So that makes this okay? It's an outright scam that hurts innocent employees. And everyone doing it knows that.
Fuck right off.
Wal-Mart scammed into price-matching the bogus 89.99$ PS4 listing on Amazon.
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So that makes this okay? It's an outright scam that hurts innocent employees. And everyone doing it knows that.
Fuck right off.
Yeah but this is why local places were hesitant to match online. People ruin it with stuff like this. (Not that I'm going to judge someone for saving money but still)
BumblebeeCody
Member
Buy a PS4 now for $60 now and you're a thief.....despite paying money for it.
But a PS4 in 10 years time for $60 and it's all good.
Or what if someone sold a PS4 on eBay for $60 on launch? Is that thievery? Please.
So who lied? One company price match another while a customer paid.
Cheat? No-one cheated because that's how the listing was detailed.
Who stole a PS4? No-one
Kill? Not even gonna bother with that
Win? Is this supposed to be bad now?
It's amazing the amount of people damning the one extremely rare chance we (well te Americans)can get a cheap PS4 while 2 massive corporations wouldn't even feel the dent of this loss. Wal-Mart throw so much food away but oh no, a buying a cheap PS4 is where my issue lies.
Dr. Black Jack
Member
Tricking any retail store into doing something shady always hits the people who work at that store the hardest. You're not sticking it to a faceless corporation; you're just being an asshole and fucking up the sales numbers of a specific location or worse, ruining someone's week/month/career by fucking up their disciplinary record.
Also, flat out fraud is not "getting the best possible deal".
I.. What? People claiming others are doing unethical actions should get down from their high hors. What the actual fuck..
Some people took advantage of a situation. That's what most would do. What seriously baffles me is at what point would you guys consider this unethical? Say the console would've been 100 dollars off, should costumers just have been "nope that's not the right thing to do". There is absolutely no difference and I guarantee that a lot of the posters on this board claiming unethical whatever the fuck would not blink twice if a console they wanted suddenly dropped $100 due to a mistake.
The only difference is the amount of "discount" and apparently you're a bad person if you go below a set amount of money made by other. Shame on you.
Nah seriously though, relax people. Walmart will make the appropriate changes, but they won't remove the price matching. In the end it's one of their selling points, but they obviously don't want to get seriously screwed by it.
That's just my opinion though. I don't hope I offended too many
Some people took advantage of a situation. That's what most would do. What seriously baffles me is at what point would you guys consider this unethical? Say the console would've been 100 dollars off, should costumers just have been "nope that's not the right thing to do". There is absolutely no difference and I guarantee that a lot of the posters on this board claiming unethical whatever the fuck would not blink twice if a console they wanted suddenly dropped $100 due to a mistake.
The only difference is the amount of "discount" and apparently you're a bad person if you go below a set amount of money made by other. Shame on you.
Nah seriously though, relax people. Walmart will make the appropriate changes, but they won't remove the price matching. In the end it's one of their selling points, but they obviously don't want to get seriously screwed by it.
That's just my opinion though. I don't hope I offended too many
Felix Lighter
Member
They would have to empower employees to add discretion to the policy, which means more strict hiring processes and higher wage requirements. I'd personally feel guilty about something like this, so I wouldn't do it but Walmart has to be aware of this kind of risk when they came up with their policy. I wouldn't consider an opportunist, in this case, to be a thief or scammer.
Chezzymann
Member
Also, that Kotaku article is written very poorly and suggests something very different than what actually happened. Its assuming this is some deal where someone sets up a fake Amazon sale for the specific purpose of people taking advantage of it for price matching, when what really happened is that someone was trying to scam people on amazon into thinking they could get a PS4 for cheap when they were in fact a fake seller. Then people turned around and took advantage of Walmart employees who didn't check to make sure the seller was legitimate.
CosmicQueso
Member
If a consumer doesn't realize that it is a fraudulent listing, and acts in good faith to get the deal, and Walmart agrees, then the transaction isn't unethical.
However, as many people posting the tweets, and even people discussing here know that the listing is fraudulent, and know that this is a scam... they cannot be acting in good faith to make that exchange and it is therefore unethical and potentially illegal.
