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Walmart Scanner "Errors" Overcharging People
Studies: Wal-Mart check-out errors over U.S. guidelines
Associated Press
Posted Monday, November 21, 2005
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. charged the wrong price to shoppers in California and the Midwest at a rate that exceeds those set by federal guidelines, according to two union-commissioned university studies released Monday.
Attorneys general in Illinois and California said the reports raised serious concerns. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, on a conference call held by the studies’ backers, said his office would investigate what he called a “culture” of inaccuracy.
The two studies said random purchases at 60 Wal-Mart stores in California found that the wrong price came up 8.3 percent of the time. At 78 stores in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, check-out scanners rang up the wrong price 6.4 percent of the time. In both states, some prices rang up higher and some were lower.
The National Institute for Standards and Technology says that for every 100 items scanned, no more than two should have the wrong price. The NIST’s last industrywide study, in 1998, found the rate at 3.35 per 100.
The recent studies were commissioned by the United Food and Commercial Workers, which has been unsuccessful in its attempts to organize Wal-Mart workers for years, and released by a UFCW-backed campaign group, Wake Up Wal-Mart. The research was conducted by the University of Illinois-Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development and the University of California-Berkeley.
“A majority of Wal-Mart stores tested in this evaluation of price accuracy demonstrated errors in pricing that exceeded federally accepted standards for large retail establishments,” the California and Midwest studies concluded.
The researchers said the average cost of overcharges was more than that of undercharges.
Wal-Mart said it had not seen the studies and could not say if the research methods were valid.
“It is no surprise that the study, which is union-funded, is being released the week prior to our holiday sales period,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark said. The holiday season is a retailer’s busiest time of year — and a bad reputation can hurt a retailer’s bottom line.
“If something is not right, we will fix it. However we do not know at this point if the study is valid,” Clark said.
Analysts said the findings were surprising, especially since Wal-Mart has invested heavily for years in leading-edge software and hardware to keep close track of its inventory.
“Wal-Mart is widely renowned for having one of the leading IT systems in the industry,” said Tom Rubel, who heads consultant Retail Forward in Columbus, Ohio.
Associated Press
Posted Monday, November 21, 2005
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. charged the wrong price to shoppers in California and the Midwest at a rate that exceeds those set by federal guidelines, according to two union-commissioned university studies released Monday.
Attorneys general in Illinois and California said the reports raised serious concerns. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, on a conference call held by the studies’ backers, said his office would investigate what he called a “culture” of inaccuracy.
The two studies said random purchases at 60 Wal-Mart stores in California found that the wrong price came up 8.3 percent of the time. At 78 stores in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, check-out scanners rang up the wrong price 6.4 percent of the time. In both states, some prices rang up higher and some were lower.
The National Institute for Standards and Technology says that for every 100 items scanned, no more than two should have the wrong price. The NIST’s last industrywide study, in 1998, found the rate at 3.35 per 100.
The recent studies were commissioned by the United Food and Commercial Workers, which has been unsuccessful in its attempts to organize Wal-Mart workers for years, and released by a UFCW-backed campaign group, Wake Up Wal-Mart. The research was conducted by the University of Illinois-Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development and the University of California-Berkeley.
“A majority of Wal-Mart stores tested in this evaluation of price accuracy demonstrated errors in pricing that exceeded federally accepted standards for large retail establishments,” the California and Midwest studies concluded.
The researchers said the average cost of overcharges was more than that of undercharges.
Wal-Mart said it had not seen the studies and could not say if the research methods were valid.
“It is no surprise that the study, which is union-funded, is being released the week prior to our holiday sales period,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark said. The holiday season is a retailer’s busiest time of year — and a bad reputation can hurt a retailer’s bottom line.
“If something is not right, we will fix it. However we do not know at this point if the study is valid,” Clark said.
Analysts said the findings were surprising, especially since Wal-Mart has invested heavily for years in leading-edge software and hardware to keep close track of its inventory.
“Wal-Mart is widely renowned for having one of the leading IT systems in the industry,” said Tom Rubel, who heads consultant Retail Forward in Columbus, Ohio.
I just saw this on the local NBC news here in Chicago.
Here is the only online story about it I could find so far.
According to the NBC news story I saw on TV, the study indicates that Walmart overcharges people an average of $1.33
So let me get this straight... according to the study, 6% of all items scanned at the Illinois stores were overcharged by an average of over a dollar.
YEAH I'M SURE THAT IS AN HONEST MISTAKE RIGHT
How long has this been going on?
How much money has Walmart made from this "error"?
I'll post the results of the study if I can find it. I'm sure a more detailed version of this story will come out in the next day or so.
Discuss.
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