Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yesterday I was at our local Wal-Mart with a shopping cart chock full of food and after I got into the checkout line, we were told that their credit card system was down and it would be cash or check only. I was surprised that with a store full of seriously annoyed people, I haven't been able to find any online comments about this.
It was a good wakeup call to me to always carry enough cash plus my checkbook when I go shopping, because I ended up only being able to purchase a small number of things in my cart and then having to wheel my still-loaded cart into Customer Service and ask them to put everything back.
And now I have the Groundhog Day experience everyone loves--going back to the store with my same list from yesterday and selecting the same items all over again. But seriously--no one else experienced this?
Sounds awful. I have not heard anything about this. I guess it's good, though, that it wasn't just your card that was causing problems? (I tried to gas up my vehicle THREE times recently and my debit card wouldn't work. I was on my way to meet a client, almost out of gas, running late, of course.) Turned out that because my bank sent me a new debit card and I hadn't activated it yet, they "shut off" my old debit card. Thank goodness for credit cards, I guess.
Good luck with the Groundhog Day experience. Blerg. Wal-Mart on a Saturday is my version of Hell on Earth. But if ya needz yer stuff, ya needz yer stuff, right?! Any way to find out before entering the store if they have their system back up and running? I'd assume that they got it done, but I'd be nervous to do it all over again, too!
OMG, I was there too on Thursday when it happened! (I about fell out of my chair when I saw the heading on this thread). I was at the pharmacy first and my debit worked fine but then.........I went through the WHOLE store for about an hour or more getting some badly needed things plus, finding other things that have been on my list forever (that I really had to research and then find them in the store) so I could finally scratch those off my list. It could not have happened at a worse time for me.
Just as I had finally decided enough was enough and I was pooped, I wheeled my cart up to the checkouts and right then is when an employee announced it. Arggghh. I was soooooooooo mad! What the heck were the odds of that happening to begin with but even moreso when I had just gotten in line at checkout plus a day that I had spent way too much time in the store as it is?
Who the heck carries a lot of cash and/or their checkbook around anymore? I just left my cart full of stuff right in the line I was in and left. There was absolutely no way I was going to trek back through that whole store again and put everything back. People were leaving in droves. I mentioned to a few people coming in on my way out to my car what was happening and most of them couldn't believe it and they all turned around and left.
I still have not gone back yet to start all over. I wonder how long they ended up being down(?) That is a lot of business they lost. AND, they should have been announcing it through the speaker system every 5 mins or so so that everyone who was currently shopping could stop if they didn't have cash/check. But instead the gal was just standing at the checkouts telling people after they had already shopped and filled their carts. How dumb was that?
I bet all of the employees were very busy for the rest of that day putting all of that stuff back, especially any cold/frozen stuff that could not sit there too long and go to waste.
ETA: Wait, were you in a Madison store (where I live) or are you telling me that ALL Walmart store's credit/debit machines were down? If all were down, then WOW! Even more of a disaster with all of the people stocking up for the holiday weekend!
Last edited by Corn-fused; 09-02-2017 at 03:56 PM..
Sounds awful. I have not heard anything about this. I guess it's good, though, that it wasn't just your card that was causing problems? (I tried to gas up my vehicle THREE times recently and my debit card wouldn't work. I was on my way to meet a client, almost out of gas, running late, of course.) Turned out that because my bank sent me a new debit card and I hadn't activated it yet, they "shut off" my old debit card. Thank goodness for credit cards, I guess.
Good luck with the Groundhog Day experience. Blerg. Wal-Mart on a Saturday is my version of Hell on Earth. But if ya needz yer stuff, ya needz yer stuff, right?! Any way to find out before entering the store if they have their system back up and running? I'd assume that they got it done, but I'd be nervous to do it all over again, too!
Thanks for the good wishes! I took no chances--loaded up with cash, took my checkbook, AND went to a different store. It turns out that having already made my choices, the next day's shopping trip went really fast, too!
OMG, I was there too on Thursday when it happened! (I about fell out of my chair when I saw the heading on this thread). I was at the pharmacy first and my debit worked fine but then.........I went through the WHOLE store for about an hour or more getting some badly needed things plus, finding other things that have been on my list forever (that I really had to research and then find them in the store) so I could finally scratch those off my list. It could not have happened at a worse time for me.
Just as I had finally decided enough was enough and I was pooped, I wheeled my cart up to the checkouts and right then is when an employee announced it. Arggghh. I was soooooooooo mad! What the heck were the odds of that happening to begin with but even moreso when I had just gotten in line at checkout plus a day that I had spent way too much time in the store as it is?
Who the heck carries a lot of cash and/or their checkbook around anymore? I just left my cart full of stuff right in the line I was in and left. There was absolutely no way I was going to trek back through that whole store again and put everything back. People were leaving in droves. I mentioned to a few people coming in on my way out to my car what was happening and most of them couldn't believe it and they all turned around and left.
