Vicksburg Walmart struggles to cope with ‘system issues’

The Walmart Supercenter in Vicksburg is experiencing what employees described as “system issues” that limit their ability to process credit or debit card payments, as well as provide change at the self-checkout registers.

Frustrated customers abandoned their carts full of groceries (photo by Kelley Branch)

The manager was unavailable for comment, however, employees advised that the store had been closed entirely following the onset of the system issue.  Customers are being allowed to shop at the time of this writing, however, shoppers should come prepared with plenty of cash for correct change or ample time to wait in line for the single cashier.

With only one cashier working, the line was growing long (photo by Kelley Branch).

Most of the self-checkout lanes that accept cash are open, however rather than issuing change they are printing vouchers to be used with your next purchase.  So if your total is $18.75 and you pay with a $20 bill, you’ll get a voucher on your receipt for $1.25 that can be applied to a future purchase.

The Money Center is closed, presumably until the error is fixed (photo by Kelley Branch)

The Money Center is also closed as Walmart works to correct the issue.

The small bank of self-checkouts near the pharmacy was able to process credit cards, although employees working in the other self-checkout areas did not seem to be aware of that fact and were directing all card-paying customers to the line for the one cashier checkout lane that was open.

Employees were not able to provide any updates on the progress or even detail the root of the issue, but all were friendly and as helpful as possible given the circumstances.  Despite some communication breakdowns, they were handling the situation admirably.

The manager was unavailable for comment when Vicksburg Daily News visited the store and when we tried to call by phone, but we will continue to keep you updated as information becomes available.

UPDATE:  An AT&T service outage could be the source of Walmart’s system issues.  David Day was on the scene: