Check Your Grocery Receipts!

[mountainsoft]

We went grocery shopping a few days ago. With the high cost of food these days I've been watching for items that are on sale, applying digital coupons, etc. But I never really paid much attention to the receipt when we got back home.

I just happened to look at our receipt and noticed we were charged full price for a bag of chips that was supposed to be on sale. I took a closer look and found over a dozen items that were charged full price instead of the sale price. There may have been more, but I didn't recall the posted prices on many items from the store.

Anyway, I contacted customer support at our local Safeway store, listed the items we were overcharged for, and they credited $15 to our account for our next trip.

Unfortunately, I don't know how many times this has happened before, but I will for sure be examining our grocery receipts in detail after every shopping trip now. If I discover we are being overcharged again, I guarantee we will be shopping elsewhere (even though other stores are much further away).

Check those receipts!

 

[pacergal]

I have had that happen at our local Safeway in the past. Have not noticed recently.
I mentally approximate my bill as I put things in the cart, so it the price it too far off, would notice.
I do check receipt in the car to make sure I got all of the digital and other discounts with the app.
Last fill up, got $0.50 off per gallon with the Safeway points at our regular gas station!
Every little bit helps.

 

[ClarkeK]

It happens way more than you think. Stores advertise a sale then charge full price at checkout. My wife scrutinizes every receipt before we even walk out past the Customer Service desk.

I used to think that maybe the store's computers weren't yet updated to the latest price changes but it happens so much that now I think they actually do it on purpose hoping shoppers don't check.

 

[Jerry1]

I pay close attention but the thing that used to get me most often is when Kroger has a buy 5 (or more) and get $1 off each. Unless you buy 5 of the same thing, you have to make sure you have enough to qualify. Grab the wrong item or count wrong and you don’t get the $1 off each item. I’ve gotten better at that and paying attention to my coupons. I’ve gotten burned a few times, but nothing like the OP described.

 

[braumeister]

I pay close attention but the thing that used to get me most often is when Kroger has a buy 5 (or more) and get $1 off each.

Yes, I just did one of those this morning (5 cans of soup). I always check the register before it prints out a receipt to make sure I got the discount. I also check the shelf labels to make sure that each variety (same brand, different flavors) is covered by the same promotion.

 

[djsander]

My wife loads the conveyor belt and I check the price on the screen. She also double checks the receipt on the way out. If we go through self check then we catch it during the scan and the attendant corrects it. Something we got used to years ago when we shopped at a Super Target as some prices were never correct on a routine basis. Even a sales tag you have to look to ensure they don’t have it under the wrong item. We shop on Wednesday and the stores change the sales on those days. If we get in early the clerks are going down the aisles changing sale tags. We’ve even run into the ones we’re the computer isn’t updated on the Wednesday. You have to be extra vigilant.

 

[jollystomper]

Part of our LBYM life was being a hawk at checkout counters to ensure the price matched what we thought was posted. Neither DW nor I were hesitant to question a price.

In my view this is one of the advantages of using self-checkout, where it is available. You know what the price should be, so you instantly see what price was scanned. It is at your own pace, and easier to catch than if a cashier is scanning.

 

[aaronc879]

I am single and therefore don't usually get a lot per shopping trip. I also happen to be above average at basic math so I just add the cost up as I shop so I know pretty close what the total should end up at. There have been several times I have had to tell the clerk that I was overcharged. I agree to always check your receipt unless losing a few dollars here or there doesn't bother you which may be the case for the BTD crowd.

 

[aaronc879]

Part of our LBYM life was being a hawk at checkout counters to ensure the price matched what we thought was posted. Neither DW nor I were hesitant to question a price.

In my view this is one of the advantages of using self-checkout, where it is available. You know what the price should be, so you instantly see what price was scanned. It is at your own pace, and easier to catch than if a cashier is scanning.

Maybe it is different at other establishments but at the local Pick N Save where I do most of my shopping the item scans at the regular price until you are done scanning and hit the pay button. Then it figures in the discounts and gives a total. I don't recall if it is like that for every sale item but it is for the "buy 5 and save" or similar type sales.

