BajaNomad - Walmart La Paz Price Check

Walmart La Paz Price Check

bajalinda - 10-31-2009 at 01:41 PM

Just a heads-up to all of you who may wander into the Walmart in La Paz.

The last 3 times I have shopped there I have been charged more at the checkout for an item than the price posted on the shelf for that particular item.

I usually just make a quick run into Walmart for a couple of things at a time if I can't find them anywhere else, so I have the price of the item well in mind when I get to the checkout. (It wouldn't be so easy to notice the differences if I had a cart full of groceries.)

The price differences are not huge (a couple of pesos up to 6 or 7 pesos) but can really add up over time and it just irks me - especially since the cashiers really don't seem to give a hoot.
Only once did the cashier call over a supervisor and he took my word for it and honored the shelf price. The other times the cashiers just shrugged, pointed at the screen and said "sorry, that's the price". To which I said "OK - sorry, but I don't want this" and walked away.
The same thing happened to my S.O. last week and he just left the items and walked away too.

Bajahowodd - 10-31-2009 at 02:11 PM

I really doubt that is any different than anywhere one shops where scanners do the work. Often, either the shelf price or the data base doesn't get updated. Government entities up North have people who check this stuff out regularly and companies get fined. I guess we're not going back to price stickers on merchandise.

MitchMan - 10-31-2009 at 03:02 PM

I have noticed the same thing. Usually, what my problem is is that the marked price on the shelf doesn't agree with what the checker rings up. The problem mostly, for me, is that I trusted the shelf price and the actual price was something different because the item was not on top of the correct price. Happens alot in most supermarkets in La Paz and the people stacking new inventory do not check for that kind of accuracy.

What you really have to watch for is the young people doing the bagging. They will not bag efficiently and sometimes leave items out or mix the previous customer's stuff with yours. Also, they do not pay any attention to bagging soft food items with hard food items, so, when you get home, the soft stuff is crushed. Once, I bought a bunch of groceries and the bagger put a stick of refrigerated butter in with fresh really hot tortillas.

It's really funny, in a way, but I get the impression that many of the employees are very brain dead, uninterested, and lazy, while others are really conscientious and attentive and energetic; the latter seem to be in the minority. By comparison, the USA Walmart people seem to be, on the whole, better than the Mexican employees, but not by a whole lot.

elgatoloco - 10-31-2009 at 03:15 PM

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

:saint:

Bajahowodd - 10-31-2009 at 03:58 PM

Walmart has a history of being a predatory employer worldwide. Low wages, little or no benefits. No wonder that you felt like US Walmart employees were only slightly better. Emphasis on slightly.

BajaBruno - 10-31-2009 at 04:00 PM

I'm guessing that what you are really upset about is the total lack of customer service when you bring up these irregularities. Unfortunately, lack of customer service is a time-honored custom in Mexico that is deeply engrained in the culture.

This has always baffled me, because in most other respects, Mexicans are some of the most gracious people on the planet, but put them in a commercial environment and they lose it all.

JESSE - 10-31-2009 at 05:44 PM

I noticed that too, the shelf price is pretax. Most other stores post the REAL prices. A very petty way of making their prices appear lower than the competition.

DENNIS - 10-31-2009 at 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBruno
This has always baffled me, because in most other respects, Mexicans are some of the most gracious people on the planet, but put them in a commercial environment and they lose it all.

Or, behind the wheel of a car. Their teeth turn sharp, eyes glow yellow and fire leaps from their mouths.

DENNIS - 10-31-2009 at 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JESSE
I noticed that too, the shelf price is pretax. Most other stores post the REAL prices. A very petty way of making their prices appear lower than the competition.

I wonder where they learned to do that?

Paula - 10-31-2009 at 09:23 PM

The best solution to this problem is to not go to Walmart in the first place :dudette:

BajaNuts - 10-31-2009 at 09:47 PM

It's not uncommon for the price tags or products to get shifted around and the wrong tag to be under the wrong product. It's a pain to have to actually interpret the tag to make sure it's for the 24oz size, not the 16oz size. And not just at waMart, but our local grocers also.

And depending on how many people are in line behind me at the check out stand, sometimes I say check this price, sometimes I leave it.

and....elgatoloco..........YOU DA MAN! :lol:

FINALLY!!!! all those people pics in one place! :lol:

[Edited on 11-1-2009 by BajaNuts]

CaboRon - 11-1-2009 at 09:49 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Or, behind the wheel of a car. Their teeth turn sharp, eyes glow yellow and fire leaps from their mouths.

Especially in La Paz ... :lol:

BooJumMan - 11-1-2009 at 11:01 AM

HA! Funny story here...

Last time in La Paz (This past summer), we went to the WalMart to stock up on some stuff before heading off to camp. As we were leaving, the guy who checks your receipt at the door stopped us. We were like...great...what did we do? (We kinda stuck out like sore thumbs though being blonde and sunburnt i guess).

He told us to go back and get refunded!@ The lady at the register charged us for 5 lbs of Salmon! We overpaid about 25-30 $us.

Bajahowodd - 11-1-2009 at 11:07 AM

Not funny. Nice.

bajalinda - 11-1-2009 at 02:00 PM

Well...I'll be. The shelf price is pre-tax. That's a new one on me - thanks for the insight Jesse.

Yep - sometimes the shelves are in disorder, but I try to make sure the shelf price matches the item on top of it. At least CCC (where we shop 99.9% of the time) has those price check machines at the end of a couple of the aisles so you can check the price.

MitchMan - I know what you mean about the baggers. We know who the sloppy ones are and avoid their checkout line.

MitchMan - 11-2-2009 at 08:57 AM

A follow up to Dennis's comment about Mexican drivers.

I have often wondered why Mexican drivers are so impatient. I mean, where are they going where they want to be on time? I have met very, very few Mexicans that care about being on time for anything. In fact, they exhibit a disdain and almost complete disregard for punctuality, appointment times, and being where they promise to be when they say they will be there. Their impatience behind the wheel makes no sense in view of their pervasive and extreme lack of punctuality.

For what it's worth, excess impatience behind the wheel is rampant in Europe as well, but it's more foregivable as Europeans are more punctual than Mexicans. Mexicans have no excuse.