Just noticed that Walmart has an offer of 50% off on their membership. With the free delivery and 10 cents off on gas I am thinking its worth it. Opinions?

Membership for what? Grocery delivery?


I don't think I can trust anyone to pick my groceries for me, especially after seeing frozen food strewn throughout the store that some oxygen thief left lying there. They then put it back in the freezer after it has spoiled.


Never grab the first up front frozen item at Mao Mart, get it from the back

Yea I wouldn’t do delivery on food either, but for bulk items, drinks dogfood potting soil, beats having to haul it yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
Membership for what? Grocery delivery?

Walmart Plus. https://www.walmart.com/plus It's basically Walmart's take on the Amazon Prime concept. It includes:

-Free shipping with no minimum on Walmart.com items from their warehouses, along with free home delivery on items from your local store.

-Discounts on certain items (including gas from associated stations), and early access to deals.

-Streaming video (via Paramount+ and PlutoTV).

Etc.

The free shipping/delivery isn't just on grocery items. It's on anything Walmart sells, both in-store and online.


If you already order a lot of stuff from Walmart, and/or you already fill up from Walmart gas stations frequently, it'd be worthwhile. Especially for the first year at just $49.

Personally, while I buy a decent amount of groceries from Walmart (couple times per month), the benefits of Plus aren't worth the full $98/year to me, and I question whether it'd be worthwhile at even $49 for just one year. I don't use their gas stations enough to make that part worthwhile, neither Pluto nor Paramount streaming interests me, and any products that I want/need shipped to my house I can get from Amazon via my existing Prime membership.

Yeah, Walmart Plus is designed to compete with Amazon. I'm thinking pretty serious about it.

I've been an Amazon Prime member for years now and always used to get 2-3 day shipping but for the last few years I have been lucky to get a Prime sale item in a week...sometimes longer. Another thing Amazon is doing lately is having UPS pass of a delivery to the local USPS station for delivery to your home. If you live in a rural area that can easily add another day or two to your delivery time.

I just recently purchased a wading pool for the grand kids from Walmart and I had it within three days. Compare that to a set of shooting sticks from Amazon Prime that took 11 days to get to my home.

I forget now how much Prime membership is now but it's way more than a hundred bucks.

I got Walmart Plus free with my Amex card. Not sure if I'd pay for it full tilt but if you get a deal, it may be worth it for you.

I love it. But not just for delivery. I really like their Scan & Go feature in the app and use it often.

I get a complimentary membership through my Amex Platinum card.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

I really like their Scan & Go feature in the app

Sounds handy, but I have questions. How does this work?

Do you just scan the barcode when you take the item from the shelf?

Do you have to go to a self-serve register on the way out, or can you by-pass that and have the charge go directly to a credit card linked to the app?

What if you scan an item, put it in your cart, and then change your mind and return the item to the shelf? Does the app handle this easily?

---

הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:

I really like their Scan & Go feature in the app

Sounds handy, but I have questions. How does this work?

Do you just scan the barcode when you take the item from the shelf?

Do you have to go to a self-serve register on the way out, or can you by-pass that and have the charge go directly to a credit card linked to the app?

What if you scan an item, put it in your cart, and then change your mind and return the item to the shelf? Does the app handle this easily?

Yes, using your phone, you scan as you put items in your cart. I always either grab a bunch of bags as I walk in or bring one of my own.

If you need to put something back, you just delete it from your cart. Very easy.

You do need to still check out at the self checkout kiosk. But all you do is scan the code on the screen with your phone, and it pays through the app and you're good to go. It would be nice if you could bypass the checkout for sure. I guess they're not there yet. But with a cart full of items, it's certainly convenient.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
It would be nice if you could bypass the checkout for sure. I guess they're not there yet.

Yeah, even Amazon has had a rocky start with their prototype "just walk out" Amazon Go convenience stores, and those are built from the ground up to facilitate that style of shopping only, with a lot of additional camera and sensor tech built-in, including weight sensors on each shelf. They just had to close nearly a quarter of these stores earlier this year, and it's probable that further closings are coming. Not quite ready for widespread use, for both technological and societal reasons.

Walmart, having to cludge this onto their existing traditional stores as well as try to handle a mix of both normal shoppers and scan-and-go shoppers, is likely even further away from that style of true no-checkout shopping being a fully viable option.

Let me get this straight, I give them $100 and I can get all the stuff I would normally buy at WalMart delivered to my door? I don’t actually have to drive to the store, get my car dinged up, search for the stuff, self-checkout, load the car, drive home, unload the car? This a trick question?

