Walmart Does Not Honor Their "Preorder Price Guarantee"

[AreaFive]

As a warning to others, Walmart does not honor, nor even seem to understand their own preorder price guarantee.

As stated on their site:

"When you order an item featuring the Preorder Price Guarantee, you will not be charged more than the price displayed when you completed your order. For items sold by Walmart, you will be charged the lowest price offered by Walmart for the item between the time you completed your order and the time the item ships to you. For items sold by third party Marketplace sellers, you will be charged the price displayed at the time you completed your order. Unless you pay using a gift card or Paypal, you will not be charged until the preordered item is shipped to you. If you pay using a gift card or Paypal, you will be charged at the time you completed your order.

The Preorder Price Guarantee only applies to eligible items that are (1) temporarily out of stock and not ready for immediate shipment, (2) marked with a “Preorder Price Guarantee” statement on the item listing page, and (3) purchased by eligible customers."

I purchased the recent Loki and Hawkeye 4K steelbooks which lowered in price from approximately $75 when preordering to $50 at the time of release.

After a considerable amount of time on the phone attempting to get the difference refunded, during which time I had to explain to them that their policy existed and the most basic details of how it works, the person who helped me informed me that their "higher ups" explained to them that it was there to prevent people from paying more in the event the price increased

They finally offered to let me place new orders at the lower price and initiate a return for the two items I initially ordered at which time I told them I would but would be placing the new orders from Amazon instead.

In summary, just be aware that whatever the price is when you place an order is most likely what you will be charged regardless of any lowering afterwards.

[rdodolak]

It seems they're focusing on this part:

...you will not be charged more than the price displayed when you completed your order.

and ignoring this part:

...you will be charged the lowest price offered by Walmart for the item between the time you completed your order and the time the item ships to you.

I had a recent order from DeepDiscount where the price was high when I preordered, but the price dropped to a normal price afterwards. When they shipped they still charged me the original price. I did reach out to them, but they stated they only charge the price at the time of the preorder, but would make a one time exception. Since they make it difficult to even cancel an item from an order, or the entire order, I'm just going to avoid using DD from now on.

[unsung122212]

the person who helped me informed me that their "higher ups" explained to them that it was there to prevent people from paying more in the event the price increased

That person is either lying or their boss is a moron. There are already laws that make it illegal to charge more than what the order total for when a order/preorder is placed. There is no need to have a preorder price guarantee to prevent higher charges when that would be illegal.

Plus, there is no need for this part:

‘you will be charged the lowest price offered by Walmart for the item between the time you completed your order and the time the item ships to you’

to exist in the so-called offer Walmart is doing if the way they explained it was to work. You could try calling or chatting and see if you get a different rep that knows what they’re doing.

[HD Goofnut]

Wal-Mart is still the best option in the US IMHO since Best Buy dropped discs.

[Phillip c. Niethe]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Wal-Mart is still the best option in the US IMHO since Best Buy dropped discs.

Sadly… I despise whomever made that decision at BestBuy, BestBuy Canada still does Physical, if only they would do U.S. shipping then I would purchase from them. I found an independent specialty shop to do all my ordering, they charge a little bit extra but I always get my stuff packed extremely well and it arrives mint and usually a bit early.

[Majin Blu]

I usually get an email about price changes/refund when anything ships.

[bigdaddyhorse]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Wal-Mart is still the best option in the US IMHO since Best Buy dropped discs.

Today I went to Meijer's. They also have no movies anymore. So Best Buy, Target and Meijer's all stopped selling movies over the last year. Wal-Mart is all that's left here besides one used record store (even the second record store stopped movies). Sad times. No browsing blind buys.

[AreaFive]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Wal-Mart is still the best option in the US IMHO since Best Buy dropped discs.

Well, it's certainly true that something is better than nothing, yes.

It's also worth noting that, for preorders, Walmart generally ships in cardboard, unlike Amazon.

When it comes to the preorder price guarantee, however, Amazon is far better.

[The hitcher]

I canceled my Godzilla minus one 4K order and don't plan on ordering anything else from them.

[Deadend45]

Belongs in the retail sub-forum.

[Member-682067]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Wal-Mart is still the best option in the US IMHO since Best Buy dropped discs.

I would wager they will stop selling discs in the brick and mortar stores in the next 2-3 years.