Pokémon TCG fans who pre-ordered Prismatic Evolutions products through Walmart have received an unexpected refund, according to several posts made on Reddit. Multiple collectors shared news of their received refund on March 17. Screenshots of emails from Walmart say that “due to a system error, you may have been overcharged” for Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Boxes and Poster Collections.
These emails from Walmart don’t specify why fans received refunds for the newest Pokémon set (Wargamer has contacted Walmart to confirm, but is yet to receive a reply). However, the affected Pokémon TCG fans say that it’s because they paid above MSRP for their products.
This claim is consistent with Walmart’s (admittedly tricky to track down) pre-order price guarantee policy. Certain product pages display text that promises “you will not be charged more than the price displayed when you complete your order”. Additionally, “for items sold by Walmart, you will be charged the lowest price offered by Walmart for the item between the time you completed your order and the time the item ships to you.”
This policy doesn’t apply to items sold by third-party sellers on Walmart’s platform, and it looks like PayPal or gift card users will be charged the full pre-order price as soon as they place the order. Walmart’s policy page makes no mention of this pre-order price guarantee, but a section of its terms of use confirms that the marketplace will charge you the lower price if the value changes before delivery.
We note this because, according to Reddit, there was some trouble getting Walmart to honor this policy for the Prismatic Evolutions Pokémon set. In the comments for one post, fans share stories of customer service phone calls, credit card disputes, and even threatened legal action.
Another Reddit post from December 2024 shares screenshots of a Walmart customer service chat, where the poster confirms the pre-order price guarantee policy with a customer service rep. Commenters here claim that customer service staff were regularly unaware of the policy or confused it with Walmart’s price match policy.
Several shoppers were apparently refused refunds or told to wait for their orders to arrive before attempting to resolve price differences. Wargamer has asked Walmart to confirm exactly how the pre-order policy is communicated to and upheld by staff, but no response has yet been received.
For more TCG updates, be sure to follow Wargamer on Google News. Fans of rare Pokémon cards even pricier than Prismatic Evolutions should also check out our desiccated guide. Plus, we can point you to the best Pokémon cards to play, like, ever.
Source: Wargamer