Not worth it. oohhhh
Come on. The only reason this worked was because the Amazon listings were bogus. No one was intending to sell a PS4 at that price, they were only intending to buy at that price. The price matching that retailers offer is intended to undercut what a product is actually being sold at.
You can say the same thing about Wal-Mart's existence. Fuck them. They're not really doing anything illegal, but they sure are a disgusting, unethical company.
I.. What? People claiming others are doing unethical actions should get down from their high hors. What the actual fuck..
Some people took advantage of a situation. That's what most would do. What seriously baffles me is at what point would you guys consider this unethical? Say the console would've been 100 dollars off, should costumers just have been "nope that's not the right thing to do". There is absolutely no difference and I guarantee that a lot of the posters on this board claiming unethical whatever the fuck would not blink twice if a console they wanted suddenly dropped $100 due to a mistake.
The only difference is the amount of "discount" and apparently you're a bad person if you go below a set amount of money made by other. Shame on you.
Nah seriously though, relax people. Walmart will make the appropriate changes, but they won't remove the price matching. In the end it's one of their selling points, but they obviously don't want to get seriously screwed by it.
That's just my opinion though. I don't hope I offended too many
The issue is that this isn't a price match. It's a fake listing to scam people and people go into Walmart knowing this and trying to get a price match. There's nothing wrong with price matching, bending the system, or being slick.
I got a brand new iPad Air for $250 because I price matched ($100 off +10%), used their coupon (20% off) and bought a Visa Prepaid card because they were basically 15% off for free for some reason.
You can take advantage of a system without being deceitful.
Of course, this isn't all on them. The manager should have caught it. They get paid enough to where they should know better.
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
Someone didn't read the thread.
Like I said, owning up to the "hustle" is fine by me. That demonstrates you're at least mature enough to understand the repercussions of your actions, and that you made a calculated decision. Brushing the issue aside as "I'm not hurting anyone" is some weak bullshit.
duessano
Member
You may want to calm down and stop carrying water for Wal-Mart.
Fraud. Immoral. Dishonest. Thieving. Petty. Small. But not theft.
The "price error" was intentional, by a person like you or me setting up a merchant account on Amazon and setting the price to 89.99 in order to use it against Wal-Mart's generous policy which was established on good faith. Anyone using this deal knows they are screwing Wal-Mart out of $200 and all other customers who were going to use their price-matching policy honestly.
From my own experiences in working at Walmart, I couldn't care less.
Steve Youngblood
Member
Hmm... I wouldn't go so far as to call this theft, but I do think it's an egregious move that I discourage. Mind you, I get it: this is Wal-Mart we're talking about. there's more complexity at play here than simply chalking up any case of beating Wal-Mart as beating a giant, monolithic entity. Saving $340 on a PS4 isn't just $340 coming out of the Walton family's pockets. If it was, then maybe I'd feel better about sticking it to "the man."
But the reality is that price matching isn't a system in place to match pricing errors or phony internet listings. I don't know what the level of accountability is, but I think most people understand that getting such a thing price-matched is a mistake. A $340 error typically isn't something that results in people in suits shrugging their shoulders and going "oh well." Typically if it's happening repeatedly. Maybe the manager or the employee will be fine because the mistake seems honest, or it's deemed not an error at all because of strict adherence to the policy. But really, most of the time someone's going to have to be held accountable.
And that bothers me. The people that are going to get grilled over this aren't the exorbitantly rich Walton family. It's probably just low-ish level employees. And I just feel like this creates an unnecessary nuisance for them. You know, I waltz in there and give them a hard time insisting that they honor their word when I know that what I'm doing isn't on the level. I'm not trying to ride around on my high horse here. I do think there's a lot of instances where consumers should stand up for their rights and not be bullied by corporations. But stuff like this just reeks of annoying entitlement to me, particularly when some prove particularly persistent.
There's a massive difference between Walmart listing it mistakenly for cheaper and some idiot creating a false listing on Amazon for the express purpose of scamming stores that price match.
Obviously in that case I'd agree it's fraud.
but I stock the shelves every night D:
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
As weird as it sounds. I respect this resolve a lot more than the defense force.
CosmicQueso
Member
manny10032
Member
This is why Walmart needs people that know what they are doing in the electronics department.
