Walmart Supercenter PAOLA - Hours, Reviews & Deals

Love my Wal-Mart. Alex P in Pick-ip was so so nice. He is one of those great people you meet at Wal-Mart that make me go: Never Target. Thank you. Alex P.

My family and I had a very disappointing experience at Walmart the day after Christmas. My husband and I brought our three children and a toddler late at night specifically to avoid crowds, as our kids had just received gift cards for Christmas and we wanted to let them learn how to use them. There were no staffed checkout lanes open, so we were forced to use self-checkout. Because each child had their own gift card, we completed multiple transactions. Throughout the entire process, the self-checkout associate closely watched us in a way that felt uncomfortable and targeted, while paying little to no attention to other customers nearby. Once we finished and began to walk away, the associate immediately stopped us and accused us of not paying for an item—before we had even taken a second step. I calmly explained that we had completed multiple transactions due to our children using separate gift cards and showed every receipt to prove that everything was paid for. The situation was extremely embarrassing, unprofessional, and upsetting—especially in front of our children, who were left confused and worried that they had done something wrong. We did absolutely nothing wrong. As someone who has worked in retail myself, I was shocked at how degrading this interaction felt. It was clear we were being unfairly scrutinized simply because we are a larger family making multiple transactions. Big families should not be treated with suspicion or made to feel unwelcome for purchasing items legitimately. This experience left a very negative impression, and I hope Walmart addresses how customers—especially families—are treated at self-checkout.