A viral TikTok post has resurrected the intense scrutiny surrounding packaging and weighing practices by large retailers like Walmart. Georgia native James Wrigg posted a video that he says proves Walmart was shortweighting its customers, claiming that up to 50% of the chicken breasts he checked were underweight.
Wrigg was conducting a consumer investigation by personally placing the packages on a weighing scale inside Walmart. The video appeared to show that his claims of the chicken being lighter than the weight listed on the package were accurate.
Wrigg said he was trying to expose what he believes is a systemic pattern of grocery stores in America using deceptive practices to effectively force customers to pay premium prices for missing weight. He even used aggressive hashtags such as #walmartfraud and #scalefraud in a bid to get more people involved in the conversation and share whether they had noticed similar patterns.
He was asked to leave
In his post, Wrigg also gave his followers instructions on how to check for shortweighting themselves. He wrote that customers should always compare package labels with measurements from a home kitchen scale. While acknowledging that there could be small variances, Wrigg argued that if the same discrepancy keeps happening, it could indicate a pattern at whichever grocery store they frequent.
He then suggested that anyone who is similarly suspicious of shortweighting should measure multiple products to see whether the actual weight consistently matches what is printed on the package. For his trouble, Wrigg claims he was kicked out of Walmart. At the beginning of his video, he can be heard saying, “I was asked to leave.”
In the comments, users were split. One user defended the staffer who allegedly kicked him out, writing, “As a Walmart employee I GUARANTEE you ain’t none of those workers know about this saying they’re kicking you out for exposing them lmfao they probably thought you were some tweaker.”
Another user wrote, “I love seeing people holding corporations accountable. If we don’t push back they take more and more and more.” Another was confused by the staffer’s position, writing, “Why are they standing with Walmart on this? They’re consumers too! If I worked there I’d be furious for unknowingly participating in this. Remove it from the shelves and go to the manager.”
@james_wrigg PART1| Walmart Chicken Being Sold Underweight. 50% of the Walmart chicken breast is under weight! #scalefraud #scam #walmartfraud #shortweighting
♬ original sound – Jimmy Wrigg
This is not the first time someone has complained about alleged shortweighting, and it’s unlikely to be the last. The federal government has established Weights and Measures programs in every state, generally operating under a state agriculture department or another relevant state agency, to address complaints involving inaccurate weights and measurements.
Collecting evidence is actually advisable
But even then, customers would have to provide evidence that what they’re claiming is actually true. Wrigg is right that if you want to make such a claim, you need to document what you find. Take photos and videos that show the discrepancy, and something he didn’t mention that you should also do is keep your receipt.
These are tough economic times, and nobody wants to pay a cent more than they should.
