A Walmart Grocery Pickup Review
Walmart has not paid me to write this. All thoughts and opinions are mine... But seriously, Walmart, feel free to pay me for writing this Walmart Grocery Pickup review. Ahem.
A Walmart Grocery Pickup Review
I first heard about the Walmart Grocery Pickup this year via the internets. I quickly went online to see if the service was offered in my area... and it was not. Through Walmart's website I signed up to get notifications once the service was available in my area.
This month, Walmart Grocery Pickup emailed me and let me know that it was available in Tallahassee. Woohoo! They even gave me a $10 off $50 coupon. Even better, right?
Here is my Walmart Grocery Pickup review, which includes a play-by-play of my experience using the service for the first time. It was not what I expected!
Login
The first thing you need to do is login or create an account. While doing this you'll also verify that this service is offered in your area.
Add Groceries to Cart
The next thing you need to do is add groceries to your cart. It's pretty simple.
Go nuts.
Checkout
After you've added all the food and other miscellaneous to your cart (I bought a hose and hairclips) click on "Check out".
Choose your pickup location and pickup time.
Review and Choose Substitutions
Here's where next time I would do things differently...
See those green checks to the right of each item (in the photo below)? What that means is that if they are out of that particular item they will choose a substitution for me.
Three things were substituted in my order - cherry tomatoes, chicken broth and hairclips.
The morning of my pickup day I got a call from a Walmart associate apologizing that they were out of a particular item and asking if xyz was ok instead.
- For my cherry tomatoes, instead of the organic I ordered they gave me conventional, but yellow, cherry tomatoes.
- For the chicken broth, instead of the organic Pacific Natural Foods brand, they gave me 2 Sams Choice organic bone broths (for the price of one).
- The haircips actually looked the same to me, so I'm not sure what went on there.
*If they do substitute something they will always have you pay the least expensive price.
If I were to do it again, I think I would just not have them do substitutions. I think that will keep things simpler.
Pickup Day
Pickup day was exciting for me! I tried to get my kids excited about it too. My seven year old thought I was being weird.
Me: Son, aren't you excited about going to Walmart and the workers doing the grocery shopping for us??
Kid: Sure.
Thanks, kid.
That afternoon I got a call reminding me about pickup instructions and to let me know my groceries would be ready to be picked up at the scheduled time. They wanted me to call them about 15 minutes before I arrived.
I chose my pickup time to be 3 - 4 pm. I chose that because I have to pickup my son at 3 pm and I knew that right after that I could easily swing by Walmart. Normally, I wouldn't go grocery shopping right after pickup but I thought I could manage having someone do it for me. 😉
Here we are in the pickup line. My daughter was excited! She didn't know why though!
So after I got my son I called Walmart and told them I was on my way. They were super overly-polite on the phone. If my northern relatives heard them, they would be suspicious. They were SO polite and SO gracious.
While I was driving to Walmart I was wondering exactly how easy it would be to figure out where to go. I pulled into the parking lot and what do I see? Orange signs telling me which way to go. Easy! I like easy.
I followed the signs to the side of the building. I parked in one of the parking spots.
After I parked I called the number (the same number I called to let them know I was on my way) and let them know I was here and where I was parked. Not that anybody else was in this parking lot with me. But, I thought I'd just try to be helpful.
And then I waited about 3 minutes. And I found myself getting impatient. And then I thought how ridiculous I was being because someone was about to bring my groceries out to my car for me. 'Merica.
And then this blue vested angel showed up at my window bearing gifts. He brought a cold water and random food samples I would never normally eat or buy.
My son thought the samples were amazing. By giving him snacks they won him over. However, I bet when we come next time and there are no gift-snacks, he'll feel disappointed. LOL!
(Side note: In my bag of samples there was this seemingly random can of chickpeas. I laughed when I saw it. A can of beans? How weird! Turns out it is for this hummus mix that you put in a blender or food processor. Ooohhhh.)
After I explained my weird behavior (taking his picture) to this blue vested angel (that I'm a blogger and will be blogging about my experience) he disappeared into Walmart and reappeared only to give me more gifts.
Flowers? What is this Walmart-blue-vested magic spell I've been put under?
Meanwhile, my daughter fell asleep and missed this whole experience. If I was actually going grocery shopping I would have had to wake her up. And we all know how well grocery shopping works after you wake up a three year old from too short of a nap. (Thank you Walmart Grocery Pickup for preventing a public meltdown! Woohoo!)
