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
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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 20)
12-04-2008 @ 8:21PM
Bill Rollins said...
So how many of you shoppers are willing to pay the higher price, if that is what the shelf says, then if it rung up at a lower price at the cash register??????
How many times does this happen to you??????
Probably zero on the first question, and probably happens more often then you think on the second question.
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 8:21PM
Christy said...
My funniest experience with this was over a box of tampons... they rang up too high and I spoke up. Then a man in line BEHIND me said that sign over there says "if it rings up wrong, you get the item for free"! He was right - I only wanted it to ring up right but ended up getting them free. THAT sign was gone the next time I went into the store!
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 8:22PM
jason said...
Hello "Serious Shopper"...I've had the opposite experience. I check my sales slips routinely and I've never a wrong price at WalMart, but several at Target. And in my experience, the service and the people are about the same.
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 8:25PM
Paula said...
Besides ringing the wrong prices, the other thing that irks me is when a product was on sale the day before and no longer on sale the day you are shopping but they forget to remove the sale price signs so you figure you're getting a good deal until you go to check out and it rings up at the regular price. What you hear is "I'm sorry but the sale ended yesterday". What they hear is "Sorry, but you have to sell it to me for the advertised price on the shelf, it's the law. I actually had a store manager throw the item I wanted to purchase (dog treats) across the room in anger when I reminded her of this. She had no choice and just to piss her off, I bought every box on the shelf at the sale price since the sale price was almost 50% off and I have 3 dogs. I don't shop there anymore.
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 9:49PM
helen said...
I WENT THOUGH THE SAME THING LAST WEEK AT THE PIGGLY WIGGLY.OVER HOT DOGS !! WHEN I TOLD THE CASHIER SHE TOLD ME THAT IT WAS NO LONGER ON SALE.AND ICOULD PUT IT BACK IF I DIDNT WANT IT .OH NO!! I ASKED TO SEE THE MANAGER,AND SHE TOLD ME IT WOULDNT DO ANY GOOD ,BUT I INSISTED(.WITH OUT BEING RUDE) NEEDLESS TO SAY,I GOT MY HOT DOGS WITHOUT ANOHER WORD. PRAISE GOD. MY MONEY IS SHORT.AND THEY HAVE A LOT MORE THAN I.
12-05-2008 @ 8:50AM
Lori said...
Went to Target the other day. Picked up a set of sheets under a sign that read 19.99 when I checked the price it was 99.99. I asked a sales girl about it she said somebody didn't remove the sign and told me no problem and i received the sheets at 19.99. She changed the sign right than and there. I was sorry they only had 1 set of queen size. The sheets were 1000 count thread. One time out door storgae boxes were under a sign that read 13.99 at target and they were really on sale for 69.99. My sister got a sales person and made a big stink about it and they had to give them to us and everybody for 13.99. People came out of nowhere to get them. At first it was myself and 2 sisters and about 3 other people. All of a sudden people came out of nowhere. They honored the price of 13.99 for everybody. Never had a problem at Target. Never had a big bargin like that at Wal-mart they get made when you tell them something is 25 cents cheaper. They honor but not happy about it.
12-04-2008 @ 8:27PM
Nodums said...
I have found that more often than not that the prices are lower than what the sign says. I understand wanting to save a few cents but comsumers expect places such as Wal-Mart and Sears not to make any mistakes. Lets not forget that average people just like you and I make mistakes. The sales floor associate is an average person. And for the lady who hates the circular bagger- your just lazy. Your so worried that you may pay a few more cents that your not paying attention to your bags. Now you have to spend a few more dollars to go back and pick up what YOU left behind.
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 10:04PM
Wrongprices said...
Some of us worry about every little penny when pennies are short to spend. I lost my husband in a car accident, I have 3 small children and am disabled. We have no choice but to be on a budget. We pick going to these stores for "ADVERTISED SPECIALS" so we can save money. Otherwise, I would have gone to another store. It may not be much to you, but 40 cents is lunch for one of my children at school. So, yes, I shop to save every little penny.
