Food-stamp frenzy backfires on Walmart: Store left with shopping spree bill after computer glitch gave shoppers UNLIMITED funds

  • Saturday night some food stamp recipients in Louisiana had unlimited funds for several hours because of a glitch with Xerox
  • Two Walmart stores were left 'decimated' and their shelves stripped of food
  • Shoppers abandoned full carts in the middle of the store after the cards were fixed
  • Walmart superiors, told of the irregularities, advised staff to keep selling
  • Xerox will pay for the spree if Walmart followed the appropriate process
  • EBT claims they are 'preparing a statement' and have yet to say who will end up footing the bill for the accidental largess

By Alexandra Klausner and Michael Zennie

PUBLISHED: 10:40 EST, 14 October 2013 | UPDATED: 01:21 EST, 15 October 2013


WalMart is on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars of groceries bought by food stamp recipients after a computer glitch gave them unlimited funds on their government-issued credit cards.

In a spending spree described by local officials as 'worse than Black Friday,' dozens of welfare families with Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards picked bare the shelves at the stores in Springhill and Mansfield, Louisiana, in just a few hours on Saturday - carrying away up to ten shopping carts of meat and other groceries.

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, which oversees the EBT program in the state, said WalMart could have instituted an emergency $50 limit for each customer, but chose not to.

As a result, the retail giant must foot the bill for all of the goods families 'bought' with their cards.

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At 9 p.m. when cards started working again, customers left their carts sprawled out all over the store

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Emergency Benefits Transaction cards (EBT) have designated amounts of funds that under-financed individuals can use to buy food each month

When Walmart employees noticed EBT cards weren’t showing spending limits, they called the corporate office and were advised to allow shoppers to use the cards anyway. 

Other stores in the towns temporarily closed or stopped accepting EBT cards. Wal-Mart instead called in police to help control the chaotic crowds of shoppers who flooded the store.

'It was definitely worse than Black Friday. It was worse than anything we had ever seen in this town. There was no food left on any of the shelves, and no meat left. The grocery part of Walmart was totally decimated,' Springhill Police Chief Will Lyn told ABC News.

 

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Word spread across the towns about the loophole and hundreds of families flocked to the two Walmart stories.

Chief Lyn said he saw some families ring up bills up more than $700. The average monthly food stamp allotment in Louisiana is $136 per person.

'I saw people drag out 8 to 10 grocery carts,' Lyn said.

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An entire line of full food carts were left unattended after food stamps went back online on Saturday night

WalMart stands by its decision to let families take advantage of the loophole. A spokeswoman said whatever money the company lost from the spending sprees won't have animpact on the corporate bottom line.

'We did make the decision to continue to accept EBT cards during the outage so that they could get food for their families,’  Walmart representative Kayla Whaling told KSLA.

The lack of card limits was due to a power outage during a routine maintenance test by Xerox, an EBT vendor. EBT cards contain government-funded amounts of money catered to each individual's financial needs.

There were no arrests made that night and witnesses told KSLA that the incident was a 'natural human' response to free food.

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One EBT Card carrying woman takes advantage of the glitch by stocking up on her favorite apple juice

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Walmart shelves in Springhill, Mansfield were cleared in an EBT glitch and stores were forced to stop selling food

From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., a frenzy of shoppers filled their carts to the brim with as much food as they could get their hands on.

When the cards came back online at 9 p.m., people abandoned their carts full of food in the middle of the Walmart and left as they didn't have the money to pay.

One woman who tried to ring up $700 worth of food only had .49 cents on her card. She was held by police for ‘stealing’ but was let go on the condition that she would give the food back to Walmart.

After the stampede Walmart had to stop selling food at 9 p.m. Their shelves were stark and both empty and full carts were left all over the store.

A spokesman for Walmart told KSLA that the company continued selling to shoppers 'so that they could get food for their families.'

When asked by KSLA whether or not Walmart would somehow be refunded for the loss of produce, Walmart representative Kayla Whaling responded that they were, ‘fully engaged and monitoring the situation and transactions during the outage.’

Xerox told Marketwatch that there’s an 'agreed and documented process for retailers like Walmart to follow in response to EBT outage.'

If the process was followed, Xerox will reimburse Walmart up to the dollar amount limit in any given state.

It is not clear if that process included letting the shoppers shop anyway.



KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather

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By allowing this Walmart is sending the wrong message to all those free loaders.

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The people that misused the EBT cards should have their cards suspended for the amount spent divided by their monthly allotment. So if they stole $600 worth of food and they knew they only had a $200 monthly benefit, then that card should be suspended for 3 months. They knew they were stealing and should go to jail too but it will never happen!

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I just don't understand how people commenting here think it's stealing, when they were told it was ok? I wouldn't have wanted to be there though...

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Why should I work 40 hours a week just for the government to take 10 hours of wages out of my paycheck to fund programs like 'food aid' which enable able bodied people - like myself - to not haul their fair share? The madness needs to end... too many have become dependant on the system; most by choice.

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The people who had used the faulty cards should be held accountable! I'm sure there are records that can be used to track down the offenders. But, Walmart and Xerox should still be held accountable. Everyone of those people who used the cards are thieves.

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Someone in Walmart corporate didnt use common sense when they let them spend $500-$700 or more when an EBT card usually holds only a few hundred dollars max. Walmart execs should have put a $25 limit on groceries until the system came back up. Other stores in the area refused to take EBT cards during the glitch and they were smart to protect themselves from thieves. Walmart is going to take the hit on this one!

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It was Gods way of helping the needy. Conservatives are against the teachings of Jesus, by the 100's of anti-Christian comments. - Terry, Heart of Texas, United States, 10/14/13, 10:59 PM What?! No lecture about the "Wall of Separation"...?

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It is not stealing if Walmart allowed the people to use their EBT card due to a glitch which increased their spending dollar amounts. This was permitted by the store. Other stores did not permit such a thing and had a note on their door stating such a fact. This is not an issue for the tax payers, it is an issue whether Walmart will foot the bill or Xerox. They will have to work that issue out amongst themselves. Nowhere in this article does it say that Walmart will request the government to repay this bill either. Why people on this blog say it is steal is beyond me.

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Letting them use the cards in spite of the system being down would be comparable to letting people write checks when that couldn't be verified. The people knew how much food stamp money they had .... its the same thing as writing hot checks that you know your bank account can't cover. It is theft.

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You are wrong. Clearly Walmart has thought this through and they are going to foot the bill. Which part do you not understand? It is not the government, not you nor anybody else who is footing the bill. It is Walmart. They make billions of cash each year, and they decided they can handle the loss. Not that there is much loss in their accounting books. If you disagree with me, then you clearly disagree with the Walmart management decision also.

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Shoppers abandoned full carts in the middle of the store after the cards were fixed. Lets face it. We all know what type of people these were. The same ones that practically single handedly encourage doomsday preppers. These are the first people who would rob you blind given even 1/10th a chance.

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I can just see a bunch of shiftless, sweaty, smelly people driving around with 300lbs of rotting meat in their trunks trying to sell it door-to-door in the more affluent neighborhoods.

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