Walmart - ‘disregarding phone carrier policy’

[Gonzo]

I had read up on the difficulty some people have had with purchasing a SIM card from Walmart without being forced to activate in-store, so was forwarned when I went to purchase two SIM cards from a Walmart Supercentre a couple of weeks ago. Sure enough, the associate was polite, but certain that he could not sell any SIM cards without activating in-store. When I told him Public Mobile was all about self-service and that I wanted to do my own activation, he conceded that it was a little unusual, but stated that he had been trained to disregard any phone carrier policies in favour of Walmart policies. His manager was away for the weekend and he was new, so he finally decided to sell me the SIM cards on his own responsibility. I was grateful, but what a shame that Walmart managers bully their employees into disregarding the very companies they claim to represent.

[Anonymous]

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@cocobirch wrote:

Yes, they forced me to sign up in store even though my phone was not yet unlocked. They assured me my plan would begin once I set up my phone, but I just got a message saying that my bill is due tomorrow even though I only set up on Oct. 9!!!

I’m new here and I’m worried my service is going to get cut off tomorrow! I wasn’t expecting to pay again until Nov 8, I don’t have a credit card and I dont have a way to get back to Walmart before tomorrow! Help please, mods & community! 

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If you came from Telus or Koodo then a locked phone would work anyway.

Please post a screenshot of your overview page AND recent payment history.

You can buy vouchers online from recharge.com using Paypal that can be linked to your bank account. Or go to any store that sells gift cards and they'll almost certainly be able find Public Mobile in their little pinpad terminal thingy.

[cocobirch]

Yes, they forced me to sign up in store even though my phone was not yet unlocked. They assured me my plan would begin once I set up my phone, but I just got a message saying that my bill is due tomorrow even though I only set up on Oct. 9!!!

I’m new here and I’m worried my service is going to get cut off tomorrow! I wasn’t expecting to pay again until Nov 8, I don’t have a credit card and I dont have a way to get back to Walmart before tomorrow! Help please, mods & community! 

[Poogzley]

Why not just sell on Amazon? Seems logical...

[Mary_M]

I'll inquire about this @mimmo, I agree it would be educational and beneficial. I will get back to the thread when I have updates!

On that note, I'm 2 minutes away from my weekend 🙂 enjoy it everyone!!  ❤️

Mary

[mimmo]

@Mary_M maybe you should make a sticky post in the retail forum titled issues buying a sim card? 

In it outline the pm policy and what to and to whom to report when issues arise.

I know Walmart seems to be the biggest culprate but it should be good advice for all retail partners.

[Mary_M]

Hey @mimmo,

wow sorry for the late reply - I just saw this! I was actually trying to find more situations with Wal-Mart locations - to add to our list. To confirm, we ARE keeping tracking of these locations for coaching purposes. We have a special team who we send this info to, and they take care of coaching them on the policy/correct information.

So if anyone has any other locations they would like to share, please send them my way (to Mary_M) and include:

 - location (city, area, address with postal code)

- date and time 

- any additional feedback you want to share about this experience.

I will personally send the information to the appropriate team.

Thank you for all for your understanding,

Mary

[mimmo]

@Mary_M is this true that mods are suggesting to talk to Walmart supervisors?

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@Gonzo wrote:

Yes, that’s right.

Quote: The only thing I can suggest you is to get in touch with the manager or contact the temporary supervisor on the local store. Otherwise, we are not able to submit a follow-up for any incident at Wal-Mart unfortunately.

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@NDesai wrote:

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@Gonzo wrote:

Update: PM recommended complaining to local Walmart management, and said they couldn’t do anything from their end. 

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Wait, did a mod said that to you? 

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[NDesai]

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@Gonzo wrote:

Yes, that’s right.

Quote: The only thing I can suggest you is to get in touch with the manager or contact the temporary supervisor on the local store. Otherwise, we are not able to submit a follow-up for any incident at Wal-Mart unfortunately.

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@NDesai wrote:

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@Gonzo wrote:

Update: PM recommended complaining to local Walmart management, and said they couldn’t do anything from their end. 

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Wait, did a mod said that to you? 

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Thank you for the info. I will get in touch with the team and let them know of this.

[Gonzo]

Yes, that’s right.

Quote: The only thing I can suggest you is to get in touch with the manager or contact the temporary supervisor on the local store. Otherwise, we are not able to submit a follow-up for any incident at Wal-Mart unfortunately.

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@NDesai wrote:

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@Gonzo wrote:

Update: PM recommended complaining to local Walmart management, and said they couldn’t do anything from their end. 

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Wait, did a mod said that to you? 

