Walmart routinely offers deep discounts and sales, making the giant retailer attractive to those shopping on a budget.
According to one Kansas shopper, however, it’s probably a good idea to check whether the price an item scans for actually matches what was advertised.
In a recent TikTok video that got over 153,000 views, creator Amanda (@amandabainum457) says that wasn’t the case for her.
Pricing error at Walmart?
“Walmart is screwing people!!” she wrote in the video’s text overlay as she films a large stack of Chef Boyardee lasagna cans.
On top of the stack is a rollback sign. It lists the previous price as $1.34 and the current sale price as $1.
“Hey, guys, look, it is on sale for a dollar,” Amanda says. “We’re gonna buy some, and we’re gonna see what it rings up as.”
She grabs one of the cans and heads to self-checkout.
“OK, guys, we just saw that that was on sale for a dollar,” she says before scanning it.
The can rings up at $1.44, which is not only higher than the advertised sale price but also higher than the $1.34 pre-sale price shown on the sign.
“What’s that say?” Amanda asks, pointing at the screen. “There you go.”
She says an employee eventually corrected the price.
“Young lady was kind enough to override it to a dollar,” she says, filming the screen again after the adjustment. “But you saw what it rung up at.”
Can Walmart charge more than the advertised price?
The U.S. doesn’t have one federal scanner-pricing law.
At the state level, however, Kansas regulates scanner accuracy through its Weights and Measures code. The law makes it unlawful to “charge or attempt to charge” more than the advertised, posted, or quoted price.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture says it conducts scanner inspections for exactly this reason.
During an inspection, an employee scans 100 items. If three items scan either above or below the advertised price, the agency says the retailer is subject to a follow-up inspection.
“Continued failed inspections can lead to enforcement actions that could require the retailer to pay a monetary penalty,” the department says.
Other Walmart shoppers say they’ve seen the same thing
Amanda isn’t the only Walmart shopper to complain about shelf prices not matching what rings up at checkout.
In a r/WalmartCustomer Reddit post from earlier this year, one shopper vented about how often they said these pricing errors happen.
“Why should I have to take photos of prices and catch prices ringing up wrong and then get an employee to hopefully change the price or remove it from my register?” they asked. “Why do items and especially produce ring up wrong so often?”
Another Redditor in r/Frugal said two items they purchased at Walmart rang up higher than the shelf price.
“One was 13% more while the other was a whopping 26% more expensive,” they wrote.
The poster said they brought the issue to a manager, who allegedly told them he had already raised the problem with management.
According to the Redditor, the manager said “they didn’t care to correct the underlying problems.”
The poster called the errors “outright fraud” rather than an isolated mistake.
Another r/Frugal user shared a similar experience.
“Went to Walmart today, I got less than 10 items and two of them were price incorrectly one is a $1 more and the other is $4,” they wrote. “I always use the self check out to make sure I see the prices.”
They ended with a warning to other shoppers.
“To my co-frugal reddit user, beware when you doing your grocery.”
Commenters say shoppers have to pay attention
“That means Walmart will rip you off if you are not paying attention completely,” one commenter wrote.
“1.44 it was originally 1.34 smh wow,” another exclaimed.
Others were frustrated that shoppers have to monitor pricing themselves.
“I DONT WANT TO BABYSIT A STORE PRICING WHILE DOING ALL MY OWN WORK CHECKING N BACKING THE STUFF IM BUYING,” one viewer wrote.
Another blamed the problem on store employees failing to update the system.
“Fyi, most of the time this happens is due to a lazy employee that didn’t do there job and enter the UPC and mark the price down,” they wrote.
@amandabainum457
Subplot News has reached out to Walmart via its contact form and Amanda via TikTok direct messages for comment.
