Pokémon TCG preorder meltdown at Walmart triggers calls to cancel Walmart+ and demand refunds

Walmart’s latest Pokémon TCG exclusive drop has collectors up in arms after a disastrous morning left thousands empty-handed despite paying for Walmart+ memberships. The Phantasmal Flames early access event, which promised subscribers first dibs on the highly anticipated release, turned into what many are calling an organized failure.

The chaos started when collectors who joined the queue at exactly 10 AM found themselves stuck in a digital waiting room that kept resetting. Users reported waiting over an hour only to see their timers jump from one minute back to 30 minutes, then get kicked off entirely with a “page not found” error. Meanwhile, the products they were queuing for had already sold out.

While some drops had a 12-item limit that already favored bulk buyers, this release reportedly allowed limits of 99 items, making it ridiculously easy for automated bots to sweep inventory. Multiple collectors spotted order confirmations showing people had purchased 99 Elite Trainer Boxes in a single transaction. For context, regular fans just wanted one or two to open with their kids.

One frustrated parent posted about paying for Walmart+ specifically for these drops, only to watch Elite Trainer Boxes jump from retail price to $180 and booster boxes to nearly $80 within hours. Another collector who had success with the Black Bolt/White Flare release said they’re cancelling their subscription immediately after months of disappointment.

And it’s not just Reddit. Fans have also taken to X to voice their frustrations. “So you signed up for Walmart+ thinking you’d get early access to Pokemon cards?” one X user posted sarcastically. Another called out Walmart’s “Collector Con” where shady tech practices allowed the 99-quantity glitch to persist. Several collectors noted that Walmart could have paused the queue and cancelled suspicious bulk orders but chose not to.

Many subscribers are now demanding refunds for their memberships, arguing they paid for a service that fundamentally didn’t work. Some who contacted customer service received $25 gift cards as compensation, though most say that doesn’t come close to making up for the wasted time and broken promises.

The larger issue goes beyond just this one drop. Collectors point out that Walmart’s infrastructure clearly benefits resellers over actual fans, with cheaper shipping costs for bulk orders and no real anti-bot measures despite repeated complaints. When product sells out in literal seconds to accounts buying 99 units at a time, something’s broken.

For now, angry collectors are voting with their wallets and cancelling Walmart+ subscriptions en masse. But unless the backlash continues to grow, it’s unlikely that we’ll see any major changes happening over at Walmart.

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