After Susan Kuntz purchased $1,000 in gift cards at Walmart in Houston, she checked the balance on each card. She was shocked to find out that her one of her cards was already depleted.
Later, while investigating the issue, two more cards were ejected. The three cards had a combined value of $800.
Mr. Kuntz learned that each card was used at a different Walmart store.
“I was the only one with the card, so the question was, ‘How could this happen?'” Kuntz said. “And if this is happening to us, who else has this happened to?”
Kuntz had planned to give cards to several families in need at the church.
“If I didn’t know this, I would have given out cards to families,” Kuntz said. “They would have filled their baskets with toys and food. They would go to the register and the card the church gave them would be empty, and that would be scary.”
When Walmart offered no refunds or solutions, Kuntz filed a police report.
“They’re wondering if this is perhaps an inside job, or if it’s just a situation involving people figuring out how to get Walmart cards, so they can use them even though they don’t have them. I don’t know.’ They are,” Kuntz said. “We don’t know. We don’t have the answers.”
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Kuntz said he is determined to get his money back.
“I need my money back,” Kuntz said. “We’re going to come up with something different for families. We’re going to give them money this Sunday. Of course we’re not going to give them Walmart cards.”
Kuntz worries that others could be affected as well.
“We’re not alone in this problem,” Kuntz said. “So many people at Christmas get cards and try to buy things, but when they get to the register there’s no money on the card. It’s a terrible thing. It’s a horrible thing to happen.”
Kuntz criticized Walmart’s silent response, saying it needed to figure out what happened and take initiative to prevent it from happening to others.
“They need to figure out what’s going on,” Kuntz said. “In the meantime, I personally would like to see all Walmart cards removed from cash registers so that no one else can use them.”
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