Walmart silliness

I need a new modem.

I've known I need a new modem for a few weeks. I just haven't got around to getting one. Until now. Or last night, actually.

Got in from work around 8:00 last night and had no Internet. That's not good. That's never good.

I checked for Comcast (Xfinity Internet) outages, and there were none in my area. Or so they said. I had cellular service on my phone, so I wasn't completely cut off from the world. In the Xfinity app, there was the notice I've seen for a few weeks about needing a new modem.

It's an older modem, and at the time I got it, it was a good one. However, I knew that the upgrades to the Internet service and that older device would mean things would get to where my modem was no longer officially supported. I had planned on replacing it, but just hadn't got around to doing that.

So, I figured this was as good a time as any. I looked at Amazon and found a newer version of my current one on sale with Prime Days. However, delivery was several days away. So, I checked the Walmart app.

Sure enough, the very same modem for the very same price was available.

Not only was it available, it was available for delivery. Not just for shipping, but delivery.

Not sure about the difference? Shipping is when they send it from some warehouse. Delivery is where a shopper on staff at the local store will walk the aisle and pick it up from the shelves, put it in a bag, and drive to my house and give it to me. So, delivery means it is the same item -- not one like it but the very same item -- that I could pick up with my own hands.

Okay, so I drove to the local Walmart store and picked it up from the shelves. Only the price was different.

The price was $46 more than if I bought it through the app. So, the nice little clerk asked if she could help me, and I showed her the app with the model number, and the device with the same model number, and the difference in price. She said it's that price if I order it through the app.

Now, me being me, I said, "So, if I order it through this app, you or someone here will walk over to the shelves, pick up this very item, and drive it to me? But if I get the exact same item now, it's $46 more?" She nodded her head and said "yeah." So I thanked her, added it to the cart in the app, and purchased it.

It will arrive today. The very item I had it my hand last night.

I get why it could be a different price if it's something sold by a third party and shipped from a warehouse. But this is the very same item -- the very same item! -- that I held in my hand in the local store. My Streaming Life sometimes involves some things that don't really make sense. Last night was one of those times.