"Free pickup at store" Walmart question

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aquariuscsm

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This may be completely stupid and obvious,but I don't quite get it.

I went to Walmart to buy some socks,Fruit of the Loom athletic ankle socks. They're what I always buy. They're cheap,fit well,and do the job. But they always seem to be out of them ever time I look for them. They're on their site,and it says "Sold & shipped by Walmart" "Free pickup at store available". I add a bag of them to my cart,proceed to checkout,and it's charging me $11 to ship them! I thought free pickup at store plus sold and shipped by Walmart means no shipping charges?

Am I missing something?
 
I could see it possibly if it's an item not commonly stocked or sold by the store. But to try and charge you for something that they are "out of stock" of seems messed up. If anything they should give you a discount for letting them know they have none to sell.,,,
 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
If a nearby WM shows they have them in stock....why not go there and buy them?


I did earlier this afternoon. They didn't have them.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
You have to continue onto the checkout screen where it will give you the free pickup option.


Thanks Pete! Placed my order :^)
 
I've done it before - many times. Often it's an item that they generally don't have in stock or where the stock that they have on hand may not be guaranteed.

Once it was for a particular diecast car toy that my kid wanted. They had an assortment available in stores, but there was no guarantee of getting that particular toy since there were maybe 6 in the series. Their website listed each and every one separately, although they some had slightly different prices. I ordered a couple that my kid didn't have and picked them up with free shipping to a store. Occasionally they have a better online price, but theoretically you can price match at the store against their own website.

Now the one thing they have discontinued was their free shipping to FedEx Office (aka Kinko's) locations. That was actually pretty nice. I don't live that far from a Walmart and there are some on the way to/from work, but it's still not as convenient as going to the closest FedEx Office.

http://help.walmart.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/165/~/using-a-fedex-office-as-your-site-to-store-pickup-location

I do remember looking far and wide for something that cost less than a dollar - the Coleman Green Key that's used to ensure that their propane cylinders are empty. They came attached to the cap of their propane, but also were for sale for less than $1 for a pack of six. I couldn't really find it anywhere except online at REI. They offered shipping to stores for free, and I just ordered this one item for less than a dollar and had it shipped to my closest store for pickup. I felt a little bad about it afterwards. It came in its own box complete with packaging foam. On top of that, it contained a sample energy bar that they put in their orders.
 
Originally Posted By: y_p_w

{snip} ...
I do remember looking far and wide for something that cost less than a dollar - the Coleman Green Key that's used to ensure that their propane cylinders are empty. They came attached to the cap of their propane, but also were for sale for less than $1 for a pack of six. I couldn't really find it anywhere except online at REI. They offered shipping to stores for free, and I just ordered this one item for less than a dollar and had it shipped to my closest store for pickup. I felt a little bad about it afterwards. It came in its own box complete with packaging foam. On top of that, it contained a sample energy bar that they put in their orders.


REI is a good store. Since they're a Coop, don't feel bad about the box and the bar. They run the show to break even after enough surplus to carry on the business (allowances for Capital Expenditures, etc) so they didn't lose money, at least in the conventional sense, on your order. And look ... you just posted an unsolicited, positive review on the Internet. They got their money's worth.
 
The point of picking up at the store is to get you into the store. Ergo why they stopped the Kinkos connection.

Free shipping to home, they make you spend "enough", $25-50.

WM is tweaking their interface to reflect that people want "free pickup" but really, really want "free pickup today".
 
I only do the free pickup in store when they have deals on multipacks of motor oil. Or when they have deals on clothing for like 99 cents for a shirt, good workout clothes for cheap and I throw them out when they get ruined.

Avoid the pickups during the holidays, I once spent 50 minutes in line near last christmas to get my multipacks of motor oil, when everyone was getting layaway stuff.

99 percent of the time I will just use Amazon prime and let them deliver to my home.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Originally Posted By: y_p_w

{snip} ...
I do remember looking far and wide for something that cost less than a dollar - the Coleman Green Key that's used to ensure that their propane cylinders are empty. They came attached to the cap of their propane, but also were for sale for less than $1 for a pack of six. I couldn't really find it anywhere except online at REI. They offered shipping to stores for free, and I just ordered this one item for less than a dollar and had it shipped to my closest store for pickup. I felt a little bad about it afterwards. It came in its own box complete with packaging foam. On top of that, it contained a sample energy bar that they put in their orders.