12-04-2008 @ 10:14PM
wrongprices said...
P.S.
I do understand that they are normal people, just like everyone else. I did work in the medical field before becoming disabled. There's still no excuse for workers not following the rules. They are in customer service. It's their job, to make sure the customer is taken care of and satisfied. There have been times when I have asked if all of my bags were retrieved from the "circular" bagging thing and received very rude comments and have had someone actually hold the thing so I couldn't look. I just walked around it to look anyway. I have not left my things, but have taken other peoples home. I did return the other persons bag. It had 2 CD's and a few other spendy items. I'm not rude or mean, I'm just out like everyone else to get the things we need to survive.
12-04-2008 @ 8:35PM
alien said...
Walmart would correct the price if someone disputed it for a long time. There are other stores that will only tell youthat the price you saw was for a different item, no matter what. So why is only Wal Mart mentioned? Shouldn't this decision be for all stores. No I don't work for Wal Mart.
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 10:02PM
Bob said...
These sites have to single out Wal-Mart and ignore other store's errors. How else would these people be able to convince the public that Wal-Mart is the root of all evil when it comes to retail. I don't work for Wal-Mart either - I just shop there. I shop there becuase the service and prices are better than anywhere else within at least a 30 mile area here in Connecticut.
12-05-2008 @ 6:46PM
Leefisch said...
They do not correct things or give you anything in Rochester MN. I have caught them many times and am told the item was in the wrong place. I bought a vase that was on a clearence shelf for $3. There were a lot of them there. It rang up at $9.99. When I questioned it, the floor manager checked and said they were in the wrong place. I did not buy it and did was not offered anything. They are not customer driven here. I shop there only for sale items and that they are a few blocks away.
12-04-2008 @ 8:40PM
Always On my toes said...
I live in Arizona, where i shop "FRY's Food" if the item is priced wrong you get it for FREE, ($5.00 or less) But you have to check the prices PLUS make sure the cashier doesn't just adjust the price.
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 8:55PM
Birdiez said...
What ticks me off the most...(WALMART - ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION ???) is when at the checkout stand the clerk corrects the item but nevrs bothers to notify the front office & the next poor sap gets stung.
Reply
12-05-2008 @ 2:00AM
Ann said...
When the clerk adjusts the price on the register it hits a report and the back office that deals with price problems sees it. It would do the cashier no good to leave the register and walk back to the office while a customer stands there. The registers are computers and everything is tied together.
12-04-2008 @ 8:58PM
Missy said...
I don't know about elsewhere but here in my area of Pennsylvania our Wal Mart stores have discontinued the $3.00 off policy if something rings up wrong. I've asked at several stores and they all say that they were told that they aren't doing it anymore. So I guess I get nothing in return now for being inconvenienced by people not doing their job correctly. If they are taking it away in my area some others might be next.
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 9:01PM
Jaye said...
This is NOT a new policy. It has been in effect for several years. In fact they used to have signs above the registers stating this policy. They took them down. While the cashiers did NOT offer the information, if you told them you were aware of it, they honored it. The info was not readily offered. It just finally caught up w/WM and went public. So now they have no choice but to honor a policy that has been in existance for a few years already.
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12-04-2008 @ 9:02PM
Doug said...
They are fooling you. I work for Wal-Mart. If the item scans more than it is, then you are suppose to get that item for $3 less anyway. That has been the way for YEARS. This isn't a real settlement. LOL. A lot of people don't know this. Besides, you don't complain when the item rings up LESS than what the shelf says....
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 9:03PM
ATLANTIC8 said...
I regurlary shop at a Giant Food Store, and the advertised "Bonus Buy" price vs. the priced scan is often wrong.
Their policy simply states, if it happens, the item purchased is free to the customer. But they won't make the fix in the check out line. You have to take the item and your receipt to the customer service desk. It can be a very time comsuming process if the customer service desk is busy.
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12-04-2008 @ 9:09PM
Rosemarie Helus said...
By the way, I do tell them when the price rings up lower as that is only fair. They usually write it down and let it go to me at the lower price.
Reply