A Walmart shopper saw a vacuum cleaner priced at $97, despite a scanner signaling the item was actually $149—leading to a lengthy dispute with an employee over the actual price.
The scene was documented by creator Daniel Ferrusquia (@danieldegollado96), who posted his TikTok video on Sunday capturing nearly four minutes of negotiation between him and a Walmart employee at an undisclosed location. As of Wednesday morning, the video had gathered more than 976,000 views, well on its way to the million-view threshold.
It starts with Ferrusquia establishing that he scanned the vacuum cleaner, and the price showed $149 despite the tag revealing it to be $52 cheaper. Specifically, it’s a Tineco A10-D Lightweight Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner for Hardwood Floors & Low-Pile Rugs, listed on the Walmart site for $149.
His on-screen caption contends, “They tried to charge me full price when display showed a discount,” accompanied by a crying emoji.
The employee tried to dismiss his objections by saying, “No, it’s not false advertising … because if you scanned it like you say you did, it’s going to show you the price.”
They go back and forth for a while, with him wondering what would happen if he didn’t have a scanner—the implication being that the only thing he’d have to go on would be the listed price in the display.
“You’re talking about what ifs,” she contends. “What if the world was green?”
“You can’t rely on your customers, every single person, to have a scanner,” Ferrusquia offers.
“And I can’t rely on what every single person says, right?” the employee responds.
Ferrusquia then challenges her on whether Walmart can be trusted. In the video, he focuses the camera on a second employee standing behind the first, silently and blithely enjoying an Icee while the tensions continue to build.
After several minutes of the back-and-forth, Ferrusquia notes via on-screen caption, “She realizes I’m recording.”
Several seconds later, after they’ve gone around and around about the actual price of the item, the employee says, “So you would like us to match the price for $97? Not a problem?”
As he asked in his caption for the video, “Why this had to be so difficult?”
@danieldegollado96 Why this had to be so difficult? 😮💨 #fyp #foryoupage #fyp #tiktok ♬ original sound – Daniel Ferrusquia
A Yahoo! Finance article, attempting to answer questions about whether stores have to honor listed prices even though they’re incorrect, noted, “This question tends to trip people up because businesses are required to be truthful in their advertising. This is what the Federal Trade Commission says on the subject:
In many jurisdictions, companies are legally required to charge no more than the advertised or shelf price for a product, so good pricing practices are important for both customer satisfaction and a company’s bottom line. However, retail pricing is actually governed by state laws, and many include provisions that excuse businesses for unintentional mistakes they quickly correct.”
Commenters had opinions on the matter.
“I worked at Walmart,” one shared. “We granted what the display price said.”
Another contended, “Walmart don’t honor what they shelves say ..I had an issue with the price on the shelf,” before asserting, “The register rung up a higher price.”
Some contended that employees shouldn’t get worked up about letting customers have items for lower prices even if they know the displayed prices are incorrect. “I’m a lead at a store & if the tag says it, YOU CAN HAVE IT AT THAT PRICE!!” one screamed. “I get paid WELL, but not enough to do all of this!”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Ferrusquia via TikTok direct message and to Walmart via email.
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