REI is a good store. Since they're a Coop, don't feel bad about the box and the bar. They run the show to break even after enough surplus to carry on the business (allowances for Capital Expenditures, etc) so they didn't lose money, at least in the conventional sense, on your order. And look ... you just posted an unsolicited, positive review on the Internet. They got their money's worth.

I've been a member for over 25 years, so I feel that I got my money's worth. The store I use the most is in Berkeley, California, which I think is store #2. It's more or less in the same location it's always been. I thought for years they were trying to downplay their coop roots, but more recently they've been putting the "REI Co-Op" moniker on everything. They are trying to make money, or they wouldn't be running ads. However, they don't necessarily have a mission to make profit in the traditional sense that benefits shareholders. I would note that their CEO (Sally Jewell) was tapped to be the US Secretary of the Interior. That department was always rather broad in its mission, which includes mineral exploration, water delivery, recreation, environmental protection, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She actually had a background in a lot of that stuff, working in the oil industry, as well as her environmental and outdoor recreation experience at REI.

There's no REI in Canada though, right?
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
The point of picking up at the store is to get you into the store. Ergo why they stopped the Kinkos connection.

Free shipping to home, they make you spend "enough", $25-50.

WM is tweaking their interface to reflect that people want "free pickup" but really, really want "free pickup today".

You can always see that on the website. I don't think they necessarily indicate that it's "ship to store" or "in stock" where an employee has to pull one off the shelves or from the storeroom. It just says pickup in the store and the date it should be available for pickup.

I've seen some cases where ordering online for pickup of an item in stock at a store (not necessarily WM) got me a much better price.

The one thing that's picking up steam is Amazon's same-day pickup at "Amazon Locker" locations. A local supermarket has one of those locations with dozens of drawers that will open when the kiosk is presented with an order number. I suppose it makes it more efficient by placing the order pickup in a central location where delivery can be consolidated. I don't think Amazon could do this in California until they were willing to set up warehouses in-state. They supposedly resisted this for years because it would mean that they would have to charge sales tax for California orders. It's still possible to avoid sales taxes by ordering from an out of state company that works through the "Fulfilled by Amazon" system.

Amazon set up a lounge in the UC Berkeley student union building for item pickup and other services. They have a huge wall for the Amazon Locker system, as well as as a dedicated drop-off chute for returns. They also have an employee there for any pickup of oversized items that won't fit in their drawers. If you have a return drop-off and no suitable box, they have boxes there as well as packaging materials. On top of that they have free campus internet, power/charging stations, and places to sit. They also have kiosks where a return can be requested and a return label printed. I think it might even be possible to place an order. They were supposed to have demonstrations of Amazon's electronic devices, but I didn't see anything other than one game controller that wasn't working and a lot of stations where it looks like a device was stolen. I guess the whole idea of this place is that students often deal with package theft, and some may not have ready access to a printer to print return labels. It is available to the public, as my wife wanted to return something and returning to this location was the option she chose.
 
Amazon has a Locker location in Isla Vista that I use fairly often. I could definitely see it being ideal if you lived in a place where packages weren't safe from prying eyes.
 
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Amazon has a Locker location in Isla Vista that I use fairly often. I could definitely see it being ideal if you lived in a place where packages weren't safe from prying eyes.

That's just off the UCSB campus, right? I guess they couldn't negotiate an on-campus location?

The one at UC Berkeley was built there while the whole student union building was being remodeled. The student union was closed for about a year while they rebuilt the place. They call it Amazon@ASUC Student Union.

24529472203_554fe36e47_b.jpg


This is one of their bigger locations with six of their modules.

AFEAT.jpg


It's a bit odd, but I found several of their promotional photos that look like the same employee being edited into the desk at different locations. The photos on the following pages shows the same guy in the same pose, but it's obviously not the same location.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/campus?campusId=CAMPUS_USB
http://asucstudentunion.amazon.com/gp/campus/splash/index.html/ref=campus_landing_redirect
 
Yes it is. It is better being in Isla Vista versus on campus since that is where most students live. Plus UCSB does not like the residents of Goleta at all so if it was on campus we wouldn't be able to park to use the Amazon Locker.

As far as the employees, they all have been super helpful. Had an item be delivered to them with the bag torn open. I re-ordered then went in and explained what happened. The worker was able to make sure I stopped getting notifications on my phone to pick up an empty bag. On a side not the eye candy outside the store is incredible.
 
We have a bunch of Amazon lockers here in Phoenix, I returned a pair of shoes that didn't fit using one. It worked great. Deliveries I just have sent to my house.
 
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