Walmart surprise

First off let me say I avoid Walmart whenever possible, just rather shop at smaller less crowded stores. My one experience ordering something on line and having it shipped to my local store resulted in some low life, most certainly a Walmart employee, hacking my card and buying themselves a couple of $100 gift card. My bank refunded the money to me. I could not even get anyone at Walmart to talk to me.

That being said, I was looking for a 2 bank on board charger for the new boat I bought. The one on my Tracker was a BPS brand that had been flawless for 15 years so I was considering it and also the Minn Kota which was very similar. Both are 5 amp each bank, 10 amp total which has always been adequate for my needs. Both list in BPS and Cabelas for $149.00 I stumbled across an ad for the Minn Kota from Walmart on line for $101. with free shipping to my house. I doubled checked several times to make sure it was the same unit and I ordered it. Much as I don't like to deal with them, a $50 difference on a $150 item got my attention. Will have to see what shows up in my mailbox.

I have ordered a good bit of gear from them over the past year and haven't had any problems. I hope the unit is the same as the others. Check out some of the rod combos they carry. Good prices online.

Free shipping is a good incentive for all of us who shop around. Even the well known stores in the last year are providing this incentive to compete with such as free shipping if you buy 25 dollars worth at such as Academy, and Bass Pro is now 100 dollars and free shipping. Walmart is tuff, free shipping period for anything. I have ordered from them and it is on the porch in two days. Kit

Just found 2 charges for $49.99 by Playstation on my debit card. Not by me. Wells Fargo said they have been getting complaints of the same. New debit card on the way. Watch the activity on your accounts.

I had a min kota and hated it. Had the fuse part of the wire catch on fire on top of my gas tank and if I hadn't been out there it would have burnt my boat up...

I think someone at Wal-Mart would hear from you if you went there and knocked something over demanding to speak with the bosses. No! You would end up in jail but you can raise a little stink if you do it right. I have never had any problems so knock on wood. Hate to hear you were ripped off.

Ron, the problem was I could not prove that a WalMart employee did this, but the coincidence leads one to believe it was an employee. They were not interested in trying to run down how or where the gift card was bought and used so I was at a dead end. Thank goodness our credit union is really customer focused and they refunded my money, but I had to cancel my debit card and get a new one.
I found out I could use PayPal for Walmart purchases so that is what I used this time.

The only way I order ANYTHING over the 'net is thru Paypal. IMO it's just too risky any other way. Glad to see you got reimbursed from your bank.

Good News, bad news:
First the good news: If you want a good deal on a 2 bank charger(or larger) the $100 price for he MinnKota is very good, plus, there is a $30 rebate on it from MinnKota, so for $70, you can get a decent on board charger.

Now for the bad news. This thing is built like a tank. It weighs 11 pounds, which is almost 3 times as much as the BPS one I had. Considering where I had to mount it and trying to keep add on weight down, I decided it was just too heavy. Not much larger than the BPS one, but really heavy. The other issue is that it does not distribute the 10 amps totally. Each back gets 5 amps max. On the BPS model, If one battery is 80% down and one is 20% the unit sends 8 amps to one and 2 amps to the other, and that is often the case since my TM battery will usually be the one down a good bit. This feature gets it charged back up quicker than on that only sends 5 amps max to each bank.

So, with no hassle whatsoever, I took the MK to the local Walmart store and got a refund and ordered the BPS model. Should have gone with what I knew to start with, but the deal on the MinnKota was too tempting to pass up, and if it suits your needs it is a great buy.

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Originally Posted by SeaRay

First off let me say I avoid Walmart whenever possible.

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Ditto Ray, I avoid that place like the plague.