What to do when the price at the register is wrong
How often have you stood at the register, convinced that your item scanned at a higher price but unwilling to make a scene by requesting a price check? It happens to me all too frequently. The California Attorney General recently reached a settlement with Wal-Mart over charges that the price of items when scanned at the cash register were higher than marked on the shelf. The chain's customers will receive $3 when victim of a price mistake.
In practical terms for Wal-Mart customers in California, this means that the Wal-Mart employee is the responsible party. If the cashier sees an error (or one is pointed out) then that person must give the customer $3 off the item. And if the item is less than $3? Well, then it's free. This starts now and goes for four years.
The L.A. Times holiday shopping blog adds that the investigation leading up to this decision was three years in the making and spanned the state. The finding was that oercharged customers paid an average of $8 more than they should have paid.
What can you do about inaccurate pricing? I have a few suggestions.
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Mark each product with the price as you add it to your basket. The guerrilla shopper might simply carry a felt-tipped pen to mark the product, aware that by doing so he won't be able to put it back, and that the store management might protest. If you're accurate (double check!), what's the harm?
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If you aren't willing to be quite so bold, carry some removable adhesive labels of your own, apply to each item you select and write the price on them. Place these labels on the opposite of the product from the universal price bar code so that your price will be visible as the product is scanned.
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If you find a price that seems too good to be true, take a shot of it with your camera phone to show to the clerk.
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Don't fiddle with the credit card reader until you've confirmed each item scanned at the proper price. If a price doesn't match yours, ask for a price check, knowing you're on solid ground. If you can't see the price as it is scanned, ask for the store manager. Tell him that the Attorney General wouldn't be pleased with his setup.
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If you don't want to follow the scanning at the time of purchase, check each item's price against the receipt as you unpack at home. Set aside any that don't match to return for credit when you go shopping next time.
How often do YOU encounter prices at the register that don't match the price on the shelves? What do you do when you encounter this situation?
Also read:
Could you feed yourself for $3.50 a day?
Wal-Mart in the News
Shoppers wait in line to pay inside the Wal Mart store at Fair Lakes, Virginia on Black Friday November 28, 2008. Shoppers turned up early for holiday sales at U.S. stores on Friday, but the annual pilgrimage appeared thinner this year and many consumers vowed to spend less due to a shrinking economy. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES)
Reuters
Shoppers walk with a loaded cart inside the Wal Mart store at Fair Lakes, Virginia on Black Friday November 28, 2008. Shoppers turned up early for holiday sales at U.S. stores on Friday, but the annual pilgrimage appeared thinner this year and many consumers vowed to spend less due to a shrinking economy. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES)
Reuters
A long line of customers wait early in the morning at the Wal-Mart in Niles, Ill., Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
AP
Margaret Coyne waits in line early in the morning at the Wal-Mart in Niles, Ill., Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
AP
Raymond Feliciano catches up on some sleep after waiting in line from midnight to 4 a.m. at the Wal-Mart in Niles, Ill., Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
AP
Rachelle Transtrum pushes her cart around the Nampa Franklin Road Wal-Mart as she navigates through the large crowds Friday, Nov. 28, 2008, in Nampa, Idaho (AP Photo/Idaho Press-Tribune, Greg Kreller)
AP
Mike Hernandez, top left, of Union City, N.J., a Wal-Mart employee points a customer to a sale item at the Wal-Mart store in Secaucus, N.J., Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. Hundreds of people lined up to get into this Wal-Mart for the annual pre-dawn Black Friday bargain hunting. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)
AP
Shoppers run through the doors at a Wal-Mart store in Secaucus, N.J., shortly after 5:00 a.m., Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. Hundreds of people lined up to get into this Wal-Mart for the annual pre-dawn Black Friday bargain hunting. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)
AP
Shoppers run through the doors at a Wal-Mart store in Secaucus, N.J., shortly after 5:00 a.m., Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. Hundreds of people lined up to get into this Wal-Mart for the annual pre-dawn Black Friday bargain hunting. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)
AP
Jose Gutierrez balances a desktop computer on his head while shopping at an Oakland, Calif., Wal-mart on Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
AP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 20)
12-03-2008 @ 2:59PM
Cindy said...
WalMart is a terrible offender of this. It happens to us every single week, and we are vigilant. Today it was 25 cent oranges which rang up at 58 cents. Left us wondering how many people paid the higher price because, unlike me, they don't pay attention. And the cashier who helped change the price at our self-serve station did not make any note to tell the "main desk." She just changed the price for us and walked away. I am very sure WalMart does these things on purpose hoping not to get caught.
Vitamin Cottage has been bad as well. Two weeks in a row I got DOUBLE CHARGED for produce...hmmmm the $7.00 broccoli...seemed a BIT steep, even for organic.....so now we write every produce price down as we shop there, and we catch something at least every other week.
Reply
12-05-2008 @ 1:20PM
Diann said...
The Wal Mart here in Cocoa, Fl is also famous for this, no wonder there profit is so great! If you bring it to customer services attention you get an "Oh Well", the managers aren't much better.
If they can't do their job then what are they doing there?
12-04-2008 @ 8:57PM
Former sailor said...
Serves you right! If you have enough money to pay more for less value, keep falling for the "organic" scam! If you're already wasting that much money, you can afford to pay double!
12-04-2008 @ 10:16PM
Robert said...
Walmart had the wrong price on Cool Whip for three months and it was wrong again the other day. I think they do this on purpose. Is the $3.00 or free item nationwide?