 

[Al18]

I check the receipt before I leave the store. I found a few errors over the years usually relating to sale items. The worst offender is Walmart, who typically charges higher prices than posted on the shelves - and I buy very little food from Walmart.

 

[jollystomper]

Maybe it is different at other establishments but at the local Pick N Save where I do most of my shopping the item scans at the regular price until you are done scanning and hit the pay button. Then it figures in the discounts and gives a total. I don't recall if it is like that for every sale item but it is for the "buy 5 and save" or similar type sales.

It depends on the store and the item. For example, at Costco the discount shows up right away. At my local grocery store, even the items that might say "3 for $5" will ring up with the appropriate discount on the individual item. A few will not show up until you hit pay, but even then you can still see the item list and the additional discounts added before you select your payment option. This also happens in the stores here that have a senior discount day., the discount is shown after pay but before you have to pay. There is still time to challenge an expected discount that was not seen .

 

[l8_apex]

If you're using Safeway's phone app and their digital coupons within, watch carefully as you need to be mindful of doing all of the necessary steps to get the coupon price correct in the bill.... They don't make it as easy as one would expect - I'm speaking from personal experience.

 

[audreyh1]

Hmmm, we overwhelmingly self-checkout and pay attention to each item. Coupons are applied at the end so we especially note those.

 

[YakGrl]

I just had a similar situation at a restaurant. When the bill arrived it looked way too high. I realized they charged me for a bottle on wine instead of a glass. I pointed out the error and they corrected it. I think it was just a mistake as they waiter seemed new.

 

[mountainsoft]

the item scans at the regular price until you are done scanning and hit the pay button. Then it figures in the discounts and gives a total.

Yep, that's the way it works at our Safeway store too. It doesn't do any good to watch the monitor as items are being scanned since they are always listed at full price. Even at the end the discounts are listed as a JFU discount ("just for you") and a price so you don't know what item they even apply too.

We only shop once a week, so we usually have dozens of items on the receipt (2-3 feet long!). Combined with the cryptic names on the receipt there's no way we can take the time to do that in the store, or even in the car in the parking lot.

For example "LAYS KTL CKD" (potato chips), "SALIS STEAK" (a frozen dinner), or "WW SO ANGL PAS" (). Just deciphering the meaning of each item is half the battle.

When I was online with customer service yesterday I did discover I can download our receipts from recent shopping trips. The downloadable version has a full description of each item with the regular price and the price we paid. So that might be more helpful for comparing prices in the future.

I have a feeling Safeway is going to know me on a first name basis...

 

[mountainsoft]

Last fill up, got $0.50 off per gallon with the Safeway points at our regular gas station!

We usually get around 20-30 cents off per gallon, but my wife got 90 cents off last time she filled up.

I select our digital coupons online on their web site (the phone app is terrible), and always select their 2X, 3X, and 4X reward point options.

 

[braumeister]

Yep, that's the way it works at our Safeway store too. It doesn't do any good to watch the monitor as items are being scanned since they are always listed at full price. Even at the end the discounts are listed as a JFU discount ("just for you") and a price so you don't know what item they even apply too.

Kroger's system is much friendlier.
I always use self-checkout, and the items show their regular price as they're scanned. But when you tell it you're done scanning and ready to pay, the display changes to show all the individual discounts and the new prices, before you actually use your credit card. So it's quite transparent.

 

[cyber888]

We always check now.
For Sale/Discount Prices, I even capture a pic of the price on my iphone, so if the cash register does not register the discount, I show the iphone pic of the discount to the cashier.

We went grocery shopping a few days ago. With the high cost of food these days I've been watching for items that are on sale, applying digital coupons, etc. But I never really paid much attention to the receipt when we got back home.


Check those receipts!

 

[Sojourner]

Hmmm, we overwhelmingly self-checkout and pay attention to each item. Coupons are applied at the end so we especially note those.

Same here, but the decision about whether to call for help can be tricky. Is it really worth an extra 3-5 minutes of my time to wait for the one (usually busy) attendant to come over, explain the pricing error, scroll through the display, call for someone to go check on the sale price, wait for that to happen, and then do a manual override of the price in the system? I tend to let any pricing/coupon errors under $1/item slide unless I feel like making a stand for some reason that day.

