Walmart customers in Alabama accidentally overcharged due to glitch over new state sales tax - here'

Walmart customers in Alabama were accidentally overcharged thanks to a technical glitch over changes to the state's sales tax. 

Customers in Alabama who shopped in at select Walmart and Sam's Club stores made overcharging complaints regarding the new state sales tax implemented on September 1.

But now they are in line for $5 gift cards, the store has said. 

Alabama changed its tax base rate on food from 4% to 3% - leading to some Walmart and Sam's Club members being charged with both levies rather than the new one.

Shoppers who suffered this error will receive a $5 Walmart gift card or $5 in Sam's Club Cash. 

Walmart and Sam's Club customers in Alabama complained of being over charged on September 1 due to the change in Alabama tax laws being implemented on the same day

However, customers must provide a receipt in order to receive this offer, and not doing so will make them unqualified. 

The chain will be giving out $5 gift cards to Walmart shoppers affected by the overchange. However, customers can only get the gift card if they bring in their receipt

Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam and James 'Bud' Walton, and now has more than 10,000 locations worldwide. It is also one of the largest private employers with over two million employees and counting

The Walmart gift cards are available now until September 18.

Sam's Club customers have already received the $5 in their Sam's Cash, which is a separate account altogether. 

The September 5th gift card announcement came after Walmart asked its customers to return to the stores with their receipts for a full refund. 

Although not all Alabama locations were part of the issue, it is unclear how many were affected.

The sales tax rate is expected to drop again by 1% in Alabama by September 2024 if their Education Trust Fund has grown by over 3% over the previous fiscal year. 

If the growth does not occur, then the second tax cut will be delayed until the Education Trust Fund growth is met. 

Sam's Club shoppers were also affected by the overcharge for the same reason as Walmart - tax change implementation gone wrong. Those shoppers have since received $5 in Sam's Club cash

A Wegmans shopper complained of being overcharged at their Chilli Paul location on August 17 on X, formerly known as Twitter. The chain confirmed on August 18 that their stores did suffer an error with credit card transactions

Walmart and Sam's Club are just two of the stores that have suffered technical errors within the last few weeks.

The popular New York-based grocery chain Wegmans also went through a malfunction that led to customers being overcharged on their groceries.

A customer in New York posted on social media: '@wegmans as if your prices weren't already high enough, I was doubled charged by the Chili Paul location yesterday. What are you to do for everyone involved?' 

A spokesperson for the store quickly became aware of the issue, and responded to the shopper right away.

'We recently identified an issue with credit card transactions processed on August 16'  they said.

'Some credit card transactions were inadvertently charged twice for their order.' 

Wegmans Massachusetts customers were also affected by the overcharging due to a processing issue on August 16, and are expected to receive full refunds.

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