While he was waiting, my son read some of his book he's reading for school. Yay!
The baby, on the other hand, whined the whole time. She was probably the least happy about the curbside service. (See? I'm not the only one feeling impatient while someone else grocery shops for me AND loads it in my vehicle. LOL!)
This is the lady that shopped and loaded my groceries (see below). I forgot to get a picture of her face. She's probably grateful.
And whoa... did you see Richard's tattoos? He's so cool. We're best friends now. Except he wouldn't tell me his last name. He said his name was "just Rich".
*FYI you are not allowed to help Walmart employees load the groceries in your vehicle. (I've totally done this though and nobody stopped me.)
*FYI you are not allowed to tip Walmart employees for loading the groceries in your vehicle.
Rich said that they hand picked everything to make sure it was the best. He also said that if I wanted my bananas to be more or less green next time to just let them know. They were perfectly yellow. Not brown or green.
After they loaded everything up, they gave me a receipt on regular paper, were overly thankful and polite (I'm not complaining... it was really sweet!) and I headed on home.
At Home
Once I got home, I brought everything inside and checked things out.
(But first, I ran to the bathroom and peed. And while I was there I thought to myself that if I actually went grocery shopping I would have had to drag all three kids to the bathroom with me. And that by using the Walmart Grocery Pickup service I avoided the whole "Walmart bathroom" experience. I'm so grateful.)
Some bags had stickers on them that said "substitution" or "fragile". The bread was labeled fragile and the items substituted were labeled too.
Here's most everything I bought, except for the hose and hairclips. The butternut squash isn't from Walmart... just ignore that. Hiding in the pile is a thing of spring mix, fresh dill and mushrooms. I paid $48 after my $10 coupon. What a deal!
Here's my order summary, but not necessarily what I got (because of substitutions).
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Walmart Grocery Pickup Review
I LOVED the Walmart Grocery Pickup service. LOVED it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
It was so simple, saved me at least an hour of time, allowed me to avoid public restrooms with my three kids AND my three year old got to take a nap which she desperately needed (but refused to do at home).
I will absolutely use this service again. I even will buy my meat there (Costco! Get on board with this pickup thing, ok?) because they have grass-fed beef and free range chicken.
Walmart Grocery Pickup has forever changed my life. Hallelujah and amen.
(Side Note: I think this curbside pickup service would be PERFECT for going on vacation. "Grocery shop" online while driving to the destination, schedule a pickup time and bam, vacation grocery shopping is done. More time at the pool and less time at Walmart. Perfect.)
UPDATE 5/2018
I've used this service a bajillion times since I wrote this post. I'm still generally pleased with this service. Here are some thoughts...
- The "search" function on walmart.grocery.com needs some help. For example, if I type in "organic" not everything they sell that's organic pops up. Walmart, you're missing out here.
- Product photos are small which makes it difficult to decide to buy a product or not. Walmart, you could do so much better!
- I've used this service when out of town on vacation. Other stores have more products than mine. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.
- A few times I've rejected an item at pickup, but was charged for it on my final bill. I called customer service at (800) 924-9206 and they resolved the issue quickly. Wait times were negligible. One time, for my inconvenience, they even gave me a $15 coupon for a future order!
- Sometimes even if I choose "no substitutions" I am given a substituted item anyways. Sometimes I'm ok with it, sometimes I'm not. I'm happy with that because sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised with that they give me.
- I love that they give me the lower price if an item is substituted. Sometimes I come out majorly winning in these scenarios. 😉
Leave a Comment
Have you used this service? Leave a comment with your own Walmart Grocery Pickup review and let us know how it went for you!
Great experience. I only tried it due to having the $10 off $50 promotion, but am glad I used it. I called upon entering the parking lot, was directed to the pickup area, and my order was out within 2 minutes. I was given a nice gift bag and a polite welcome to the service. Although I had asked for no substitutions, one was made in my order. I called the customer service number and was promptly given a refund for the item, and also given a goodwill promotion of $5 to use on my next order. Even without that, I know I wold use the service again. Can't wait to use it when traveling in our RV!
Each time I've used the service (4) they've brought out a bag of goodies. I was concerned about the produce, but needn't have been. It was what I would've selected. I'm mobility impaired and their carts frequently are broken. (rotten kids with rottener parents). So it's a real ace for me. My ONLY complaint is they use too many bags. At least you can return them.
