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!
Jist so everyone knows. You most definitely CAN help the Walmart employees load your vehicle. They greatly appreciate it. Especially in hot and cold temperatures. It also helps them get the orders out more quickly during busy times. Not to mention it's courteous since you're not having to step foot in the store or do any shopping. 🙂
Oh! I had no idea. Good to know.
Used this service for the 3rd time tonite. Was sick with the flu, so sent my son to pick up. Specified no substitutions. Got substitutions regardless. Pickup time requested was from 5-6 pm. Never received email it was ready until 5:38 pm, by which point my son was already at store, having driven there after work. Then he was kept waiting for 45 minutes in this frigid negative wind chill weather we have been having in the Northeast. And several items were unavailable. Not happy. He says he will never go back again. Out of 3 times, I have yet to receive exactly what I ordered. And some substitutions duplicated items which were already in my order.
Worst experience I have had. Normally use Kroger pick up. Walmart fort 84 dollars worth of groceries and did not tell me. Then when I called after I got home the manager said she could not help and call back in the morning. It was 812p. Not late at all. This was the second time I tried to place the order. First time they called me 20 after my order was to be ready and told me they could not have it pulled in time. My ride was already at the store waiting. Now this time it was 50 minutes late and missing over 20 items. Do not recommended this service from Walmart. And now no one can credit my money until they investigate with the store tomorrow.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience 🙂
Today was my first time using the service, I had a fairly good experience. I revived all but 2 of my items one was fresh rosemary because they were out, no big deal. The second was organic chicken broth, the woman helping me said that they do not like to sub organic thing because people get annoyed. Whatever ill have to go to the store anyway sometime this week. there were a few substitutions and most of them were fine the only complaint I had is instead of subing out another brand of cheddar cheese they gave me Colby jack and I need cheddar, but overall everything was fine I received most of my items and with the speedy pickup I am happy.
I cried getting near the end of reading this because I am online now shopping on Walmart.com trying the pickup thing and in the middle of it I decided to look up reviews because it seemed too good to be true. If my experience is like yours I will cry right into those flowers LOL
I have used the service since it came to my area loved it until last Sunday was ready to pick up my order I got a call at 9am saying my groceries could not be picked because the walmart server went down and they would have to cancel all orders I had to go into the store to shop and purchase the groceries I had already paid for online thank God I had extra money to repurchase my groceries it has been 5 days since they canceled my order and the money 180.00 is still not back in my account I contacted walmart corporate office and was spoken to as if this whole mess was my fault, I reminded the lady on the phone it was walmart server issues not mine she was the rudest person ever.since this issue happened I will never shop in a walmart ever.
Buyer beware!!
Are you still using the service? If so, how is it now 2 years later?
Perfect for me. I just can’t find where to tell the how to slice the deli cheese and how to stack the slices side by side with paper between layers so it doesn’t stick together. I haven’t been insid a grocery store in months. I love this service.
I was VERY excited to learn Walmart grocery had finally come to my area! I used it for the 1st time yesterday. The lady was at my car as soon as I arrived, and less than 5 minutes later I was driving off with $75 worth of groceries - HEAVEN...I almost cried tears of joy!!!! I did help her place the items in my car, and when I asked if she could receive a tip, she said "I'm not allowed to say no to the customer." I happily gave her a $5 and drove off. I only had one substitution - a watermelon, which was organic and bigger than the one I selected for the same price. I had one issue which I found out today - 7 of the 12 the eggs I had ordered were cracked, 2 were full-on broken! I would definitely use this service again, checking the eggs before I leave.
I have used the pickup service since it became available in Oklahoma City. Have I had problems? Yes, a few, but show me a business that serves the public with no mistakes or problems and I'll go there everyday, LOL Please keep in mind the Walmart employees are human, just like everyone else, and if you have a bad experience with one of them, there could be a reason of which you are not aware. Maybe they just got some bad news, or they are sick, but not sick enough to stay home, etc. Please give them the benefit of the doubt and perhaps make it a better day for them by your kindness and understanding.
Walmart began offering the delivery service in my area last week and I jumped on it. Yes, I love not having to go and spend an hour or two shopping and just going to pick up my purchases instead, but I LOVE having my purchases delivered! We typically buy groceries only once or twice a month, so our orders are large. Since we are elderly and disabled, having our groceries brought to our front door is an AMAZING service! The man who brought them was so sweet; we were unable to be home exactly at the delivery time, but a recent purchase of our Ring doorbell saved the day. When the delivery man rang the doorbell, I was able to tell him from my cell phone (in transit) that I was about 10 minutes away and to go ahead and unload the groceries at the front door, outside.
By the time we got home he was still unloading, so we were able to sign for the groceries. I would recommend if you are going to use the delivery service to make arrangements with a neighbor or friend to be available in case you might encounter a problem and not be home exactly at the appointed time.
So will I let a few problems keep me from using these services? NO! This is best thing since sliced bread and I hope they never discontinue it.
This was SO helpful! Thank you for the detailed explanation. I just ordered my first order. So excited! I already probably forgot a few things but I'm still working on my whole "meal planning" anyway.
Well I tried the free pickup today, or at least I selected everything. Then when I had my cart full of 45 items I went to checkout and was given a pickup option for Tuesday - today is Saturday. So apparently it will take them 3+ days to do an hour's worth of shopping. For me that's a pretty useless service, I don't want my groceries in 3 days - especially when they want to take my money right now. This ended up being a monumental waste of time.
Update: I found out why it took them 4 days for my order. It turns out that 9/11 was the first day they were offering the service at my local Walmart. I ended up placing the order on Saturday even though I had to wait until Tuesday for the order and my wife was the first person to use the service at that store. It ended up being a great experience, she said the women who brought the stuff to the car were super helpful and the 4 items they had substituted were in a separate bag. They went over each thing to make sure it was acceptable. It's really a fantastic service and I'll most likely end up using it for our weekly shopping from now on.
My experience was not as pleasant!!! I waited for over 36 minutes! I called twice and went inside to go to the bathroom. Then when he came out I could not even get an apology....will never ever do this gain!!!!
Thanks for the review. I am trying this for the first time and I noticed on your screen shots they want someone who is over 18 to pick up the order. My son is 6 months away from being 18 and offered to pick up the groceries on his way home from school so I wouldn't have to bring my 2 year old twins out. Did they verify your ID?
I have a hard time envisioning them verifying ID to make sure he's old enough. All they want is to get the right groceries in the right car as efficiently as possible. 🙂
Hi LIndsey,
I had much the same experiences as you when Walmart initially offered this service. Now that the service is more popular, I find my wait times to be much longer. So long in fact that I tend only to use the service if the weather is bad (rainy, freezing, etc.) Last night as an example, I used the service due to snowy weather, but also because I was in a hurry following work. First mistake. I have evolved and use the App rather than call, but because it was taking so long AND I was annoyed with 2 substitutions they offered (one being Iceberg lettuce rather than Leafy Green) I called them. They immediately and politely explained the wait times were longer than usual. I jumped into action and left a post it on my car saying "Please place groceries in back of car. I do not want the substitutions, thank you." I then ran into the store, grabbed two containers of Leafy Green lettuce as well as some wild blueberries - both of the substituted items. I KNEW these items were in the store and do not understand why the substitutions? Just as I walked back to my car, the delivery staff was walking up to my car. So technically, the service worked - although slow as could be and who decides to substitute items that are in the store? That's all - thank you!
Sometimes walmart is just... walmart. I dunno. lol