Check Your Grocery Receipts!

[badatmath]

I buy most of my food at Walmart and don't have to deal with that nonsense. Not to says scan errors can't happen anywhere, but I don't have to track digital coupons and I am only buying for 1 so not very complex.And I use self checkout and watch the prices. I've not ever found an error but I do not buy premade stuff or produce there either which I can see might be more prone to errors.

If I want nice produce I go to the fancy ass upscale store here and grab it but sadly my eating habits are not that great.

It is pretty aggravating to go to the "real" store and have to then go to customer service and stand in line again for a fix. They won't do it in the regular line.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Glad we are not the only ones who have noticed full price charged @ Safeway on advertised sale price items. Was just there today and thought lovely wife was going to go postal on the “senior clerk” at checkout who charged full price on sale items!

Sometimes I'm the a-hole who looks at the receipt right after checkout and says "I don't want this at that price. That's not the price displayed." to the cashier. "You have to take it up with customer service" gets a "No, you are responsible for defrauding me" which gets an urgent supervisor call and almost always the item for free. To be clear, I'm not trying to get stuff free, just at the advertised price!

 

[W2R]

I bought a few groceries from Walmart today. One item I bought was a pre-made sandwich that usually sells for $5.50, but because it was close to the best by date it had been marked down to $3.59. They put a new marked down bar code over the old one, but sometimes it doesn't cover the old barcode completely. I pay attention to make sure the charge for a marked down item is correct.
When I scanned the sandwich in the self checkout I was amazed. Did it charge $3.59? No. Did it charge the old $5.50 price? No. It rang it up as a "BBQ Chicken sandwich" and charged $62.80! The clerk watching the self checkout area fixed it by just deleting the $62.80 entry and then scanning the sandwich again. It scanned correctly. Its not very reassuring to know that the checkout can make an error like that.

Wow! Glad she fixed it on the spot. I would have been LIVID.

I don't shop at Walmart these days because my vision isn't good enough to drive there. I get non-perishables from Amazon, and also Frank (a.k.a. my guardian angel) brings me freshly prepared meals from local restaurants each day.

Tonight I couldn't sleep so I was just now ordering non-perishable groceries and household supplies from Amazon, getting stocked up for hurricane season. They make mistakes too, usually due to the fact that it's all automated and you aren't dealing with a human. So, I checked over everything once already to make sure I got all my bulk discounts, coupons, etc. I think they got it right but I'll double-check in the morning when I am more wide awake.

 

[Badger]

Incorrect prices at checkout in the nearby military commissary has this problem too. I have been overcharged at checkout a number of times when I was aware of the difference. I don't know if I have been overcharged when I haven't checked. If you notice it on the receipt after you have paid they would send you to a "management window" to reimburse you for the difference. Not so good if you have frozen items to take home. One time many items didn't even have a price posted so you didn't even know what you would be charged. They claimed it was controlled by a central source and they were waiting for the prices to be sent. That went on for a couple of days. I left and went elsewhere.

 

[RunningBum]

Sometimes I'm the a-hole who looks at the receipt right after checkout and says "I don't want this at that price. That's not the price displayed." to the cashier. "You have to take it up with customer service" gets a "No, you are responsible for defrauding me" which gets an urgent supervisor call and almost always the item for free. To be clear, I'm not trying to get stuff free, just at the advertised price!

Well, you labeled yourself correctly. The cashier is not the one responsible, but way to make their low paying job miserable.

 

[gailwinters]

Our Food City chain of stores always has a selection of packaged meats “5 for $19.99”, along with packaged veggies “5 for $7.99”. Once a month, they put those on sale - $5.00 off the meats and $2.00 off the veggies. After not receiving the discount several times, and having to go to the customer service desk, where they still didn’t get it right once, I now run the 5 meat items through and make sure my $5.00 credit shows, and same with the veggies. Only then do I scan the rest of my order.

 

[statsman]

At Randall's here in Central Texas (probably the same for Safeway back in Silicon Valley), their systems were programmed to allow a pre-scan of your grocery store card first before scanning items in self-checkout. This was great because you could see the discounts on the screen as the items were scanned individually.

Sometime in the past couple of years, they did away with a pre-scan of your grocery card in self-checkout. Now, you can't scan your grocery card until you proceed to checkout and payment. If you have more than a few items and several store discounts, any applied discounts are going to scroll off the screen, and their systems are a pain to view the entire cart when they are expecting payment.

And just to be annoying, after this change was made, when you first touched the screen to start the scans, the computer would audibly tell you to scan your grocery card for discounts. Doing that would prompt the computer to tell you to wait until checkout in order to scan your card. I haven't checked this recently to see if they are still saying this.

 

[Gumby]

Here in Connecticut, if the cash register rings up a consumer commodity item at a price greater than the price posted on the shelf, you are entitled to get that item for free (up to $20). Although you do have to point out the issue and ask for it to be free. If it scans lower than the posted price, you get the lower price for that one item. Just another reason I like living here.

 

[Timeisprecious]

First of all, if any of you don't know about the great prices and good quality at Aldi's Supermarkets and you have an Aldi's close, check 'em out. You can save a lot of money there (I think probably around 30% or so compared to most grocery chains).

Second, when I'm shopping at Meijer's (I think Meijer's is pretty much a midwest chain) & I notice an error, I raise my hand, get an employee over, and they correct the error on the spot.

So there are two ways we keep our grocery bill low and avoid pricing errors.

 

[Timeisprecious]

It is strange that all the “errors, oversights, etc” are always in the store or restaurant favor. Makes me wonder is it so accidental?

Right! I've had the same thought.

 

[Gumby]

Add in paying for plastic grocery bags at the checkout and it's a happy place!

No grocery here has single use plastic bags anymore. You can bring your own or buy a paper bag or one of the heavy duty reusable fiber ones with handles. I just keep my reusable bags in the car all the time. It's not a real problem.

 

[CardsFan]

At Randall's here in Central Texas (probably the same for Safeway back in Silicon Valley), their systems were programmed to allow a pre-scan of your grocery store card first before scanning items in self-checkout. This was great because you could see the discounts on the screen as the items were scanned individually.

Sometime in the past couple of years, they did away with a pre-scan of your grocery card in self-checkout. Now, you can't scan your grocery card until you proceed to checkout and payment. If you have more than a few items and several store discounts, any applied discounts are going to scroll off the screen, and their systems are a pain to view the entire cart when they are expecting payment.

And just to be annoying, after this change was made, when you first touched the screen to start the scans, the computer would audibly tell you to scan your grocery card for discounts. Doing that would prompt the computer to tell you to wait until checkout in order to scan your card. I haven't checked this recently to see if they are still saying this.

Yeah. Fresh Thyme did the same thing. You don't see the discount until the end.

I am always skittish to push the PAY button. Then a nice young man or lady comes over, pushes the button, (and maybe rolls their eyes) and all is good.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I do self check-out and have for years. Also self-scanning. I have used reusable bags for years. Wegman's has no plastic bags and they charge for paper ones. They used to allow self-scanning but stopped due to theft.

I like bags that hang from the sides of the cart. Last year I decided to BTD and buy a set of hanging shopping bags that work very well. I like organizing my items and taking home 3 durable shopping bags as opposed to 10 flimsy ones or 5 paper bags.

 

[Koolau]

Well, you labeled yourself correctly. The cashier is not the one responsible, but way to make their low paying job miserable.

So do you recommend dutifully walking to the service desk and standing in a long line to get your refund? Personally, I am always civil with the clerk, but I do ask to see a manager. I will not do an extra line just so they can get it right. I want someone "in charge" who is also on the "floor" to know about the issue. They actually have the power to "fix" it. I'm not suggesting that they always DO fix it, but I've done my part in alerting them to the issue. It's up to them to follow through.

The "poor" (minimum wage) clerk at the service desk does bill-pay, money orders and other stuff besides refunds. S/he has no authority (or time) to deal with a bad UPC code issue. The "floor" manager (or whatever s/he is called) does - and needs to know about the issue. I've never had to resort to suggesting "fraud" to the clerk, but I would if that's what it took to get the attention of a floor manager. I consider that I'm part of the solution and not the source of the problem when I ask for help from someone who has direct authority to deal with it. YMMV

 

[Gumby]

I've occasionally had an issue on the receipt at the grocery, but I have always gone to the customer service desk to straighten it out, so that I don't hold up the other customers standing in line behind me at the register.

 

[Koolau]

I've occasionally had an issue on the receipt at the grocery, but I have always gone to the customer service desk to straighten it out, so that I don't hold up the other customers standing in line behind me at the register.

Requesting (and getting) a floor manager and resolving a price issue shouldn't take more than 2 minutes. Standing in customer service line is 10 minutes minimum - more with travel time. I understand the issue of making others wait which is why I almost never go through other than the self-check line. YMMV

 

[threeonesix]

So do you recommend dutifully walking to the service desk and standing in a long line to get your refund? Personally, I am always civil with the clerk, but I do ask to see a manager. I will not do an extra line just so they can get it right. I want someone "in charge" who is also on the "floor" to know about the issue. They actually have the power to "fix" it. I'm not suggesting that they always DO fix it, but I've done my part in alerting them to the issue. It's up to them to follow through.

