Friday

I was on Wal-Mart's website on Friday checking to see when Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Wii would be available. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was available for pre-order at a price of $19.82! I jumped on it right away to lock in my price. Wow! Newly released Wii games usually go for about $50. Even with shipping, I'm coming out way ahead! I clicked through to purchase the game. The website thanked me for my order and said they would send me a confirmation. Sure enough, I got a confirmation email from them with the details of my order: total purchase price, when I could expect shipment, and that my credit card would not be charged until the order had shipped.

Everything was great, and I was satisfied with my purchase. Until Saturday, that is. Saturday is when I got the following email from walmart.com:

We are contacting you regarding your recent order 2677303127823.

At the time you placed your order, the price of the item(s) listed below was incorrect on our website. Due to this issue, we have canceled the item(s) from your order. No further action is required on your part regarding this issue and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Your payment method will not be charged for the item(s). Any authorization hold on your credit card account will be released in accordance with your financial institution's holds policy. Please contact your financial institution for more information.

Item(s):

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Wii Qty 1


Please note: Any items in your order that are not listed above will be delivered as planned. Click on "My Account" on http://www.walmart.com/ to track the status of any remaining items in your order.

Should you have any questions, please refer to our Order Acceptance policy:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=119625&path=0:5436:120160:119599:119625#1

You may also contact one of our Customer Service Associates at http://us.f815.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=help@walmart.com.

Sincerely,

Customer Service at Walmart.com
http://www.walmart.com/

When you click on the link to the "Order Acceptance policy", it basically states that if they erroneously price an item they have the right to cancel the order. I think this is bad business, but okay, whatever.

The problem I had was that they indeed charged my credit card. Nope, it wasn't an authorization hold, it was an actual charge.

So I contacted customer service. I was like excuse me, but you charged my credit card already. You should honor the price.

The high school dropout on the other end was like, Uh...no. That's not our policy. We can yank that price out from under you at will. (I think I heard an evil laugh at this point, but that could've been my imagination.) I'd suspected that my argument wasn't going to fly, but it was worth a try anyway.

Then I told him their policy also stated my card would not be charged until the item shipped, but they had already charged my card. So, what's the deal, dude? Y'all get to pick and choose which of your stated policies you are going to follow?

The crickets chirping on the other end of the phone indicated a clear lack of comprehension on his part. So I dropped it.

I continued: Look dude, since y'all aren't gonna give me the item at the price you listed I want my money back.

He finally decided to form words: Yes ma'am. We've issued the credit back into your account. It usually shows up in 3-5 business days.

I wasn't mad until then. But now I was.

Playing with my money is like playing with my emotions, Smokey!

Why should I wait 3-5 business days for MY money? Y'all didn't wait 3-5 business days to get it! And, again, your own policy states that they wouldn't charge my card until the item was shipped. It was a pre-order for next month, so there was absolutely no reason my card should have already been charged.

The poor slug said there was nothing he could do. So I asked to speak to someone with adult-level comprehension, presumably a supervisor (though we all know THAT is no guarantee of more intelligence). He put the shift lead on the phone. I explained the situation and why I was hot, and pointed out that if they had the means to charge immediately then they should have the means to credit just as quickly.

I don't really care about the game or the $20, but it's the principal. There's principalities involved in this thing.

She indicated that she understood my point and said she would have them issue an immediate credit, which she did. So I asked why the brick and mortar stores had to honor ticketed prices but the website could get away with cancelling orders when they screw up a price. She said Wal-Mart and walmart.com are separate entities. This is not an answer, but whatever. She said I was welcome to resubmit my order at the current price of $49.98. Thanks, but I'll pass. If I'm going to pay that price, I might as well wait until the game is released and go get it from the Best Buy or Toys-R-Us around the corner. I wouldn't even have to go out of my way, and I'd save on the shipping charge. The only reason I pre-ordered it anyway was because it was going to save me 30 bucks.

I had already stopped shopping at Wal-Mart's brick and mortar stores. There really isn't one that's in my immediate vicinity, and they negated any benefit I would get from driving past two Meijer stores and three Target stores when they discontinued layaway, which I only ever used for the holidays anyway. But I had still been able to find a few deals on walmart.com. I ordered a Fisher Price I Can Play Piano for about $20 with overnight shipping. That item was retailing for about $60. And I had been able to find some other great deals when they were doing the 99-cent shipping thing.

But this has soured me on their website, too. I have to admit, though, that I love getting great deals. If I find another great deal on walmart.com, I can't promise I won't try to cash in on it.

And you know this, man!