Your experience was very helpful and you even answered my question regarding tipping! Thanks again!
Used it yesterday for the first time. IMO this is a game changer and I fully expect local grocers to have to copy it. In fact I am immediately ceasing the weekly grocery trip to where I used to go and will use this instead.
It is clear some of your commenters above can't follow directions properly. For example the person who complained about two bananas not two lbs should realize the app sells singles, not lbs. also when you place an order Walmart says they will tell you when it is ready. So yesterday that email came 10 min before my pickup window. I then used the Walmart grocery app to "check in", and it uses gps to tell Walmart when I am near. I arrived at the store, did NOT call the check in number (redundant; that is what the app does), and three min later somebody came out with my stuff.
Hi. I have used pick up about 4 times. I was happy with the experience. I feel I saved because I didn't impulse buy. My only complaint is that the last time I placed and order I had to cancel 30 minutes later and they have a hold on my money. I will use this service again but I need to be more careful to make sure I don't cancel order.
I really think they shouldn't get my money until I actually pick up items.
I'm trying it out today for the first time 🙂 I just had to leave a comment because my daughter has the same name as yours! Beautiful!
That's so great!
****WARNING**** current issue with Walmart Grocers and Wells Fargo pre-auth makes it appear you shopped twice, and the funds are held for days against your Wells Fargo bank account. I contacted WF and Walmart, and WM says it has been an ongoing issue with WF since 8/25/2017. If you have a WF bank account that you want to use to shop at WM groceries, this could happen to you! It will appear you bought groceries twice!
This happened to me as well .... 🙁
It happened to me too today! I am livid! I sent two emails and then called Walmart only to get hung up on. The next rep told me about this problem and said its Wells Fargo's fault. I'm still on the phone trying to get this rectified.
Yes, I did my first pickup yesterday, and last night I discovered in my Wells Fargo checking account that TWO amounts were being held. One for about $150. and one for about $165., so I called WalMart's Customer Service and it was explained to me. He said to watch my account, that it should drop off today or tomorrow. That didn't sit well with me. I checked about noon today, and the second charge was gone, but still.......this is potentially a huge problem!
I also buy from WM online, and could not differentiate between the different charges as some were priced piecemeal as they are sent, so I couldn't compare order totals, and it became an exercise in addition and subtraction....who has time for that?! It was wasted time imo, but at least it wasn't on my terribly painful arthritic knees. I may have to use a credit card for the grocery pickup service so as not to get insufficient funds charges. This is not good, imo.
I've used Walmart grocery numerous times and loved it---until yesterday. I put in my order as usual. Half way to the store I get an email saying thanks for picking up your order. I get to the store and sure enough I'm told my order was picked up by my nonexistent husband. I tell them let's file a police report because I just paid for someone's groceries. They told me that the pickup person knew my name and pickup time. Walmart grocery does NOT check ID. They told me that they'd investigate it and get back to me. They nicely refused to fulfill the order. I left the store with no groceries and a Walmart grocery charge. Obviously, this was an inside job. BEWARE
I used this service for the first time today...Everything was great..I had downloaded the app. and checked in 15 minutes before I arrived...It notified them how long it would take me to get there...Pulled into parking slot and waited about 5 minutes...All my order was perfect and the little lady that loaded them was so nice and sweet...I will definitely be using the service as I hate to be in a crowded store with people stopped in the aisles visiting...lol lol...I get aisle rage...I am 81 years old and this type service is a blessing...
Darn, i thought I'd be scrolling FOREVER. Anyway, no lollygagging no tap dancing no unnecessary ad- lib.
First, IMO you need to try a service like this more than one time to be able to get a good feel for it. I could tell you a few things that happened with an older relative of mine and me bc i was helping her out. Your best bet is do your shopping on your pc, desktop, regular computer, bc there's lots of errors, TONS on mobile devices.
. TONS WOW. My auntie ordered a few deli items, she had to be specific because it was for something specific. The items were not available and she did not tick the box indicating substitution was fine. Ironically late that night I had to run to the store for something go figure. Look there - they had the very item she wanted and plenty in stock! Also sticker said made on date was before she was ordering. Next day my lil exp didn't quite have the result expected, THAT'S INSTANT KARMA, but it's also smthn i would want to know. Sooo, i added that item that I was 99% sure they had, it was my first order of my own abt 60$ with
10$ off referral. I didn't realize when i click place order a hold for whatever the cost rounded up is put on your funds in your bank account. Thats fine with me no problem I can understand it. But By time I went to pick up my $60 order I got about $10 worth of items- i was like... huh? So i went into the store for something comprable , the stuff Is ordered was actually available in store. That was a red flag. Stay tuned there's more....
