Walmart Accused of Overcharging Customers

Clear Facts

• Some Walmart customers are accusing the retailer of overpricing meat, particularly chicken, as the prices are not matching the actual weight of the products.
• A TikTok user, Virginia Madison, highlighted the issue when she weighed a chicken breast package at Walmart, which was advertised as 4.78 pounds for $23.76, but the store scale showed the weight as only 2.2 pounds.
• Many other customers have echoed Madison’s discovery, sharing their experiences of weight discrepancies with meat products at Walmart. They claim to be overpaying due to inaccurate weight labeling.

In the current economic climate with ever-increasing prices, shoppers are constantly seeking the best deals on groceries. However, Walmart, a popular big-box chain known for its diverse inventory and low prices, is now facing backlash from some customers who accuse it of overcharging for meat.

“If you regularly cook meat, you know that these prices are steadily rising,” the article states. Indeed, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that average chicken breast prices rose from $3 per pound in March 2020 to $4.75 per pound in September 2022. Moving on to 2024, chicken prices remain higher than what both economists and customers consider reasonable.

One Walmart customer, Virginia Madison, recently highlighted a discrepancy between price hikes and adjusted pricing. Madison was shopping at Walmart when she noticed something odd in the poultry section.

“A package of Foster Farms chicken breasts was labeled 4.78 pounds for $23.76,” she observed. However, to Madison, it didn’t seem like nearly five pounds of meat.

Consequently, Madison decided to verify the weight herself using a store scale. She recorded the event in a TikTok video that has since received over 13 million views. The scale read “2.2 pounds,” not the advertised 4.78 pounds.

To ensure this wasn’t a one-time error, Madison repeated the process with another chicken package. Again, the store scale showed a discrepancy, asserting the chicken weighed two pounds, not the 4.92 pounds it was advertised as.

“Walmart is getting us, right?” Madison asked in her video.

Her video triggered a surge of responses, with thousands of people weighing in on Madison’s discovery. Many agreed with her findings, sharing their own experiences when purchasing meat from Walmart.

“I weigh all Walmart meat. It’s usually marked wrong but I’ve never seen it that far off,” one comment read. Another stated, “We bought the bag chicken and it was a 3lb bag, weighed at home 1.4lbs. That was over 3 months ago.”

In another video, Madison noted the same amount of chicken, packed in two different boxes, was labeled with different weights and a $10 price difference. She claimed that the package filled with more air had a higher price tag.

“OK, it’s 2.8 pounds, right? They’re saying this is almost five pounds of chicken, but it’s the same thing. There’s just a lot of air,” Madison stated, showing the side-by-side packages on camera.

We have reached out to Walmart for comments about the poultry mislabeling issue and are awaiting their response. If the customers’ claims are verified, it could potentially undermine the trust in Walmart’s low pricing – a primary reason shoppers choose the store for their grocery needs.

Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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