Walmart Grocery Pick Up Review
I received an offer in the mail to try out Walmart’s free grocery pick up. The offer was for $10 off of my first $50 purchase. With Chase Freedom’s 4th quarter including Walmart, offering 5x UR points, I decided now was the time. Let me tell you, I loved it, but it did come with a few drawbacks.
UPDATE: I have now used this service 10+ times and I have only had one issue. They missed a small item, command hooks. I was even surprised they were an option since they are not really grocery. I sent Walmart a message online telling them about the missed item and I received a response a few hours later telling me my credit should post in a few days. It has made my life a lot easier with small children.
Click Here to get $10 off your first order (my personal referral link).
How it Works
The process is fairly easy. You go to Walmart’s grocery department section online and select what items you would like to purchase. Once you have everything added to your cart you submit the order. Then Walmart will ask you to select what day and time you would like to pick it up. Shortly before your pick up window Walmart will email you that your order is complete.
The email will ask you to click through to the Walmart app to alert them when you are on your way. The app will track your vehicle and will alert the Walmart employee when you enter the parking lot – pretty slick! If you don’t want to download the app you can call a number when you arrive to tell them you are ready to pick up.
The pick up location will usually be on the side of the Walmart location. The email will tell where the pick up area is located. It will be highlighted on the app as well. You should look for a set up similar to this.
I pulled into one of the spots and 2-3 minutes later a Walmart employee wheeled out my items in a cart. She went over if there were any substitutions etc. and then had me sign that I had made the pick up. She even helped me load the groceries into my car. I got the feeling most people sit in their car and the Walmart employee loads the groceries, so that is an option. That would be pretty handy in bad weather! Walmart even gives you a little gift bag full of drinks and snacks with your first order.
Pros and Cons
I think the pros outweigh the cons for this service but here is a list of both:
Pros:
- You can shop from the comfort of your own home.
- It should be possible to use a shopping portal to increase your savings.
- You save time not having to walk around the store and actually shop.
- No lugging small kids around the store!!!!
- No need to leave your car in bad weather.
- You won’t be tempted by those impulse buys – thanks reader David!
Cons:
- Prices can change from the time you order till when you pick up (but they can also drop).
- I could not locate a place to pay with a gift card so keep that in mind.
- They will substitute similar items which is a decision you do not get to make. (Reader Fivegirls says you can un-check substitute for the items. And two other readers said you usually come out on top when you get substitutes)
- You can not pick your own produce type of items (my Walmart’s produce is terrible anyway).
There were two items substituted with my order. I had ordered a 24 oz jar of pickles which they subbed 2 – 16 oz jars for the same price, no problem. I also ordered 2 bags of Tostitos Crispy Rounds tortilla chips which were subbed with Tostitos Scoops chips. The Scoops were actually cheaper so they filled it with 3 bags instead of 2 for the same price. I probably would not have grabbed the Scoops if I had been shopping in the store but I appreciate that they gave me more for the same price.
Conclusion
I found the Walmart Grocery pick up program to be very useful and I plan on using it in the future. While it is probably best used on non perishable items, that alone cuts down my shopping time considerably. I don’t love the substitution policy but both times I came out with more than I had originally paid for, so that may be the trade off.
It is currently limited to specific stores so you would have to check and see if one near you offers it. If you do have a store near you I think it is definitely worth a try. Especially with the $10 off of $50 they are currently offering via our referral link below.
Click here to try it out now! (My Referral Code)
Have you tried Walmart Grocery pick up before? What did you think? If not, will you be giving it a try?
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[…] 12. Walmart Grocery Pick Up Review – $10 Off Your First Order […]
Absolutely horrendous experience with the Walmart grocery pick-up service. I received a $10 off my first order coupon. I ordered my groceries on line, used the promotional coupon, and waited for an email telling me my order was available for pick-up. Once I received the email I drove to my local Walmart, downloaded their app, and drove into the pick-up area. Using the app to tell them I was there, I received a cheery “No need to call, we will be there in a minute”. 43 minutes later on a cold Minnesota day with a sick daughter in the car, I still hadn’t received my groceries. I called the store from my car and asked to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor said they were “backed up” but she would check on my order. After being on hold for 20 minutes I left my car and went into the store. There I encountered 5 other people complaining about the long wait for their groceries. There was only one manager on duty trying to assist customers, and it took her quite a bit of time tracking down orders, etc. The other “store manager” left me on hold for 30 minutes before I lost patience and hang up. One hour and 15 minutes later I finally received my groceries with no offer for compensation for my time and a mistake on my order. So much for their promotion, “We: do the shopping and load up your car in minutes”. In my case, 75 minutes later!
I would reach out to them online via chat and ask for some compensation. They will most likely give you something.
