Walmart Black Friday glitch frustrates customers

COCOA, Fla. — Walmart touted its one-hour guarantee as a way to make Black Friday shopping less stressful for customers.

There's a glitch that may even be worse for shoppers than seeing the last TV go in someone else's cart.

Some shoppers discovered they weren't given a code to claim what they already paid good money for – a glitch that almost stole Christmas.

Cocoa Walmart shoppers like Carl Davis bought TVs online that they later could not redeem.

"The receipt didn't have the access code you needed to start the process," Davis said.

The promotion was called the 1-hour guarantee.

For the second year, Walmart promised door-buster deals to shoppers who were in line during a certain time on Thanksgiving.

Once merchandise ran out, customers could pay for their bargain and get certificates in return.

But they would only get their purchase shipped to the store if they registered online by midnight Sunday.

That's where Davis ran into trouble.

"It's frustrating," Davis said.

Davis called the Walmart on Clear Lake Road and the voice on the other end worried him.

"I heard, 'I have another guy on the phone who doesn't have an access code, what do you want me to do with him?'" Davis said.

The employee promised to call him back in an hour.

"That's been over three and a half, four hours," Davis said.

Walmart later said they apologized for the inconvenience and that customers could go to the layaway counter to get their access codes.

Davis did just that, but when he got home, the website was down.

Twitter lit up with complaints.

One person wrote, "It looks like @Walmart used the #Obamacare web designers for their 1-hour guarantee site. #epicfail."

Walmart's 1-hour guarantee website did finally come up.

If shoppers miss Sunday's midnight deadline, they can get cash back for their gift cards, according to Walmart.

WFTV