The "poor" (minimum wage) clerk at the service desk does bill-pay, money orders and other stuff besides refunds. S/he has no authority (or time) to deal with a bad UPC code issue. The "floor" manager (or whatever s/he is called) does - and needs to know about the issue. I've never had to resort to suggesting "fraud" to the clerk, but I would if that's what it took to get the attention of a floor manager. I consider that I'm part of the solution and not the source of the problem when I ask for help from someone who has direct authority to deal with it. YMMV

You're actually incorrect when it comes to chain grocery stores. They do not have the power to fix incorrect pricing at the store level, it can only be done at the corporate office. At chain grocers they don't even count their own inventory or do their own purchasing anymore, it's all automated. When they discover incorrect pricing they're supposed to report that to corporate so the fix can be put in for ALL stores at once, but few stores actually do that since the sales run only for one week.

 

[jollystomper]

Interestingly, at the large grocery stores/supermarkets, when I catch something rung up at the wrong price, when I notify the clerk they ask me what did I think the price should be. Almost always they have the power to override, or they call a floor manager over to override. It seems faster than locating someone to send back to the shelf to check the price. Perhaps I have a trustworthy face .

 

[threeonesix]

I'm curious ... when the shoe is on the other foot, do you report incorrect pricing that worked out in your favor? I'd bet that 95% or more of people do not. I do not.

One time Walgreens had a sale on fruit bars (brand name). I ate those all the time for breakfast and hiking snacks. The sale was buy 2 boxes get 2 free plus a $2 off your next visit checkout coupon that was good for 30 days. But there was a glitch, a major glitch. Two glitches, actually.

1. Instead of spitting out one $2 coupon at checkout it would spit out two.

2. Even though you weren't supposed to be able to use the coupon to buy that same product on your next visit, the point of sale system allowed it.

This means that after you made the first purchase your future purchases would result in paying around $2 for 4 boxes of fruit bars using the coupons, each time getting the same B2G2F deal and 2 coupons. When I figured this out the first day of the sale I posted about it on SlickDeals. At the time it became the most commented-on thread in SD history. People all over the USA and Canada took advantage. I bet Walgreen's lost a healthy amount of money over that issue. I bought 100 boxes of fruit bars myself over 25 visits to the 3 Walgreens stores within a few miles of my job at the time. Walgreens never fixed that issue the whole week of the sale and store managers knew what was happening.

 

[Car-Guy]

Maybe I'll start checking on occasions. If I find errors, I'll increase my checking frequency.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Requesting (and getting) a floor manager and resolving a price issue shouldn't take more than 2 minutes. Standing in customer service line is 10 minutes minimum - more with travel time. I understand the issue of making others wait which is why I almost never go through other than the self-check line. YMMV

Wow! No long lines here in central PA. I'm glad we moved 25 years ago.

 

[jollystomper]

I'm curious ... when the shoe is on the other foot, do you report incorrect pricing that worked out in your favor? I'd bet that 95% or more of people do not. I do not.

I do this. In groceries or supermarket stores, when I have pointed it out, only when the difference is huge have they not let me keep the item at the scanned price. Like something for $17 scanning at 17 cents.

Sometimes things have scanned cheaper because the sale or clearance price has been updated in the system before being updated on the self.

 

[Surewhitey]

Happen yesterday to me @ Sprouts. I sprinted to the pear isle & took her the sign. Probably happens a lot. Another reason I like Sam's and their scanning app.

I absolutely hate & refuse to use the Kroger digital coupon app. I don't need another one on my phone.

 

[Texas Proud]

Happen yesterday to me @ Sprouts. I sprinted to the pear isle & took her the sign. Probably happens a lot. Another reason I like Sam's and their scanning app.

I absolutely hate & refuse to use the Kroger digital coupon app. I don't need another one on my phone.

Same for the Kroger app... I hate digital coupons and do not do the Sam's app either..


As for my story... I was buying Dr Pepper... buy 3 twelve pack etc... but when I got to the self checkout I had forgotten to bring the coupon.. so go back to get it and walk back up front... scan the coupon and get an error.. so have to wave the guy over and he looks and I am buying what is on the coupon.. but he checks and it expired the previous day...



I said take it off.. he seemed surprised.. I said I never buy soda full price...

 

[athena53]

I'm finding that cashiers aren't trained at all. I rarely use self-checkout because I buy a lot of produce and have to look up each product (do I have "large asparagus" or "small asparagus"?). Half the time the cashier doesn't know, either, and asks me what it is. I was buying something not too exotic and they asked, "Is this cabbage?" Once they rang up broccoli sold by the pound as "broccoli crowns" sold by the piece for a lot more $$$.

Pretty sad indication of what kinds of foods are in their diets.