I still have not gone back yet to start all over. I wonder how long they ended up being down(?) That is a lot of business they lost. AND, they should have been announcing it through the speaker system every 5 mins or so so that everyone who was currently shopping could stop if they didn't have cash/check. But instead the gal was just standing at the checkouts telling people after they had already shopped and filled their carts. How dumb was that?
I bet all of the employees were very busy for the rest of that day putting all of that stuff back, especially any cold/frozen stuff that could not sit there too long and go to waste.
ETA: Wait, were you in a Madison store (where I live) or are you telling me that ALL Walmart store's credit/debit machines were down? If all were down, then WOW! Even more of a disaster with all of the people stocking up for the holiday weekend!
OMG, you and I had the exact same experience in two different towns! (I repped you with where I live.) Similar to what you said, it was so weird to me that it happened during that exact window of time, and when I had a full list of stuff I needed to buy. At least in my situation, as I was leaving I saw the greeters telling people as they came in. They were saying all the WalMarts were down, which was another reason I thought it would make the news.
Like you, I had wandered all over the store for nearly an hour, getting everything I could think of. And then, I actually first went to the self checkout and unloaded my entire cartful of stuff onto the conveyor. I was so happy that there was only one person ahead of me, even though she seemed to be having some trouble getting her card to work. I stood there for ages and then finally decided my frozen items needed to get home, so I took everything back off the conveyor belt and put it back in my cart, wheeled my cart to a line with a cashier, and waited behind two people. I had put a few things on the belt when a manager came up and muttered, "No cards, just cash or checks," to the cashier. It was lucky I heard him, because at least I didn't put all my stuff onto the conveyor belt for a second time.
So I had the lovely experience of waiting in line twice, unloading my cart and loading it back up, and then not getting any of my stuff. (Well, except for beer and socks. I am apparently a terrible last-minute decision maker, because out of all the stuff in my cart, including actual food, I chose beer and socks--and the beer wasn't even for me.)
I am wondering if they got hacked (again). I did have a difficult time getting my debit to work as a credit transaction at the pharmacy when I first got there and made that purchase. I tried maybe 4 times and it initially kept saying declined right before I would get to the signature screen to sign. Then the pharmacist watched the screen while I did it and for some odd reason it finally went through. So maybe I was at the beginning of it going down.
This is not the first time their whole system has gone down. I found a few things in a Google search. Some cases were due to hackers, some due to skimmers put on individual machines and many due to just bad programming/maintenance of their website. I searched for something like "walmart credit card machines down", etc.
This site has a few comments/complaints (so far) listed from various states for Thursday's cc/debit outage but, I also noticed that it also lists complaints for weeks prior to Thursday and continues for months back. It included all online transactions as well for Thursday. Some comments are stating that "ever since they switched/migrated to the new site....they have had lots problems". I haven't read them all but here it is. You could bookmark this site and keep watching it for more updates: Walmart.com down? Current problems and outages | Down Detector
This site also has a few from Thursday but also goes way back with problems: https://sitedown.co/walmart
But they have also been hacked in previous years. I just wish I could find out for sure if it was just a glitch and not a hacker. I have been watching my bank statement very closely every day but it is a pain to do so especially not knowing how long I will have to.
If I have some time to dig deeper I will post what I find.
I am wondering if they got hacked (again). I did have a difficult time getting my debit to work as a credit transaction at the pharmacy when I first got there and made that purchase. I tried maybe 4 times and it initially kept saying declined right before I would get to the signature screen to sign. Then the pharmacist watched the screen while I did it and for some odd reason it finally went through. So maybe I was at the beginning of it going down.
This is not the first time their whole system has gone down. I found a few things in a Google search. Some cases were due to hackers, some due to skimmers put on individual machines and many due to just bad programming/maintenance of their website. I searched for something like "walmart credit card machines down", etc.
This site has a few comments/complaints (so far) listed from various states for Thursday's cc/debit outage but, I also noticed that it also lists complaints for weeks prior to Thursday and continues for months back. It included all online transactions as well for Thursday. Some comments are stating that "ever since they switched/migrated to the new site....they have had lots problems". I haven't read them all but here it is. You could bookmark this site and keep watching it for more updates: Walmart.com down? Current problems and outages | Down Detector
This site also has a few from Thursday but also goes way back with problems: https://sitedown.co/walmart
But they have also been hacked in previous years. I just wish I could find out for sure if it was just a glitch and not a hacker. I have been watching my bank statement very closely every day but it is a pain to do so especially not knowing how long I will have to.
If I have some time to dig deeper I will post what I find.
Thanks for the links and info, Corn-fused!
What you describe happening to you at the pharmacy sounds like what I saw happen to the woman in front of me at the self-checkout. She tried several times with her credit card and it kept telling her it was declined so she finally used cash. And then the machine told her to take her change, but it didn't actually put the change in the slot and then it told her to use her credit card instead of cash, when she had already put the cash in.
Although around here Wal-Mart is the best store to get decent produce, I don't think I'll feel comfortable going there again without taking my checkbook--what a pain.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Any way to find out before entering the store if they have their system back up and running? I'd assume that they got it done, but I'd be nervous to do it all over again, too!
