'Shocking' shopping carts jolt customers

Millions of Americans shop at big box discount stores. And for most of them it's a pleasant experience. But a growing number of shoppers have been shocked during a recent store visit. 

I don't mean "shocked" as in surprised.  We're talking "shocked" as in static electricity.  And some have called it a case of "When Shopping Carts Attack."

Felt Like a Metal Barb

Gerry Palumbo was shopping for a gift a few weeks back at a discount store in West Chester, just north of Cincinnati. Suddenly, she says she felt something sharp with her finger.

"I thought it was a barb, a sharp piece of metal on the cart," Palumbo said.

But she says the cart handle was perfectly smooth.

Then, it happened a second time, and a third time.  

"No matter where I held the cart I was getting shocked," she said. 

She finally had to hold her cart with her purse strap to avoid a static shock.

We Make a Visit

What's going on, and why are shopping carts becoming "shocking carts" at some stores?

Wearing a ball cap and pullover so not to draw attention, I rolled a cart though the store, touching shelves, but nothing happened to me.  I was about to leave, thinking it was some freak incident.

But when I asked our photographer Greg Singleton to do the same thing, he had a very different -- and very shocking result.

"I got a shock," he said. "Got a shock right there."

Greg pushed the cart again, touched a second metal display, and was shocked a second time. Then he was shocked a third time.

Gerry says store employees knew all about it.

"Even the cashier said it happens to her all the time. And the assistant manager said it happens all the time and there's nothing they can do," she said.

A Google search pulls up dozens of complaints about this at Walmarts across the country, and also other stores.

What's Causing it?

Meantime, the website "The Consumerist," a division of Consumer Reports Magazine, said it believes it has to do with Walmart's relatively new vinyl wood flooring and metal carts building up static.

The shoes you wear determine if you get a shock, which would explain why I wasn't shocked.

A Walmart spokeswoman tells me the company is aware of this happening to some customers in some stores, but says it is rare.  The company also says it addresses the issue on a store by store basis.

One solution, according to the Consumerist, is adding a grounding wire on the bottom of carts.

Palumbo says until her Walmart grounds the carts, she'll visit another Walmart that doesn't seem to have the problem.

"It's painful to shop. They're not shopping carts, they're shocking carts," she said.

What Can You Do?
    
If you have an issue like this at any store, try holding the cart with a coat, gloves or even your purse handle, which is what Gerry did.  

Then go to the store manager before you leave and forget. They may not be aware shoppers are having a problem.

If this has happened to you at other stores, feel free to post your experience below.

As always, don't waste your money.
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