What Really Happens When You Ask Walmart Employees To Check For Products In The Back

Few things are more frustrating when you're shopping than discovering an empty shelf. It can also really throw off your plans for meals and your budget. Many stores keep extra stock in the back, and you can usually ask an employee to check. However, this can lead to mixed results. At Walmart, when you ask an employee to check for a product in the back, they might not actually look for anything.

There are many Reddit threads where Walmart employees discuss this issue. Most employees have a simple solution. "I check on the MyWalmart app because it tells you if there actually is stuff in the back," said one Redditor, and dozens of others did the same. Employees have access to this app, which indicates how much stock is available. It can even provide shipping details showing when an item might be back in stock. Asking when something will be back in stock is often your best bet for getting clear answers.

If an employee can't access the app or the customer isn't satisfied, they may still want someone to check. In those cases, things can get a little shady, as we pointed out when we covered tips and secrets from Walmart employees.

"The back isn't a magical place where I can find this one item you're looking for along with a million other items," one Redditor said. "Every time someone asks me that I just walk back there and fake check because I'm not looking through all of that." Many other Walmart employees take the same approach. Some have even recorded TikToks joking about how they go in the back, dance with friends, and come out and say there was nothing there.

All of this may sound bad, but it's worth noting that sometimes employees have few options when they go to check the back. "It's literally just a messy, unorganized pile of stock," said one Redditor. They added that it would be impossible to find a specific item.

Some employees are at least creative with their excuses, with one on Reddit who told customers, "I just checked on that same item for another customer and we are all out." Another in the same thread indicated they would pretend to scan an item with their device. "After a few seconds, I tell them the system says we're out. Have yet to encounter someone who's asked to see the screen."

Other employees will tell you that everything in stock was already put on shelves, so if it's sold out, there's no more. Large items like TVs or furniture may be stored in the back, but according to an employee on Quora, in six years, they only found an item there once.

Who you ask may also affect your answer. A cashier on Reddit, along with a maintenance worker and an apparel associate, all claimed in the same thread that they did not know how to search for items in the back.

If there's something you need and it's not on the shelf, it can't hurt to ask. It's possible that an employee will head back and actually find the item. Unfortunately, unhelpful employees are a complaint that plagues Walmart. Don't be surprised if they just go back, grab a drink, then return and tell you it's out of stock.