Scam at our local Wal-Mart or all Stores
So my husband had a credit for Walmart for approx. $70. He went to Walmart and went to use the credit at the cashier check out. The cashier told him there was like .5 cents on the card and asked if she wanted him to throw it out. He was perplexed and thought if I used it so he took the card. I said Noooo. So he went back about a week later and again he went to use the card and although it was another cashier at check out she too told him there was like.25 cents. So he took it instead of leaving it as most folks may leave it for the cashier to discard but that is the scam-the cashier takes the card and uses the credit for themselves or resells I suspect. My husband took the card and went to customer service/returns and they confirmed there was $70.00. When he went back to question the cashier she said oh it must have been a computer glitch???? That could be true or not?
What the ?!@#$
We are calling Walmart corporate tomorrow to report this will do the same if we suspect this again at any retail store where we may be using a gift card/credit for that store.
Although these are individuals with poor intentions corporate ought to know. I can't imagine this being a computer glitch 2xs.
Lolo At home depot, they always write the balance on the current receipt, and I keep it wrapped around the card so I know what's left next time I go in.
How do you know that Customer Service really gave a $70 store credit. Maybe that person kept the money. Can you check it online?
maja2 
Ollie Did you speak to a manager at the store and bring this to their attention, so that they could identify the cashier and take immediate action? Because if you didn't, you've only allowed the cashier in question to continue scamming other people.
JerryG That's exactly my first thought, Jerry G. Why call corporate? Should have spoken to management immediately and pointed out said cashier. That should have been handled on the spot, wit ALL parties present so the manager could check the card, check the register for any "glitch," and figured out what(or who) the problem is!
Heidi Except that sometimes people don't have time to wait for a manger. I did once and 30 minutes later, still no manager. I even called the store asking for one while I waited. Horrible chain.
Next time check it yourself right there at the register...with YOUR phone. You can call and get the balance or go online so if they are being shady next time they will think twice when they realize you are going to check for yourself.
AJ it certainly seems plausible that this could happen, and could happen with ease. but i'm in agreement with others regarding the store manager. after confirming the amount at customer service, the next thing should've been to ask for the manager to inform him/her what happened. this could be a big deal where hundreds maybe even thousands of dollars have been stolen over a period of time due to this scam. corporate will simply ask if you reported this to the store manager at the time and when you say no they are going to be less likely to do anything about it.
Joe Friday in my opinion, if YOU call a walmart reps, they won't do anything to fix the problem, but, if some attorney at law will call (or, rather, write), then the result will be achieved.
disrespect, because of lack of punishment.
Pyc I agree with Joe Friday with regard to contacting corporate. I had an issue with the store (long story) and contactacted corporate and they did not even give me the courtesy of a response. I'm not sure if I would have gotten further with a manager or not, but I got literally nothing from corporate.
Parental unit Pyc, are you nuts? An attorney for 70 bucks? They charge $350.00 an hour. Use your head.
NuttyHappens all the time at all retailers. Dishonest associates are everywhere. If you want to get more of an outcome on this call the store and as for the loss prevention or asset protection department. As long as they have somewhat of a care they will look in to it and more then likely address it.
uppedjk If the OP still has the card, he/she can return to the store and see if the balance changes yet again. Then get a manager and get it straightened out. I never thought about this before but it can happen as long as there are dishonest people in the world.
3wbdwnj Never let the cashier check your lottery ticket with out you being able to see the result, they could keep those as well.
Roywhite PYC, if this is a widespread scam, an attorney may take it as a class action suit. His payment will come out of the settlement or amount awarded. Nobody gets rich in a class action suit, but the point of these suits is punishment - to ensure that it won't happen again.
Walmart needs better oversight with their employees, or in how cards are handled.
ChristIsRisen This could be any store. The employee could just pocket the card and give to a friend/family member to use...
iJay Do people really use a gift card at a store without having any earthly idea how much is on it? And then when they pay for their items, have no earthly idea how to subtract and know how much to expect will be left on the card, if any? I also believe that most, if not all receipts will print a gift card balance, or at least the amount on the card that was tendered as payment.
This seems like such a preventable problem.
Tracy 
outsider I don't think it's being perfect, or a perfect world, to expect people to have some responsibility for their own possessions, money, well being, etc. It's called common sense.
And common sense told her and her husband to get the card back which makes them RESPONSIBLE people.
Tracy, forgive me but are your comments being made in general or in reference to OP? in general, you are 100% correct but regarding the OP i don't see how what you wrote applies. just trying to follow along :)
They were made in general. Some of the comments in this thread made it seem like this could happen all the time...but in my opinion, if you know how much the card has and know how much you're spending, there should be no issue with the cashier trying to "throw away" your card if there is an expected balance.
I think this becomes an issue when you possibly have an elderly person, a developmentally disabled person, or a young child...all can be forgetful or trusting. That doesn't mean that they are not using common sense. People forget, it happens. It certainly doesn't mean that give another person the right to steal from them.
Jenn What if it a deliberate glitch perpetrated by Walmart itself? Think about that for a while. Your immediate reaction is to place the blame on a cashier, but who really stands to gain a substantial amount of money from unused cards? Perhaps thousands of cards a day, hundreds of days in the year, tossed in the trash while still valuable. The money on all those cards would stay in the hands of the corporation that collected it. And no, I do not have a foil hat on. I also had the same thing happen to me.
Walker Not far fetched. In fact, quite possible.
I read an article where someone statistically showed that Apple essentially does the same thing. Apparently they program the old phones to act up so you will replace them.
Whoever did the research, used Google search history database to show trends - each time a new Iphone was released there was a large spike in Google searchs for errors, problems, issues regarding the Iphone. To be fair, they did the same thing for the Android- and no such trends were shown.
Josh Key sentence from the original post: "The cashier told him there was like .5 cents on the card and asked if she wanted him to throw it out."
Looks like the cashiers are supplementing their income with card balances.
Schmedley Wilcox The original poster should have immediately gone to management and reported this. Either the cashier was running a scam (and still is, since the OP didn't report it) or their system was at fault.
Or...like a lot of other alleged complaints about Walmart...the story was fabricated.
Not immediately reporting it if it was true shows total disregard for other customers and makes the allegation unprovable.
I'm a bit skeptical of the OP for reasons such as these:
1. The cashier wouldn't have known the amount of the card until he/she scanned it.
2. The cashier wouldn't have said "like" .5 Cents or "Like" 25 cents. The customer most likely would have seen the exact amount that was taken off or the cashier would say the exact amount.
3. In order for the customer to take back the card, as explained in the original post, they would have had to call a head cashier to void the payment off. The customer wouldn't just say noooo and take it back.
4. The original post was written by someone who has never posted before under that name, but did also start the thread about human trafficking in nail salons last year, under a different name.
Sorry if I'm off-base.
Rich Rich, Cashiers can check the balance on gift cards without using them as payment. Sort of like checking the price of an item before they ring it up.
I was at Walmart just a day after I read the OP. A customer infront of me asked the cashier to ck the balance. He did and told her it had a zero balance and threw it away. He didnt even ask her if she wanted it back. I told her right away that I had just read that this had happened to someone and they took the card back and found there was a balance. I told her it seemed to be a computer glitch, as not to offend or accuse the boy who was waiting on her.
She asked him for the card back and he dug it out of the trash. Now whether there was a balance or, like he said, a zero balance, I don't know.
But I do know they can ck the balance without using it first as a form of payment.
littlelu Or one could just know or check the balance yourself and not leave such things to chance.
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