Walmart: "Keep the registers ringing."

[Contrary1]

EBT benefit card glitch sparks Walmart shopping sprees in Louisiana

"The Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system allows recipients of government food stamps to purchase goods using a digital card with a set spending limit, but for a few hours over the weekend, that limit disappeared for many users visiting Walmart stores in Louisiana.

Walmart and local police in Springhill and Mansfield confirmed to CBS affiliate KSLA that officers were called into the stores to help maintain order Saturday as shoppers swept through the aisles at two stores and bought as much as they could carry.

Xerox, which hosts some of the infrastructure used by the EBT card system, told KSLA that a power outage during a routine maintenance test caused the temporary glitch.

Walmart workers phoned their corporate headquarters to ask how they should handle all the shoppers with unlimited, government-funded spending limits, and were told to keep the registers ringing..."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57607332/ebt-benefit-card-glitch-sparks-walmart-shopping-sprees-in-louisiana/

[kestrel91316]

1. Xerox can foot the bill. It was their screwup that caused this.

[Mariana]

2. Exactly.

A system that important should have reliable backup power.

[joeglow3]

3. Will the individuals be prosecuted?

I doubt the EBT cards are anonymous. They know who stole.

[RC]

4. With the government shut down?

It will be months or likely much more before they can even get around to looking at the petty cash frauds.

[joeglow3]

19. Don't the states handle this?

I would assume it would be state resources investigating it.

[RC]

21. I would assume on how red the state is.

But still the Federal government funds quite a bit of the states activities. I've known State Capitol workers, fully funded by the Federal Government.

[surrealAmerican]

8. It was Walmart who stole.

The employees did the right thing in checking with the higher-ups. The executives made the call and bear the responsibility here.

[Fla_Democrat]

10. Oh, do tell

How did Walmart steal, exactly? In this particular case.

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. Stores make a profit when items sell.

I am quite sure the management at these stores knew (as we all do) that EBT benefits will not cover more than 1 cart of food.

One, the customers should not have taken advantage. Two, the store should not have let them.

No simple solution.

[Fla_Democrat]

15. For stores to make a profit

the bill has to be paid. If a store sells 1 basket, or 30 baskets to someone and that person uses a bad check, or an expired debit card, or an empty ebt card... where does the profit come from?

And, for the record, the management may know how the EBT system works, but I do not, that is why I asked.

[notadmblnd]

26. Wal-Mart sould be prosecuted.

They knew something was wrong and should have stopped accepting EBT purchases or at the very least limited the amount til the problem was resolved.


The greedy bastards figured the card holders would be blamed and they were right from what I can see so far.

[joeglow3]

28. Count me as one of "those" believers

The individuals KNEW what their limit was and knowingly went over that amount. That is the very definition of theft in all 50 states.

[datasuspect]

5. this is commonly referred to as a "come up"

or "gettin' over"

[justice1]

6. Walmart should be prosecuted, along with the other participants in the scam.

Once they realized their machines weren't working correctly, they should have shut them down. Instead they waited until the shelves were clear.

[fredamae]

9. Yes, absolutely. n/t

[B2G]

20. Prosecuted for what?

[karadax]

7. Will there be outcry if..

Those individuals that exceeded their monthly EBT allotment have to pay it back by going without benefits until the account has a positive balance ? From what I saw people had 2 to 3 shopping carts full of items so they should be ok. Unless they sold it..

[In_The_Wind]

14. Yes

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
I was thinking the same thing.
Individuals who maxed out plus some were aware of their limits. It'll be a bit more difficult for them after the glitch is sorted out while they pay it back.

[Nye Bevan]

11. Shouldn't we give Walmart credit for allowing these folks to still buy food for their families?

Surely the rational thing to do from a profit perspective would have been to shut down EBT purchases while this problem existed.

[oldhippie]

18. No ......

Ain't gonna happen. Walmart is evil.

[tillikum]

12. i think the legal term is "unjust enrichment".

[BluegrassStateBlues]

16. Let Xerox and Walmart foot the bill. nt

[jwirr]

17. I have had errors in a few government assistance checks but never one I did not have to pay back.

They have our names and they take it out of the next check or in this case EBT allowance. I feel sorry for those people who did not realize that.

[rufus dog]

22. I was in a dollar store on Saturday

They shut the transactions down. Walmart is scum!

[B2G]

23. For letting poor people buy food?

How is that not reasonable?

Have you seen WalMart on Black Friday? Multiply that times 10 had they shut down the cards.

[rufus dog]

24. For allowing people to over buy

Not sure how you can jump to them allowing poor people to buy food when the motivation seemed to be to pump up the sales as much as possible. The store I visited had a sign on the door and explained to people that it would likely be down for the day.

[B2G]

27. My guess is that local management was scared

of what would happen had they turned them away outright.

The vast majority of poor people have integrity, right? Transferring blame to WalMart from those who took advantage does them no favors.

They knew what they were doing...they are completely blameless?

[JonLP24]

25. They took advantage of a situation

Now those poor people will have to pay back what they went over for thinking they had an advantage.

I don't know how it works but possibly limit to $100 or so? I do think Wal*Mart made the decision knowing people would go over their limits because they'll get paid either way.