You shouldn't feel bad for Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart isn't actually being hurt by any of this. Anyone coming here to gripe that they're the real bad guys should stop playing dumb and thinking that sneaking a console out on the cheap is going to do anything to their bottom-line.
test_account
XP-39C²
I'm not sure if everyone who tried to do a price match was in on the scam through Amazon. But the result is pretty much the same regardless. I mean, people know that it is an error and they still rush out trying to take advantage of that error. It reminds me of the big Walmart(?) thread a while ago here on Neogaf, where many merchendises had pricing errors, and people tried to rush out taking advantage of it, clearly knowing that it were pricing errors happening.
That's where I'm trying to get atm:/
BumblebeeCody
Member
I bought a PS4 at 10% = good
I bought a PS4 at 78% = bad
As I said before. Why people are sticking up for the largest shopping chain in America. A company that wastes fresh food by the thousands an treats employees like shit with minimal pay.
Talking about ethics with Wal-Mart a if they're the victim here. My days. You're right though. If someone a fired then yeah. Then it's worth considering. But the company? Nah. As I said before what if you find a buy-it-now on eBay for$60?
Guilt for something I didn't even do?
CrossTrigger
Member
If nothing else I'm sure people are told to get a manager if unsure. Common sense shouldn't have to be written in a policy...
CosmicQueso
Member
Kayaks are pretty cool though.
If some retailer throws up a crazy price on TVs of course jumping on that isn't an issue. And you're right, if people innocently see those listings and print them out to get a deal, then more power to them. It's the knowing that the listing is a fraud that is scummy. It'd be scummy to do that to a big corporation, or to a stranger on craigslist or to whoever.
AlteredForms
Banned
If only these things happened in the UK. Sigh.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
I wasn't even aware Walmart had online price matching now, until recently they wouldn't even match their own site, let alone others.
Their policy totally set them up for this though, Walmart managers are generally not known for being competent and they are basically the last line of defense to keep people from taking advantage of the policy. They are undoubtedly going to tighten it up.
Their policy totally set them up for this though, Walmart managers are generally not known for being competent and they are basically the last line of defense to keep people from taking advantage of the policy. They are undoubtedly going to tighten it up.
Gotdatmoney
Member
I have a question. Does walmart only price match from big companies or will it price match pretty much any recognized retailer?
I'm not going to bore you about the reference that supported your position that you didn't get.
But crime against a company that everyone knows is shitty is still crime. I don't shop at walmart either, I don't agree with their employment practices, I'm not going to lobby for a campaign to steal from them. You can't justify shoplifting or tag shifting in a Walmart because they're a shit company, you are still breaking the law.
This is fraud. Plain and simple. It's not capitalizing on a mistake someone made, it's the intention to steal money away from companies. Period.
Apparently paying for a product is now theft.
Because you're literally just siphoning money. Walmart lost a good chunk of change on those PS4s, even if the damage was minimal. Instead of spending that money elsewhere and letting those businesses grow, you effectively just took money away from Walmart without putting it towards something.
That's why it's bad. Do you think the money they lost is coming from the higher ups paycheck? No, it's coming from bonuses, benefits, and so on. If the people that work at Walmart had the opportunity to go elsewhere, they would. But they don't, and you're hurting them by not giving the money to another company that potentially could hire them with the new money they received.
If you want to hurt Walmart without hurting the low level employees, shop elsewhere. Don't do this shit.
Of course, if you don't care, then do it. It's natural to want to save a ton of money, after all, we do focus on numero uno above all, and that's fine. But if you're passionate about it, don't shop there period.
pokeystaples
Banned
test_account
XP-39C²
I dont think people care that much about Walmart getting hurt by it, but rather reacting to people's moral and ethics. Concidering how large Walmart is, there are a lot of things that wont hurt their bottom line. If 20 people go into their stores and steal a TV right now, their overall bottom line will hardly be affected by it. I'm not comparing this price matching to stealing just to underline that, i'm just saying that Walmart's (or whatever store chain it might be) bottom line isnt affected much by this doesnt seem to be why people are reacting to it.
sixteen-bit
Member
dat RTJ2
The Maverick
Member
Do you think Walmart should raise the wages they pay their workers then?
In my experience, as long as you can show them definitive evidence that it's being sold for cheaper, they'll price match anyone, as will Target, as will best buy.
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