 

[mountainsoft]

I pay close attention but the thing that used to get me most often is when Kroger has a buy 5 (or more) and get $1 off each. Unless you buy 5 of the same thing, you have to make sure you have enough to qualify. Grab the wrong item or count wrong and you don’t get the $1 off each item. I’ve gotten better at that and paying attention to my coupons. I’ve gotten burned a few times, but nothing like the OP described.

Yeah, we've been burned with that too, especially when you get one flavor that isn't part of the sale. For instance, you buy 5 cans of soup, all same brand and style, but for whatever reason one of the flavors isn't included in the sale. (And why do some stores not carry all flavors in a product line?)

Another thing that irritates me is when they "hide" a coupon online (or in the weekly newspaper ad) by combining completely unrelated items in the sale. For instance, the ad might show toilet paper at $3.99, but buried in the text you can see it also applies to bricks of cheese. Unless you open every coupon and read the fine print you would never know about that offer. At least until you get to the store and see the sale label, knowing for sure you did not see that ad on their web site.

Oh, and when you're trying to find that item in the store on their app, it never comes up in a search. Search by "ice cream"? Nope, nothing. Search by brand "Umpqua"? Nope, nothing. Search by flavor? Nope, still nothing. Browsing by category usually works better, but even then trying to figure out what category an item is in can be tricky.

I really hate all the games stores play with pricing. I wish they would just post a price and be done with it. No coupons, no digital sales, no Friday discount, no secret handshake. This is just the price. But alas, I live in a fantasy world where that would be too simple...

 

[audreyh1]

Same here, but the decision about whether to call for help can be tricky. Is it really worth an extra 3-5 minutes of my time to wait for the one (usually busy) attendant to come over, explain the pricing error, scroll through the display, call for someone to go check on the sale price, wait for that to happen, and then do a manual override of the price in the system? I tend to let any pricing/coupon errors under $1/item slide unless I feel like making a stand for some reason that day.

I guess we just do it, but we have rarely had to. Usually the discounts are enough to be worth it.

One time the self checkout attendant caught that our seafood rang up for only 50 cents. This was for a pound of scallops. They explained that the fish counter had been having trouble with their scale, so I guess they had been looking out for it. Eagle eyes.

 

[mpeirce]

Kroger's system is much friendlier.
I always use self-checkout, and the items show their regular price as they're scanned. But when you tell it you're done scanning and ready to pay, the display changes to show all the individual discounts and the new prices, before you actually use your credit card. So it's quite transparent.

Kroger has bought Safeway. Maybe Safeway will switch over to the Kroger system in the "near" future.

My recollection at Kroger is that it shows the regular price on the display, then the discount as you are scanning the item. But this is when I enter my Kroger number before I start scanning. If I enter it later, it shows the adjustments at the end.

I like Kroger's system, but you do have to opt-in to the Digital Coupons for the best deals.

The thing I like most is that they offer discounts to me for the items I often buy. They call it Best Customer Bonus.

I do wish they'd add contactless payment (Apple Pay). Maybe some day...

 

[braumeister]

I do wish they'd add contactless payment (Apple Pay). Maybe some day...

Not sure which one you're talking about, but Kroger stores around here have had Apple Pay available for over a year.

 

[audreyh1]

Traveling in CO this summer Kroger and City Market, a subsidiary, all accepted contactless in various towns.

I think the Kroger store we used in GA also handled contactless and has for a while.

 

[Sunset]

.... at the local Pick N Save where I do most of my shopping the item scans at the regular price until you are done scanning and hit the pay button. Then it figures in the discounts and gives a total. .....

Yep, that's the way it works at our Safeway store too. It doesn't do any good to watch the monitor as items are being scanned since they are always listed at full price. Even at the end the discounts are listed as a JFU discount ("just for you") and a price so you don't know what item they even apply too.

......

At our Jewel-Osco , it now shows the regular price when self scanning, but I learned a trick from the manager.
Just hit pay and it will show all the discounts and discounted price. Then I click "Continue Scanning" and go back to scanning my stuff. Then pay at the end.

I do this right at the beginning to see that it is actually using my Just4U membership as I'd hate to scan 20 things and then have to redo it all.