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[NDesai]

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@Gonzo wrote:

Update: PM recommended complaining to local Walmart management, and said they couldn’t do anything from their end. 

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Wait, did a mod said that to you? 

[Gonzo]

Update: PM recommended complaining to local Walmart management, and said they couldn’t do anything from their end. 

[Wonder_why]

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@stonechucker wrote:

@Brooke_C, @Alan_K I think you need to totally rethink Wal-Mart locations.  This is rediculous.

If you want a retail presence, use the brick and motor locations of Telus and Koodo that are already owned/rented/leased by Telus, and staff that can follow the instructions.

@stonechucker you hit the nail heads 😃👍

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[mimmo]

the mobile shop ( stores inside superstore) could be another location instead of walmart.

[stonechucker]

@Brooke_C, @Alan_K I think you need to totally rethink Wal-Mart locations.  This is rediculous.

If you want a retail presence, use the brick and motor locations of Telus and Koodo that are already owned/rented/leased by Telus, and staff that can follow the instructions.

[mimmo]

@Wonder_whyhave to disagree with you.  I posted me experiece a month or so ago and I received a message from mods saying they are trying to track down and educate the stores that are being bad.  how effective that will be i dont know, but at least they are trying.

this is an excerpt of the message i received:

We've actually created a tracker for these locations, which we will use to determine which locations to coach in order to prevent this from happening again. Can you please share some details about this specific location, such as the following?

- location (city, area, address with postal code)

- date and time 

- any additional feedback you want to share about this experience.

[Wonder_why]

No used, just waste of time 😋 don't bother to complaint nor the MOD going to listen as well,buy from WOW Mobile or London Drugs Store

[dna2016]

@Gonzo, yep that's the Walmart experience alright.  You should definitely message the MODS as they sent me a personal message asking for the details of the locations I went to a couple days ago, the MODS are definitely putting together a list and I assume some type of action plan will be established, hopefully soon.  In order for me to actually get a SIM from a  Walmart I had to lie and say I needed a replacement SIM and PM advised me to go to Walmart to get one.  The rep was a little hesitant, but I maintained my poker face really well.  I know he wanted to question it a little but I guess he couldn't really fight with someone who has "no service".  But it definitely should not come to that where customers need to lie just to get a SIM.

I agree with @NDesai, I think PM should find another retailer to stock SIM cards, maybe Shoppers or something like that, where customers can just go to pick up a SIM and then activate from home.  We don't need a cell phone rep to sell us a SIM card.  For those customers that want to activate in store then they can go to places like London Drugs or dare I say.......Walmart.  It just gives customers options as opposed to being stuck.  

[stonechucker]

Talk with your wallets.  I know Walmart is inexpensive, but their labour practices are awful, and the contractors running the electronics department are worse.

Go elsewhere.

[Pound]

When I was having my PM number activated at a Walmart in Scarborough this week, the sales guy pushed very hard first for Lucky, then Koodo. Really hard! I felt they were indeed reluctant toward PM business. 

[JL9]

Yeah...this has become just beyond ridiculous now. Maybe they can find a competitor to deal with and just pull it from Walmart altogether. If only.

[larryb]

Thanks for the link, I submitted my experience to Walmart regarding their refusal to sell me a SIM card..

[Gonzo]

True, it’s too bad if PM has expanded to retail locations to be more accessible, only to end up having an extra layer of frustration added! Some cities don’t have London Drugs or Wow, leaving Walmart our only option for purchasing PM SIM cards, so rather than dump Walmart for mismanagement, I hope PM can convince Walmart (or its wireless subcontractor, I guess) to cooperate with PM policies.

[mimmo · Accepted solution]

@Gonzo I would message the mods with the Walmart location details. And date time etc as well as a link to this thread. They seem to be  actively trying to do something about it.

[will13am]

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@NDesai wrote:

Yes, Walmart is pretty bad. Now that PM introduced other Retail stores and other 3rd party stores, they should just ditch Walmart. 

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Walmart doesn't really run that department.  That said, if enough complaints go to Walmart, they would consider doing something to protect their brand. 

[austinhuang]

Contact walmart at https://www.walmart.ca/en/help/contact-us/corporate if you haven't already done so, even if the wireless dept is subcontracted to others.

If this solves your question, please select my reply as Solution!

[will13am]

This is the scum company that staffs the wireless department at Walmart.  There needs to be a social media campaign to out this establishment as being a shady business.

https://oslrs.com/

[NDesai]

Yes, Walmart is pretty bad. Now that PM introduced other Retail stores and other 3rd party stores, they should just ditch Walmart.