A shopper slyly called out Walmart pickers for not properly fulfilling her order. Viewers are split on her approach.
Grocery pickup and home delivery boomed in popularity during the pandemic and haven’t slowed down since. The new norm allows people to do their grocery shopping (and maybe even avoid impulse purchases) from the comfort of their homes or even on the go from their phones.
But what was meant to be a convenience has its own annoying quirks. And that begs the question: Is it worth it?
Harmless, petty revenge on Walmart pickers
Fed up with being falsely told that an item in her order was “unavailable,” TikToker Rebekah Evans (@rebekahevans07) got her payback.
In a viral TikTok, Evans explains that when she went for her pickup order, she also got the “unavailable” naan bread she asked for. So she put it “front and center for when they load the car.” Her video received over 105,000 views.
It was her sly way of pointing out to them that they could have done a better job with her order.
Walmart pickers and loaders may be different workers
But, in the comments section, Evans clarified that she was just having a little fun.
“I’m aware the kids loading this have no idea,” Evans said.
She reasoned that since the item is always marked unavailable, it’s probably a system error. She also noted that shoppers may be sent to the wrong location in the store for pickup.
@rebekahevans07 Fueling the petty meter #petty #pettytiktok #walmart #walmartfinds #walmartpickup #grocerystore ♬ Awkward Moments – AstroMusic
Commenters react
A former grocery store picker chimed in with a “fun fact” for viewers. “Items are stocked throughout the day, sometimes they aren’t in the correct location,” they shared.
“One time the app was out of sandwich bread so I went in and the shelves were full. Regardless. I love Walmart pick up and grocery delivery. Those people that get my groceries are lifesavers!” a person said.
“Once they told me bananas were unavailable. I was shocked. So I asked the girl loading my groceries if that was true. She went inside, grabbed me a bunch of bananas and put them in my front seat,” another said.
Male shoppers
And missing items aren’t the only gripe people have.
Others have complained about the difference it makes when they get a male versus female shopper.
If you look up “male Instacart” or “male shopper” on the Daily Dot, you’ll find at least a dozen articles of people calling out their male shoppers for, frankly, doing a bad job.
Many note that the experience usually goes so much smoother with female shoppers since they tend to be more mindful when picking produce, suggesting replacements, and generally finding items.
A recent Instacart shopper got a woman green bell peppers instead of jalapeños, making her want to cancel the entire order. Another shopper sent a customer a photo of the dip aisle to prove that the dip the person wanted wasn’t there. Yet the customer pointed out that the item was in the picture they sent.
And yet another went to her local grocery store after her male shopper claimed several items were unavailable. Yet when she was there, she had no problem finding the exact items or other acceptable substitutes.
Some people have called out this behavior as weaponized incompetence. Weaponized incompetence is a manipulative behavior where someone pretends to be bad at something to avoid doing it, so someone else will take on the responsibility.
Employees aren’t given the tools to do their jobs
And, even if you get a shopper determined to fulfill every item on your list, they might not physically be able to.
As you’ve probably seen, many items in Walmart, from beauty supplies to food, are now behind lock and key to prevent theft.
Not only is it a frustrating experience for shoppers who then have to wait for or track down an employee to help, but it’s even frustrating for employees who can’t access the locked items.
A couple who had an item missing from their Walmart Plus order found out from a manager that Walmart shoppers don’t have keys for every locked case. And even managers don’t have a universal key. So when they can’t get to an item in a timely manner, they end up leaving it behind.
“They need to make sure every picker has a key to every case in Walmart. So they can be able to pick the items and deliver. It’s insane to me,” the TikToker said in the video.
The Daily Dot reached out to Evans for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Walmart via email.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
