The Grocery Stores vs. Me
I posted in another group the fact that I had been buying cat litter at a certain store for weeks because it was on sale. I also bought other things but this store was not widely known for their cheap prices, unless they are having a sale.
Checking my reciept, I saw I was not charged $3.69, but $4.19. SOooo I thought "man, all these weeks that I didn't check my reciept, I wonder if I have been getting ripped off" So I took the reciept back and they ended up giving me the bag free, just in case I had been "stiffed" everytime! Nice, eh? Well, during this trip to the store, I had seen that they had MANY things on sale that I needed but I didn't have my checkbook or a credit card on me, just about 10 bucks. The sale tags said "EXPIRES 12/6/09" so I asked a clerk - "does that mean that the price is good thru 12/6 or that it ends on 12/5? " She said: "I think it ends at midnight the night before the expiration date." I said "Can you check? Because otherwise I will go back through the store and pick up some things now" SO she checked with this guy, who I thought was a manager and he said "it's good through the 6th - and I stake my life on it!". So yesterday I went back to the store with my checkbook and more money, and guess what? The items were all OFF SALE. SO, I went to the service desk to complain and the girl behind the counter listened to me explain and said "What do you want me to do about it?"
This happened at another grocery store that I was at. I had bought a birthday card as well, and as I was writing a check and they were packing the grocery bags, they forgot to put the card inside. When I got home and found it was not there, I called the store and they told me to come back, and bring my reciept. I said "I guess the gas I will spend to come down there and back erases any 'BIG SAVINGS' your store just gave me" and the girl at the service desk said "And your point IS?" Today I was in there again - I cannot stress checking your recpts. enough!! They charged me $1.19 a pound for potatoes that were 59 cents a pound (huge sign above them). That is 60 cents a pound more! But today I got to talk directly to the produce manager and told him to make sure they changed it in their computer so others were not RIPPED OFF. LOL
Whew. I need a drink. Sorry needed to vent I guess!
If I purchase an item specifically because it's on sale...then I'm standing there watching while they scan items to assure they give me the sale price....
What if you cannot see or read the screen or if you have so many items that are sale priced that you can't really watch each one or tell what price is what?
Here's another thing that happened last Xmas - the same store had dried apricots on sale - my mother loves them - so I went to the produce section and saw that they had them for $2.99 a pound and were store wrapped. BUT, along with them in the same bin and unbeknowst to me, in the same packaging, were specialty apricots for $7.99 a pound, without any seperate advertising or sale sign...all intermingled. At the check out, I said "WOW, it seems like my bill is really high, can you read off the most expensive items to me?" And when she said "Apricots $9.99 (they were over a pound) I said "WHOA - wait a minute!" After I checked out I went back to that bin and called the produce manager and told him how easy it was for anyone thinking they were buying regular, inexpensive apricots to pick up a package of the pricey ones. He agreed, but never thanked me for pointing that out. I wish this store wasn't so close to my house. Or the other one for that matter.
oh yeah i understand what you're goin thru.. when they put them computer scanners in it was supposed to make checkin out easier but it also leads to a lot of mistakes if they don't keep up with the price changes for the sale items and i often wonder how much of what you just brought up isn't done accidently on purpose .. and havin them scanners scan off about 30 items a minute don't make it easy to be sure you're gettin the right price .. i always check my reciepts when i get home and go right back if they do ...if i see them make a mistake while i'm standin there i make them correct it right away .. but you know what i do ?? if they try to move that line by askin me if i would mind steppin aside while they got a manager over to fix the problem i tell them yes i would mind .. and i'll hold up the line till the manager gets there and fixes it .. if more people did that they would be a lot more careful not to make a mistake .. i don't mean to be a pain but i didn't screwup so if the line stops because i won't step aside and let them put me on the end of the line for their mistake so be it ..
YES!! I do have an ally! I am getting to be more of a pain because if I do it enough, they will see that it isn't an isolated incident - if these "mistakes" are SO FREQUENT that I am in there bringing it to their attention several times a week, then maybe the manager will get on the ball and jack someone up about the price entries not being done or something. I am not looking for a free gift card to shut me up, either... although I won't turn one down....but that's not what I am in there for. Think of all the elderly that are on fixed incomes, counting their pennies! Or the really dirt poor that can't afford to feed their kids. Today I called Walmart - this is petty maybe to you - I bought some sugar there for holiday baking. A HUGE sign over the display said "GV Sugar - 5 pound bag $2.06" It came up as $2.34 on the receipt. SO I called -and while I am not going back there for 28 cents, it's a lie and false advertising on their part. But Walmart cashiers have been really good to me when I point out an error while still in line. Sometimes just giving me the item free because they were as angry as I was about an item not being updated to the sale price. Only when I asked about the price on the sugar, she said it was too far back on the recipt to see the price (??) Oh well, I let it go. I shouldn't have.
Next time, frenchy - tell them that maybe you should start keeping track of your mileage back to the store and see how much their "sale prices" really are saving you!!!
This has been a dirty little secret for years, that when stores aren't making as much as they want to, they do this, because enough people will not notice, that they can bring their profits up to where they want them. It's blatantly dishonest, and they need to be called on it every time. Keep track of every time they do it to you, and after you accumulate a few, call a newspaper, radio station, TV News station, and ask for a public investigation. Get them to collect enough evidence that a lawsuit can be started. Above all, don't just tolerate it.
I go over my receipt before I leave the parking lot. I've been to the service desk at Kroger many times and I always get that item FREE. I hate getting ripped off!
I try to watch the screen as they check me out. The Publix where I shop is pretty good. I haven't found too many errors. One thing I don't like is they have bins of apples with those little stickers on them. That is supposed to help you getting charged the right price. However, the clerk usually looks through the plastic bag at the sticker on just one apple. Yesterday they had two kinds of apples that looked very similar but were WAY different in price. They must have been mixed up in the bin but I didn't check every sticker. I got charged the higher price for the bag even though it held mostly the cheaper apples. Next time, I'll be more careful to check every sticker. I'm going to mention the problem to the manager the next time I shop there.
Been there, done that. I tend to shop from the circular, looking for bargains. I know how much everything should cost at checkout!!!! I'm glad my brain loves numbers LOL. I've always done a running total in my head too. I think the service desk is getting tired of me. I catch everything. There policy, if the price charged is wrong you get the item free, up to $10. I catch mistakes but rather than getting that $1.59 item reimbursed/free, I go back and buy 6 of that item, total $9.54, now free
I'd get a calculator and keep a tally as you go. It helps catch the store mistakes as well as helping keep a budget. We all get to the checkout line and afterward wonder how did I spend that much. Keeping that running total helps keep the 'unneeded extras' out of the cart too.
to all,
fwiw, every Food Lion, Bloom's & Bottom Dollar has a "TRIPLE your money back" cash refund if they "screw up" on pricing + they give you the over-priced item(s). = for that very reason i ALWAYS check my receipts!
btw, 2% milk is on sale again this coming week for 1.69/gallon.= yep, it's a "loss leader", but so what - i watch the flyers & save a bundle by doing so.
also they will have.89 a pound smoked, sugar-cured, ham halves/wholes, 1.99/pound lean ground beef & bananas are .39/pound at BD.
further, "a little bird told me" that turkeys will be .19/pound starting the week before Christmas for 15 days.
(i plan to "stock up" on turkeys, as i BBQ them frequently - the @ "ten pounders" work best for BBQ!)
yours, Otter
Wow - all stuff that is good to know! I am still trying to figure out how daytripper gets 6 free items up to $10 for one item that was priced wrong? lol
