT

Computer glitches do happen. 99.99% of customers would have understood that and been happy with $3.89. So... They had to "pay" you the $10 gift certificate to go away. Very funny indeed. Speaking of computer glitches. Every quarter, I get a check for 1 penny. When I retired, I cashed out one of my retirement accounts that was through my employer. Of course when I retired they canceled my access to the company's system and my employee ID number. So... I called about the $.01 checks and asked them to cancel it. They said, the employer has to do that. I called my former employer and they said since I'm a former employer, the pension plan must do it. So.... It appears for the rest of my life and beyond, I will receive a quarterly check for $.01. I do under that when they wrote those programs, no one envisioned a scenario in which an account is not zeroed out during cash out.

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

Desertdi — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 08:04:10 GMT

This nonsense has been going on for YEARS. I closed an out-of-state bank account....but the bank left some accrued interest on the account. (A few dollars)

Then they started charging me a "low balance fee" every month. Pretty soon, *I* owed THEM money....and they PLACED ME FOR COLLECTION with an attorney.....

(There is a SIMPLE accounting process to reverse this...but nobody at the bank seemed to know HOW).

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

chrystaltree — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 12:48:55 GMT

@Desertdi wrote:
This nonsense has been going on for YEARS. I closed an out-of-state bank account....but the bank left some accrued interest on the account. (A few dollars)

Then they started charging me a "low balance fee" every month. Pretty soon, *I* owed THEM money....and they PLACED ME FOR COLLECTION with an attorney.....

(There is a SIMPLE accounting process to reverse this...but nobody at the bank seemed to know HOW).

Crazy indeed. But it's not a matter of the employees not knowing how to resolve it. They can't. There are processes that don't allow manual overrides. It's all automated and the humans can't perform specific functions. There would have to be programming changes and no company will do that for "low dollar" errors. Once a program is written and implemented, it can only be rewritten for vital or high $$$$ issues. I was told that about a hundred times in my former job.

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

San Antonio Gal — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 12:58:09 GMT

@spent2much wrote:
I would have taken the $10 certificate gladly!!!

I may be in the minority, but I would feel bad taking a 10.00 gift certificate for a .22 cent mistake @spent2much .

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

Desertdi — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 12:58:35 GMT

@chrystaltree I used to have a job that involved finding those "errors" and fixing them.......but it was at a primary metal producer, not a bank..... di

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

wagirl — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 14:18:11 GMT

Funny---DD and I ordered take out last night and I added an extra to it--think it was $1.50 more---and didn't get it but was charged--so I comlained on the delivery app and got $6 credit!

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

PickyPicky3 — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 14:57:15 GMT

@chrystaltree I agree with you there was no manual override. But if there's a new glitch which is permanently changing a price after an order has been placed, leaving the customer no proof of the correct price, it's not a $.22 error.

Am I supposed to take a screenshot every time I order something? Or keep a little purchases book?

I feel it's important to make WM take serious notice. I asked the rep to escalate the original issue, not the refund. She said she would by forwarding the recorded conversation to the appropriate department.

Both Walmart and QVC have good customer service. Can you imagine if this happened on a website with an overseas call center?

Zero guilt here.

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

lovescats — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 14:59:04 GMT

do you pay tax on clothes that might be the difference between the 3.89 and 4.11

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

hckynutjohn — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 17:28:14 GMT

@spent2much wrote:
I would have taken the $10 certificate gladly!!!

@spent2much

Me too, if it is a place I shop on a regular basis. But for us, WM is not one of them.

hckynut 🇺🇸

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

Cakers3 — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 17:56:22 GMT

@spent2much wrote:
I would have taken the $10 certificate gladly!!!

@spent2much I would too but the point is about the 22 cents. It is about WM getting the 22 cents that belonged to the customer.

Multiply these pennies times the number of returns WM handles.

Re: Computers Are Taking Over....

Ladybug724 — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 18:35:12 GMT

@PickyPicky3 wrote:
....and they're quite mischievous. I ordered a $15 vest from Walmart. For some reason, as soon as Fedex delivered, the price in my WM account changed to $19.11. I called WM customer service and explained what happened.

WM: I'm going to put you on hold. Please hang on.
WM: Our system will only allow us to refund $3.89.
Me: I don't understand. The difference is $4.11.
WM: You are correct, but our system will only allow a $3.89 refund. Please hold on again.
WM: Since we have no other option, we'd like to offer you a $10 certificate with our apology.
Me: I'd be OK with $4.11.
WM: Sadly that's not possible.

Wait till they get really mad.

This sounds shady on Walmart's end. Whether it's 4 cents or 40 dollars, they need to fix the system that is cheating customers.