On one occasion when the lil wagon they pull your boxes was next to my car, BAM lol. The handle on that big wagon left a neat lil DENT in thr side of my car.i really didn't know what to say, just like em all. Which is good for them INDEED. OR else I'd probably raise neck
heck over a few things. Now the order that had only a few items available(which wasn't exactly accurate) it took abt 7 business days to get that money deposited back in my account! _ youfor the hold removed blah blah blah whatever, what they kept telling me was different from what kept happening. I have kids to feed, i should've never had to wait that long due to THEIR ERROR, they did howeveroffer me a 5$store credit for the error. Fine
This is what could be a great service esp for ppl with...? Disabled children, if the shopper is sick or disabled even, if your schedule is so crammed you barely have a second to use the bathroom 10 hours a day , maybe you're a person with anxiety around lots of people - I'm not judging- there's a plethora of reasons maybe you could benefit from an extra set of hands - THEN YES, UTILIZE THIS SERVICE. JUST REMEMBER, check your receipt make sure the prices all match up, make sure you don't duplicate items.... and this part is A HUGE ISSUE WITH ME AND MINE
.. it's darn near as important as being overcharged or not getting a credit if thts necessary - to my kids it's an even BIGGER DEAL, BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND UR HEALTH, PLEASE CHECK ALL YOUR FOOD EXPIRATION DATES! I'M SEEING THIS MORE AND MORE AND idk if it's just one of those things, but considering it's gotten WORSE from the beginning -helping my auntie every now and then to eventually using this service myself - there's been innumerable times that I'd realize later after dropping food at my aunt's or getting my own pick up items out of the cupboard, freezer or fridge, whatever... EXPIRED EXPIRED EXPIRED. No one should ever give you 1/2 lb of deli turkey that has a sticker indicating the exp date is one day away, the next day!
I do not mean JUST check exp dates on deli items though. I mean ALL OF IT. Anything that is perishable.. it's only a minor inconvenience. Multiple times a week though is more than a minor inconvenience.
I've not yet figured out a way to utilize coupons for grocery pick up. I asked walmart customer service pick up dept, the gal told me she was not aware of anyone having the issue, she said most ppl do not use coupons. (???) So If anyone knws whether this info is right or not, feel free to enlighten me. I like a free coupons every now and then. I love helping my aunt save a lil $ too!
Most important take away here : check ALL EXP DATES. Being sick from old food is no picnic y'all! Pun intended. BUT Esp when it's one of your young children or an ELDERLY relative.
THnKS for your time. Good grocery to ya.
You're annoying.
"RENEy", I suspect you're a troll and agree with "scott".
This weekend was our first time using it. The ordering and app were very easy to use. We were happy to find out we could add to the order after checkout because we always realize that we missed something every time, and I hate having to go back to get the onion or the toilet paper. My husband went to pickup, and was back home within 15 minutes, fully loaded, with no substitutes and everything we had ordered and added. I had ordered fresh bananas, chicken breast and milk from fresh products. The chicken was ok, good dates, and cold, just not exactly how I would have chosen it in looks, just the way it was packaged. The bananas were perfectly yellow, no brown spots and no green. The milk was cold, and at a good date. All of the frozen items were still frozen, no soggy boxes or water dripping. This will be a great help for moms and people with disabilities. The only surprise we had was when the charges came in for each addition, instead of all being on the same billing. I live in a retirement community, and this will really help the elderly in the area.
They just raised the prices by, like, 20%! One price for in store, another for pick up. It was great while it lasted.
Thanks for sharing this! I am about to shift to the USA in the coming month so I am also gonna make the purchases from the Walmart.
That's why i was looking to get some insights on my daily needed things and your post helped a lot. Cheers!
Thanks, since you took the tine to write this, I will make sure to use your referral code.
Thanks for the unbiased overview! I use emeals to plan my weekly meals and when I click on the meals I like for week it automatically feeds the recipes, converted into a shopping list, into the Walmart pickup app. I avoid the ad-how purchases, which saved me about $50/week and I know I have everything I need for next weeks meals. Convenience multiplied! (And, like you, no one paid me to write this-just a happy consumer!)