Is it theft or only a bad system?

[GP44]

When you buy things like groceries and you watch for things that are on sale and you scan the item in at the checkout it invariably fails to ring in the sale price so you have to call whoever is in charge over to correct the price.
This doesn’t only happen at one store but at nearly every store in our area!
I thought at first that they were scamming people by offering things at a lower price and then charging more for those items.
Could it be that they just don’t take time to get these items set up properly in the system to reflect the sale price on the check out registers or do you think they do that intentionally to rip people off who aren’t careful about watching what they pay?
That is the one thing I like about self checkout is that you can watch the cost of items as you ring them up better than seeing an error by a store clerk.
I didn’t notice that I was over charged on some items until I had gone on to another store on time and when I back to try to get the overcharge corrected the store manager tried to tell me that the items weren’t on sale so I told her that they were set up on a special display with the sale price.
She told me that she couldn’t keep track of everything in her store but gave me my refund.
I told her that she needed to keep a better eye on the big displays in the middle of her store after all it is her store.
I didn’t make her as a friend but then she was the one who as much as called me a liar until I suggested that we hike back to where the display was at so she could see the sale price.
Makes a person think that she knew but was ripping people off who didn’t pay attention to what they pay.
What was bad about that was that other stores had the same deal going so you knew that it was a manufacturer’s offer and that the store was getting reimbursed.
In that case it was downright theft!

 

[Warrigal]

Our supermarkets don't have scanners for the customers but the docket you receive at the checkout will show you how much you have saved by buying discounted items.

 

[Aunt Bea]

When it comes to major chain stores, I have to believe that it’s apathy or human error and not a business policy.

I’m amazed at the difference in prices from store to store but I’m not convinced that it’s due to greed, it could be due to contractual agreements, discounts based on quantity, etc…

I see similar errors when checking best by or expiration dates.

It is interesting that most mistakes tend to be in the merchant’s favor.

I wouldn’t overthink it but I would remain vigilant no matter where I shop.

 

[Tommy]

We rarely sere that problem where we shop.

Many years ago I was living in Michigan when grocery stores shifted to shelf pricing/scanning. The law there at the time was that is an item scanned for a higher price than what was shown on the shelf, then the store had to refund you the cost of the item PLUS five times difference. You got to keep the item. It happened, but was a rare occurrence.

 

[Oldeagle66]

I never scan, I take the item to the register and ask

 

[againstthegrain]

It happens all the time here in our local 3 grocery store chain. I would say it's company policy by default. The reason I say that is in one store the one person solely responsible for changing prices is not on duty the first day of the price change so sale prices go back to normal through the course of the last day of the sale.

The meat dept at this same store sometimes doesn't change the prices at all to match their advertised sale price. They also don't place the ad prices on little signs as the other 2 markets in the same chain do, deliberately avoiding selling for the advertised sale price. I complained many times to the manger and meat cutters and have been called a "fukin azzhole" by one of the meat cutters. In fact one of them challenged me to get a job there, but I promised him he probably wouldn't like working for me. and he promptly shut up.

They also inflate the regular price when putting it on sale to make it appear your saving more that one really is.

Idaho makes it so hard to file a consumer complaint and their biggest issue is not customers being ripped off, it's the unfair competition they're concerned with.


It's stealing from the customers and unfair competition w other markets.

 

[Muskrat]

I could be wrong about the agency…but is arizona they occasionally check that the vendor’s prices match how the shelves and products are marked. If a vendor is caught in error they can be fined. I believe it is weights and measures. They also come out periodically and check your gas pumps to make sure they are accurate. It is really easy to get thousands of items on your shelves…and you are at your employees mercy to make sure the items are marked correctly…and stock rotated.

 

[Fritz]

I was always told it didn't get changed in the register. Not sure who does that but they need to be fired if they can't get their crap together. It's either that or someone is skimming the till at the end of the day for all the overpaid items?