11 Precautions Floridians Should Take When Shopping at Walmart

A quick Walmart run can turn into a headache you didn’t plan for.

Some of the traps sit on the shelf, some hide in the fine print, and some find you long after you’ve left the store.

These are some precautions Floridians should take when shopping at Walmart. Many of these are wise to follow at any store.

1. Website Versus Store Prices

The price you saw on Walmart’s website may not be the price on the shelf.

The company’s FAQ says the prices on its website don’t reflect the prices in its stores.

Prices may vary from one Walmart store to the next because each store has to manage its inventory.

Walmart’s help center also says it will cancel your order if it catches a listing error while processing it, and that includes an incorrect price.

A price that looks too low online may leave you with a canceled order instead of a deal.

Check the shelf tag.

2. Pickup Deadlines

If you don’t pick up a Walmart order by the end of the day, the store cancels it the next day, Walmart’s help center says.

Late costs you the order.

You can reschedule your time slot only once, before the cutoff.

Choose a window you’re sure you can make before you place the order.

3. Substitution Choices

Before you place a Walmart pickup or delivery order, decide which items you’d rather go without than have swapped.

The company’s substitutions help page says you can choose the items you don’t want substituted before placing your order.

If an item is out of stock and you told Walmart you don’t want a substitute, it will remove the item from your order.

Your bag, your call.

4. Return Windows

Walmart’s return policy gives most wireless phones a 14-day return window, so check it before you buy.

That’s far shorter than the 90 days you get for most items.

Consumer electronics get 30 days, and major appliances get only two days.

Two days goes fast.

Write down the deadline the day you bring your purchase home.

5. Tampered Gift Cards

When you buy a gift card at Walmart, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says to check it for signs of tampering first.

Scammers can remove protective stickers or scratch off the back of a card in a store display to copy the numbers.

With those numbers, a scammer can take the money you load onto the card, even if the scammer never holds it.

If a card looks tampered with, tell store staff.

Leave it on the rack.

6. Marketplace Seller Returns

Before you buy on Walmart’s website, check whether Walmart or a marketplace seller is selling the item.

You get 30 days with most marketplace sellers, while most items bought from Walmart get 90.

Know your seller.

Luxury and collectible items from marketplace sellers get 14 days.

Some sellers may also charge a restocking fee of up to 20%.

Walmart’s marketplace return policy says to see return details on an item’s listing page, so read them before you buy from a marketplace seller.

7. Gift Card Demands

If a caller sends you to the Walmart gift card aisle, that call is the scam.

Walmart’s fraud alerts page says other businesses don’t accept Walmart gift cards as payment.

No legitimate government entity, including the Treasury Department and local police departments, will accept any form of gift cards as payment.

That includes a caller posing as the IRS who says you owe taxes.

Treat gift cards like cash.

8. Non-Returnable Pharmaceuticals

You can’t return pharmaceuticals or diabetes monitoring systems to Walmart, according to its return policy.

Weapons and ammunition are on the non-returnable list too.

It ends with “and more.”

Check that an item isn’t on that list before you pay for something you might want to return.

9. Recall Text Scams

If a text that claims to be from Walmart sends you a recall link, don’t tap it.

Recall notices from Walmart come through official websites and direct email notifications, not text messages, according to the company’s fraud alerts page.

One scam uses recall texts, in which messages falsely claim to be product recall notifications that scammers may use to steal personal information.

Walmart doesn’t notify contest winners by text either, so a message announcing that you won a gift card is a warning sign.

Delete the message.

10. Verification Call Scams

A caller who claims to be from a retailer like Walmart and asks you to verify your information is running a scam Walmart calls vishing.

The company’s fraud alerts page says that if someone contacts you to verify your personal information, you probably never gave it to them in the first place.

Legitimate companies won’t expect you to give your Social Security number or other personal information when they call.

Hang up.

A phishing email may look just like a legitimate Walmart email, logo included.

For an unexpected message that seems to come from a business you know, the FTC says not to click its links or call the numbers it gives you.

11. Passkeys and Account Security

Consider a passkey for your Walmart account, which the company describes as a password alternative that helps you securely sign in.

You can save a passkey in an Apple or Google account and use it on every device tied to that account.

If you spot a charge or order you didn’t make, reset your password as soon as you see it.

Also change the passwords on any other account that uses the same email address and password.

One password shouldn’t unlock everything.

Storm-Season Price Gouging

Florida’s price gouging law applies to Walmart like any other seller once the governor declares a state of emergency.

It makes it unlawful to sell food, water, ice and other commodities at an unconscionable price, meaning an unfairly high one, in the area under the emergency.

The statute treats a gross disparity from an item’s average price in the 30 days before the declaration as evidence of an unconscionable price.

Snap a photo of the shelf tag on the water or ice at your Walmart before a storm, and you’ll have a comparison.

Not every increase counts.

The law allows increases tied to added costs or market trends.