Critical mass was reached for their IT system yesterday. I placed an online order for delivery and have still not received my order 19 hours later than promised. I have called twice and have been told they would call back, but have not heard yet from the store. When I just logged in, the service says preparing my order…It is 2:40 p.m. the day AFTER it was supposed to be delivered and I am still waiting. To add insult to injury, the app gave me an opportunity to tip my driver for the groceries that have still not been delivered. Until yesterday, I have used the system several times with minimal problems. Looks like they are not going to catch up with Amazon at this rate. Oh and by the way, they have charged my card with no problems. Yikes.
It is convenient but it is already magnificently slow. Like going and doing your own groceries is becoming faster. I had to wait in my car over a half hour after checking in. Several cars came and went during this time. Then I had to go into the store to see what the hell was going on. After that I still had to wait to the point where I called so see what was going on. All in all close to an hour from when I pulled in to when I got my order. This is an embarrassment.
Sorry to hear about that. I think a lot depends on the store you go to and who is working that day unfortunately. I have had it come out within 5 minutes and take 20-25 minutes. It can be frustrating some times for sure.
The service is fine but the app to get $10 for referring a friend is awful.
Should be From: your name, Email: your email address and to Friends Name, friends email address and five more dialog boxes for at least five more friends.
They don’t make it easy for whatever reason
I used it a couple of weeks ago because I wantes to use the amex offer (20 off if u spend 100 or more), I also had the first time order 10 off. It was a mixed bag for me… I odered just the amount needed to hit the threshold for both orders combined. I also made sure that I had clicked to allow for substitutions on every item I ordered. First con point, I checked in on my app when I was leaving home, the app sent the signal to them that I would be there in 14 minutes. When I got there, I parked, and checked my app, it said it had lost the connection so I thought, OK, I am going to checknin again and the map will tell them I am right here…. or not… the app sent anither signal adding another 14 minutes to my trip (it wasn’t reading my location so it thought I was still at home). So, after waiting for t minutes, I called the number and they came out. Now, to make it short, the good things were great customer service by the employee (really concerned about me waiting outside for too long, etc…), also, concerned about my substitutions, or lack of them… some items, they did not substitute (don’t know why) sooooo, they messed up my Amex offer 🙁 the items they didn’t substitute, the took off my bill so it brought my total down… my offer has already dissapeared from my card because I did use it but then they reversed it. I tries to avoid the refund (told them to add a couple of gallons of milk or something rihht there on the spot before issuing tbe refund, they couldn’t do it, out of the book of instructions I guess… as compensation, I got a $20 coupon to shop again …
That stinks Paola. There is always a risk when using an offer. If the amex offer was a cumulative one (I can’t remember) and there is still time left if you spend the difference you should still get it. Even if it “fell off”. Try logging in through this portal and checking – sometimes they fall off when one card uses the offer but they still show up when logging into Amex this way.
https://online.americanexpress.com/myca/logon/us/action?request_type=LogonHandler&Face=en_US&DestPage=https%3A%2F%2Fonline.americanexpress.com%2Fmyca%2Facctmgmt%2Fus%2Fmyaccountsummary.do%3Frequest_type%3Dauthreg_acctAccountSummary%26Face%3Den_US%26pageView%3Djanus%26omnlogin%3Dus_homepage_myca
Also on substitutions, they will never charge you more for a substitution, only less. So if you put in Walmart brand things and all they have is the name brands, you get them for the same price.
I would wager you could probably reject an item at pickup if you really didn’t want it.
You can also use the Savingscatcher to potentially save a couple more bucks off your receipt.
I’m not a fan of Walmart’s quality, but this service has definitely made me shop there at least once in awhile.
Awesome- thanks JJ! That is some good info.
I love the Walmart Grocery pickup – even though my first order I probably sat in my car for 30 minutes. Since then I never wait more than 5-10 min. Another HUGE pro to pick-up versus shopping in store is that you avoid those impulse buys of ice cream, snacks, pillows, towels, toys, $5 dvd’s, or whatever else you might see that sparks your eye in the store.
Yes, if they substitute your items (when you agree to) – you get more value generally.
Wow was it really busy with the 30 minute wait or was it right after launch or something?
Great point on the impulse buys! Especially if you shop while hungry haha.
I have loved using Walmart Grocery Pickup, and I can verify that it codes as 5x on Freedom. When you submit your order, there is an option to accept substitutions. The default option is that every item is marked to accept substitutions, but you can go in and uncheck the items you are particular about (you require specific brand, etc). Every time I have received a substitution, they have given me something more expensive and only charged the price of the item I indicated. Works for me!
Good info on the substitutions – I will add it in! They did give me extra on both of them so it ended up working out pretty well 😉