It’s especially worth it when we are in MI for the summer and the nearest store of any kind is 20 miles away. We still make a trip a week for fresh, frozen, or refrigerated items, but the rest just shows up like magic.

We have had terrible service with Walmart curbside pickup.

Aldi and Target, they come right out with your stuff.

Walmart? I don’t think there’s been a time when I haven’t sat there for 15 or 20 minutes or longer and get pissed off and go in and start looking for someone and get the deer in the headlights look.

Kind of defeats the whole concept of curbside, doesn’t it?

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
We have had terrible service with Walmart curbside pickup.

Aldi and Target, they come right out with your stuff.

Walmart? I don’t think there’s been a time when I haven’t sat there for 15 or 20 minutes or longer and get pissed off and go in and start looking for someone and get the deer in the headlights look.

Kind of defeats the whole concept of curbside, doesn’t it?

You should get WalMart+ then and you would’t have to deal with curbside pickup.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Walmart? I don’t think there’s been a time when I haven’t sat there for 15 or 20 minutes or longer and get pissed off and go in and start looking for someone and get the deer in the headlights look.

My experience has been the exact opposite. I don't think I've ever waited longer than ~4 minutes for my WM curbside pickup orders, and I've do about 2 per month for years.

But Walmart HQ is about 20 minutes down the road, so maybe they run a tighter ship in their own backyard, compared to out in PA.

Are you using the Walmart app? It lets you check in when you're on the way, and check in when you get there, along with inputting your spot number. I suspect this allows them to prestage your order for faster delivery, compared to not using the app and just calling the number on the parking spot sign after you get there, and they then have to go retrieve your order from storage before being able to bring it out.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Let me get this straight, I give them $100 and I can get all the stuff I would normally buy at WalMart delivered to my door? I don’t actually have to drive to the store, get my car dinged up, search for the stuff, self-checkout, load the car, drive home, unload the car? This a trick question?

You can skip all that, except the driving and unloading, for free with curbside pickup.

The delivery drivers are not Walmart employees. You may get a nice and good one, you may get a snake worshipper of Satan, you may get a total nut job. You may get a bag full of cigarette smoke with your groceries in it. I’ve never seen one not smoking during the delivery. If they leave your ice cream out in the sun instead of bringing it in to your apartment door, too bad for you. Mom-in-law had this happen to her.

If you are looking for high quality employees, clean delivery vehicles, courtesy, good food/produce, and non smoke filled bags, then Kroger Delivery is the only option.

https://www.kroger.com/i/ways-to-shop/delivery

We've all used it, and except for the occasional shortage, which was/is COVID based issue, it's always on time, clean, and the delivery/driver is great.

My 85 year old dad has even learned to order his groceries online for delivery and they will bring them in to his kitchen and on the counter for him...

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:
The delivery drivers are not Walmart employees. You may get a nice and good one, you may get a snake worshipper of Satan, you may get a total nut job. You may get a bag full of cigarette smoke with your groceries in it. I’ve never seen one not smoking during the delivery. If they leave your ice cream out in the sun instead of bringing it in to your apartment door, too bad for you. Mom-in-law had this happen to her.

Yep. Grocery deliveries from your local store are made by gig drivers in their personal vehicles (like DoorDash/Instacart/etc.) Whereas the curbside pickup folks bringing your order out to you are actual WM employees.

Back when home grocery delivery first became available in 2018/2019ish, Walmart offered a deal for 3 free home deliveries, so I gave it a try. 2 of my 3 orders reeked of marijuana.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
We have had terrible service with Walmart curbside pickup.

Aldi and Target, they come right out with your stuff.

Walmart? I don’t think there’s been a time when I haven’t sat there for 15 or 20 minutes or longer and get pissed off and go in and start looking for someone and get the deer in the headlights look.

That was my experience too. Very hit or miss.

I used it at Walmart yesterday, and they were there in about 3 minutes, which was good. But, the last time I used Walmart's curbside pickup, I pulled up, checked in, waited, then waited some more. After 20 minutes, I realized that, while more cars had arrived, not a single car had left - not one order had been brought out since I'd pulled in, and there were about 5 or 6 cars there when I arrived. I left, went home, and canceled my order.

On the other hand, the longest I've waited at Target is about a minute. They have curbside pickup down to a science. I've even had them standing outside with my order when I pulled up.

I also love it. We can almost have anything delivered to the front door for free. The delivery on most of the items we have had delivered probably cost more than the item.
Lineman

Why I love this forum, some good pro and con arguments, Thanks for the Amex tip, need to check on that.