12-05-2008 @ 7:34AM
[mecha:spider] said...
OMG. Produce's prices change daily. Maybe that organic brocolli did change from $3.00 to $7.00 from the time you picked it up to the time you took it to the register. Sometimes the manager didn't have the opprotunity to change the lable because the higher ups decided to pull him/her away and make him/her do something more pressing.
AND BY THE WAY, THAT ORGANIC REALLY ISN'T ORGANIC.
12-05-2008 @ 8:57AM
American Consumer said...
Why would you continue to patronize a business that continually overcharge?
12-06-2008 @ 9:44AM
Barbara said...
This has been standard practice for Kroger for a long time. Only if an advertised special rings up wrong it is free. Produce and meat are exceptions. I have received many freebies.
12-05-2008 @ 9:05AM
Jon Boy said...
I found this to be helpful...
How You Can Save Money On Food and Still Eat Healthy
http://www.curiousread.com/2008/10/how-you-can-save-money-on-food-and.html
12-05-2008 @ 9:56AM
Rich said...
This whole article makes no sense at all. I work at a wal-mart and have for over 11 years, it's always been company policy that if an item scans at a price higher then it's marked on the shelf all the customer has to do is request the price check and if they are correct they get the $3.00 off or if the item is less then $3.00 it's free. That's been a company policy since I work there. And the incorrect pricing on the shelf isn't a company issue, it's local store issues. When prices change on an item the company sends down price changes for the department managers over that area, they have to work the price change in the system, part of which means printing a new shelf label to replace the old one. If the department managers in your store are too lazy to do their jobs correctly that's when wrong pricing happens or if someone is changing out a feature on a 4-way, stack base or endcap and doesn't change the price.
12-06-2008 @ 6:59PM
Ex employee said...
No walmart does not do it on purpose. Its employees not doing their job properly that causes the issue. Trying to get the "paperwork" done without making the proper shelf label change.
12-03-2008 @ 3:01PM
Cindy said...
a PS to my comment:
I call attention to it EVERY TIME. Drives my husband crazy if it is for 10 cents, but usually it is a lot more, and I believe we should pay the price on the sign, and not the price it rings up...that is....unless the ring up price is LOWER, which actually does happen occasionally lol
Reply
12-07-2008 @ 5:36PM
jayjay said...
So in other words Cindi, it's wrong if they steal from you, but it's alright if you steal from them?
12-03-2008 @ 3:26PM
karen said...
I was at Sears and the item was sold to me ar the wrong price, so I nicely went back to the checker and they checked the sale sign and it was on the wrong item but they gave me the sale price and 5 dollars off.
Reply
12-03-2008 @ 3:31PM
bill said...
many stores do this. i shop at superamerica alot and one of there clerks told me they were instructed to charge the regular price unless the customer complains. not a mistake but actually stealing from their customers. i enjoy making a big scene when they do it to me and i make sure everyone in the store knows about it. not only am i loud i ask them why everytime this is happening. im sure they dread it when they see me walk in to their store but to me its become a game of me against the thieves.
Reply
12-06-2008 @ 4:45PM
debbie said...
Yeah!!! Go Bill !!!!!
12-06-2008 @ 6:33PM
PAT said...
YOU GUYS DONT THINK PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES....
YEA JUST THINK HOW MANY ITEMS ARE ON A WALMART SHELF OR ANYONES SHELF....HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS YA THINK A MISTAKE COULD BE MADE....HMMMM MAKES YOU WONDER IF YOUR ALL SO DAMN PERFECT WHY ARNT YOU WORKING THERE HELPING OUT....
12-06-2008 @ 6:51PM
Cindi said...
Hey Bill,
Its people like you that make themselves look like idiots in front of an entire store. I am a retail store manager, and
my associates treat people the way they would like to be treated. In my 23 yrs in the business I have encountered
people who think they can loud mouth themselves into getting
what they want...99% of the time they get only what they are
entitled to and after they leave I usually get more than one comment from other customers who feel the loud mouth was a
jerk. You dont have to muscle your way to get your way. Calmness and rationality will usually get you further ahead..at least in my store it does. We are all human and mistakes get made, but most mistakes can be corrected without making a scene.. and the customer is satisfied. I thank my customers when an error is brought to my attention so that I can correct
it. Have a great day, Bill.
12-07-2008 @ 5:27PM
Bill said...
So in other words, you are an ass, you know it and don't care, you must be an old retired person with nothing better to do!
12-03-2008 @ 3:41PM
Serious Shopper said...
WalMart is the worst at this. I have had to ask the clerk to let me turn the check out screen around so I can SEE what they are ringing up. The prices are always off. I catch at least two per visit. I also have a problem with the circular bagging system I have had to return to the store on two occasions to get things I have paid for. After waiting in line at customer service, I see a huge cart full of stuff "left" by customers. The clerk told be they just return everything to the shelves at the end of the day so it can be re-sold! This is stealing, pure and simple.
My answer, shop at Target. Much better service and nicer people working there.
Reply
12-05-2008 @ 6:15PM
sarahbeth said...
these items that are left on the bag wheel are usually left there because the customer is too busy talking on their cell phone, fighting with the kids or just plain not paying attention....it is not the cashiers fault,,,,the items are returned to the floor but the customer has the option to bring back their receipt and go to customer service and retrieve their items though it may not be the original ones...it is the fault of the customer for not retrieving all their bags before leaving....how many times have I had to chase down a customer to give them their bags,, PAY ATTENTION CUSTOMERS and stop blaming the cashier,,,