Walmart Supercentre — Attraction in Edmonton

I ordered an item that was listed as being in stock at this location. (the search criteria was for "in store" only) I requested curbside delivery for that day. Upon checkout, the pickup date was listed for the same day. After placing the order, I received an email saying the order was being processed and I would be notified when it was ready to pick it up. By that evening, I went to the store and they informed me it would not be ready until 15 days later. I was frustrated but accepted that.

Today, seven days later, I received a voicemail from UPS that was inaudible (extremely quiet). When I called UPS, they wouldn't help me because I was not the sender and didn't have the right numbers to identify the parcel. When I looked online through my Walmart order, it said the item was in Edmonton but the address was incomplete. UPS told me to call Walmart, Walmart gave me the runaround for about two hours. Their solution was to wait another six days (for the estimated arrival date to pass) and then call back. It was if I stated the problem and they heard "my item isn't delivered yet".

No matter how many times I told them that UPS was calling to find out the address because the item was "out for delivery" with an incomplete address, they just couldn't seem to understand it. I am not sure why UPS was calling me as they would not take direction from me anyway (I am not the shipper, so I cannot change the address). I am not sure why NOBODY at Walmart could understand that they needed to correct the address as it was going from an unknown-to-me third party to the Walmart store via the Walmart website. (Don't forget, I was led to believe that the item was in stock in the Northgate store when I bought it)

I get that things happen, and stuff goes wrong. In the end, this isn't the problem. The fact that nobody was WILLING to help - nobody was even TRYING to comprehend what I was telling them is the problem. From the in-store customer service person (who snapped at me saying "I don't know, I'm just customer service") to the online ordering people who couldn't seem to understand that their computer thingy might not be right when it says "in transit" and I am saying that the UPS driver was calling me for corrected address, so it is NOT, in fact, in transit (which is also reflected in exactly the same way on the Walmart order history on their site), to the next two sets of people I had to call who kept telling me to "wait until after the expected delivery date". All in all, I had to call 9 different numbers given to me at each step as everyone just wanted to "pass the buck".

The one star is for the manager I eventually had to escalate the problem to - they at least understood that the address needed to be fixed and sent the third-party seller an email. The CORRECT answer, should have been (long before having to escalate to a manager, and probably about 8 phone calls prior to this one) "I will contact UPS and get the correct address to them". This was not out of the realm of what is possible as Walmart has all the order details, my details, and (most importantly) the third-party seller's details.

Walmart Executives - you should probably give your employees a little more autonomy and allow them to use their thinking skills and problem-solving abilities so that they can provide actual customer service. Perhaps your training should be teaching them HOW to think, not...

Very unimpressed with the cell phone process at this store. When I arrived I was told by the electronics associate that the wireless person must be on break, but he wasn't sure and didn't know when that person would be back. When I asked if he could at least check whether or not the phone I was looking for was in stock, he said he didn't have keys for their cell phone lockup. I asked if he could check other stores, he said he couldn't. When the wireless person arrived (which, to be fair, wasn't a long wait), I was told he would be at least two hours with people he was already with (despite that wireless person having JUST come back from break [I think — I never did find out if he actually was on break or not]). When I asked the wireless person if the phone I wanted was in stock, he told me no and that none of the other Walmarts had any either, but when I pressed further he said maybe, but I had to phone myself. At least the wireless person at the other Walmart I called could verify that no other Walmarts had the phone in stock (not good news, but at least it was an actual answer).

So, that's no wireless person available, not sure when they'd be back from break (or even if they were on break), no way to check stock in that store or any other store (so I wouldn't even know if the wait would be worthwhile), other customers immediately put ahead of me as soon as the wireless person came back from break, and no definitive answer from anyone whether or not I would be able to buy the phone from a different Walmart. I understand that staffing is tough, that there isn't always going to be someone available to help, that it's tough to get staff to care that much at retail pay levels and when the store won't pay for enough staff, that stock is an issue due to supply chain issues and the recent BC floods, but this level of failure is disappointing. Disappointing enough to post a review at least and to try to tell others to not waste their time.

To be clear, I don't blame the electronics person, it seemed more like he was not put in a position to be very helpful, and that's a management-level issue. But when associates in related departments don't even know where their coworkers are or when they'll be back and when there isn't even anyone who can answer the simple question of if stock is available, and when staff put other customers first to the point that I would, basically, never be helped that night, I have to question how seriously this store (or company) is taking the customer service experience. I will definitely not return and will definitely steer clear of Walmart in the future for cell phones (and probably in general). Btw, the downtown Best Buy I went to afterwards was a really good experience (y'know, they had associates available and those associates could tell me that things were in stock...

Do not shop here if you are prepared to be accused of stealing while shopping for items available in store. They will have loss prevention approach you and accuse you of it if you have items in your hand(s) and not in a shopping cart or basket. Loss prevention/security claim they have caught you on camera, they also say you have to pay for your items first before leaving the cosmetic department but no signs are posted near the cosmetics department. They claim by word of mouth that it's a "new" policy yet if you ask for camera/surveillance footage they won't provide it.

If you ask where the policy is written they don't provide that information either. It's basically your word against theirs and they will tell you that you are banned for shopping there for a year but won't put that in writing for court purposes if you ask.

Plus they will tell you to empty your personal bag and expose your personal items that are in it to prove you aren't stealing.

They do not understand the definition of stealing and make their own version up. They disagree if you explain that when you pass the exit without paying it is technically stealing but if you are still inside the store carrying items that you will eventually pay for, it's called shopping.They will accuse you of stealing regardless.

If you ask to speak to the manager on how the loss prevention is behaving they will take the side of loss prevention immediately and provide no evidence of a sign stating where shoppers are to pay for cosmetics only, just by word of mouth.

Loss prevention is unhelpful there because they do not appear at the exits where the alarms goes off frequently. They are to check items and/or receipts of customers who exit the store but they don't. It all depends on how you look obviously while you are shopping.

Their location is full of expired produce and meat plus have no staff to assist you when you need help with price check. It is worth it to drive to other locations if necessary but not this location and Wal-Mart doesn't price match other locations either.

If Wal-Mart becomes a warehouse full of inventory with self-check kiosks and bots who deliver your items to the kiosk for you then staff might appreciate their employment and not judge customers.

Corporate should be aware of how their staff are in their Canadian stores and should change them immediately like they did in some US locations that are run by bots only. Hire staff that are proud to help customers rather than accusing them of stealing when they haven't even left the store yet. Slander is common from staff who make stupid assumptions based in looks.

The washrooms are disgusting and hardly cleaned regularly. The store is small and staff are often socializing with coworkers or on their cellphones when they should be organizing shelves or helping customers. They are...