Walmarts in small towns allowed EBT cards to be used without balances showing, nothing could possible go wrong here, could it?

Walmart Stores make a big mistake with EBT cards that were not showing balances

Pretty much the video shows that during the period where the EBT balances and data were offline (thanks to the Government shutdown), these particular stores announced they would still process EBT transactions even though they had no way to check the balances on these cards.

They were stampeded by people in the stores, who filled their shopping carts to the brim, wiping the stores out of all supplies like in a day. They had to call the police to control the crowds. When the EBT cards finally came back online and the balances were showing, only then did the stores realize most of these folks didn't have balances to cover the food and goods they took.

One lady was taken by the police on the spot who had something like over 700.00 dollars worth of food and goods in her shopping cart. The balance on her card showed .79 cents...lol

I guess now they are going to track down the transactions associated to the individual EBT cards and those folks (opportunists) are going to find out the amount will be subtracted from any money that they would have gotten in benefits for future months! So if they had a family balance of 200 a month and bought 700 (without a balance) then they will go more than several months without EBT benefits till this stuff gets paid off.

Shaking my head....

Edit: Apparently once the crowd figured out the EBT computer system was back up they took off leaving numerous shopping carts still filled full of food in the store, leaving a huge mess for the store to clean up.

Walmart's mistake was believing that people would act like animals ?

And don't bet for a minute that the Obama Dept of Agriculture will make Walmart whole on their boneheaded altruism.

Walmart's mistake was believing that people would act like animals ?

And don't bet for a minute that the Obama Dept of Agriculture will make Walmart whole on their boneheaded altruism. Originally Posted by Whirlaway

I imagine these folks will be booted off the SNAPS program. Walmart stores probably got the numbers on each EBT card thinking that they would just process the amounts later once the system was back up. They can report these folks to the SNAPS program offices, and report this as theft.

They can; but they won't............it would be bad PR...besides, who would arrest them.

Walmart extended them credit; Walmart will have to enforce collection, the Feds won't. And Walmart lawyers (and PR) are telling them it would be stupid to try to force these dole dwellers to pony up cash.

Just another symptom of an entitlement culture run amok.

Is anyone really surprised?

The surprise is that evil corporate Walmart tried to do the right thing and got fucked by their customers.

I am not surprised that many basically looted Walmart.

The receipt given at the end of shopping shows your remaining WIC food benefit balance.


edit:


unless the computer is down and people try and fuck the system

CJ on the short bus again; he doesn't understand the fact that the glitch caused the system to not work; so there couldn't be any accounting of balance.

Also, CJ doesn't understand the difference between the WIC and Food Stamps EBT program.

CJ on the short bus again; he doesn't understand the fact that the glitch caused the system to not work; so there couldn't be any accounting of balance.

Also, CJ doesn't understand the difference between the WIC and Food Stamps EBT program. Originally Posted by Whirlaway

get that last sentence or shall I get JD to read it for you?

Your post is about EBT; but your comment was about WIC, proving that you didn't understand the difference until I pointed out your confusion....now you post some generic verbiage to cover your obvious confusion.

E

How does EBT work?
Food and Nutrition Services recipients apply for their benefits in the usual way, by filling out a form at their local FNS office. Once eligibility and level of benefits have been determined, an account is established in the participant's name, and benefits are deposited electronically in the account each month. A plastic card, similar to a bank card, is issued and a personal identification number (PIN) is assigned or chosen by the recipient to give access to the account. Recipients may change the PIN number at any time. Training is available to recipients who have any problems accessing the system.
When paying for groceries, the FNS customer's card is run through an electronic reader or a point of sale terminal (POS), and the recipient enters the secret PIN number to access the account. As long as there are benefits in the account, the recipient's account is debited for the amount of the purchase. The store receipt shows the amount of benefits remaining in the recipient's account.

get that last sentence or shall I get JD to read it for you? Originally Posted by CJ7

Your post is about EBT; but your comment was about WIC, proving that you didn't understand the difference until I pointed out your confusion....now you post some generic verbiage to cover your obvious confusion.

E Originally Posted by Whirlaway

don't you mean generic FACTS ?

How does EBT work?
Food and Nutrition Services recipients apply for their benefits in the usual way, by filling out a form at their local FNS office. Once eligibility and level of benefits have been determined, an account is established in the participant's name, and benefits are deposited electronically in the account each month. A plastic card, similar to a bank card, is issued and a personal identification number (PIN) is assigned or chosen by the recipient to give access to the account. Recipients may change the PIN number at any time. Training is available to recipients who have any problems accessing the system.
When paying for groceries, the FNS customer's card is run through an electronic reader or a point of sale terminal (POS), and the recipient enters the secret PIN number to access the account. As long as there are benefits in the account, the recipient's account is debited for the amount of the purchase. The store receipt shows the amount of benefits remaining in the recipient's account.

get that last sentence or shall I get JD to read it for you? Originally Posted by CJ7

Yep that's what I thought.

One of two things, A) the stores will report the abuse to the state hotline and the recipient will get booted off the program or B) the store will deduct continuously each month, until the amount is paid off. So the recipient will go without benefits for a number of months.

Personally I think they should boot people off the program who were flat out stealing like that.

But there is that nagging feeling that when you are dealing with people who have been barely getting by on food through a system that has already been severely cut, it shouldn't surprise anyone that they would try to stock up on as much food as they can when something like this happens.

I just read on Bill Moyers site that only 1% of actual fraud or abuse occurs with the SNAPs program. So maybe these folks are part of that 1%

I bet the people in Vegas report a sot machine that pays too much ..


snick

I bet the people in Vegas report a sot machine that pays too much ..


snick Originally Posted by CJ7

What's a sot machine?

I bet the people in Vegas report a sot machine that pays too much ..


snick Originally Posted by CJ7

haha, probably!