Walmart and the Opportunity to Reject

It’s accepted as generally true that consumers don’t read fine print.  Some argue that even if they did read it, (a) they wouldn’t understand the terms or (b) they would accept the terms because they want the product.  Well, one woman proved the exception to the conventional wisdom about consumer contracting behavior.  As reported by an ABC affiliate here and Trevor Boeckmann on the Alliance for Justice blog here,  Maria Selva says that she braved Walmart during its Door Buster sales hoping to get a deal on a TV set.  They were sold out but gave her a coupon and told her to pay for it in full at check out.  After paying for it,  they gave her a piece of paper that told her to register online.  When she went online, Selva says that she found out that she would have to give up certain rights, namely the right to file a lawsuit in court.  Selva decided that she didn’t want the T.V. that much.  Unfortunately, when she tried to get her money back, she was told that she had to agree to the terms on the website first, they would ship her the T.V., and only then could she return it for a refund.

Easy, huh? (Um, no).  Apparently Walmart didn’t get the memo about rolling terms and the opportunity to reject.  Or maybe they assumed the conventional wisdom – that nobody would reject because nobody would read the terms or care what they said.

Fortunately, Selva did get her money back, apparently after being contacted by the news station.