Beware of produce ripoff by scanners

Fern · #1 (**permalink**) 07-25-2005, 08:04 AM

Last week i had a hankering for some homemade coleslaw, so i went to my local Big Y and bought a head of green cabbage and carrots. When I got home and looked at the receipt, I realized the cashier had decided that my cabbage was bok choy (!) and way overcharged me for it. I got a refund of $4 and change.

Supermarket scanners don't prevent human error mistakes, when the cashier has to decide what that vegetable or fruit is in the plastic bag. Keep an eye on them when you're buying produce!

Tree0164 · #2 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 04:30 AM

Good idea to keep an eye out.

I was buying reduce meat. Had a $2.00 off sticker on it and the cashier forgot to rip it off. I was mad. I didn't notice it until I was putting it the freezer. Not worth it to go back and complain at that point but now I put anything that has a rip off coupon at the end double check.

pennywise · #3 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 10:35 AM

Always shop alone so you can pay attention to what the cashier is doing. I prefer the self check outs, that way I know what I am doing. However, it is easy to be distracted. It is your pennies, so consider each item as it is being rung up. It is a good idea to put any with coupons at the end so you know what is happening. Do not let the cashier start until you have everything on the conveyer, that way you can observe easier. Good topic ladies.

cicy33 · #4 (**permalink**) 07-26-2005, 10:40 AM

This is why I always choose someone who has a ton of stuff on the belt, so that I can be ready by the time they are done.

fultron · #5 (**permalink**) 08-09-2005, 07:33 PM

Sometimes the cashier doesn't know what the produce is and chooses any old thing. A few weeks back I bought a jicama (for coleslaw, looks kinda like a potato) and the cashier rang it up as a coconut!

Luv2shop · #6 (**permalink**) 12-28-2005, 09:51 PM

Check your receipt it happens alot!

budgetmom · #7 (**permalink**) 10-06-2006, 09:56 PM

This sounds somewhat like an experience I had when I went to my local Kroger awhile back, LOL. I my husband has a friend that works up there and who let him try a selection of hot peppers they had in the fresh produce section. My husband found one kind that was particularly hot (he could use a whole bottle of hot sauce on one plate of food if I let him

) and asked me to buy some so he could just grind it into his food. I got to the checkout and they didn't have a code on them-they even looked in thier little picture book they keep at the register. After everybody on the front end of the store, including the customers (sadly) knew about the problem they decided it was time to call the produce dept. The produce man couldn't figure it out over the phone, so he came up. He then went back to check the code. Some time later

they called back up to the register and told the cashier that they couldn't find a code for them anywhere on the floor or in the stock log books and to just ring them a jalapenos!

I threw a fit! Jalapenos at the time were the most expensive peppers in their stock! I got them for the cheapest pepper price and they only ended up costing me a quarter for the whole lot of them as they were very light peppers. They should have gave them to me for free to compensate for all the time I had to spend waiting on them to try and figure it out. It wasn't like there was only a few of these things sitting out back there, there was a whole bin!

Ok, that's enough of my ranting and raving! This post just reminded me of that and I had to get it off my chest!

mountainmist · #8 (**permalink**) 10-07-2006, 05:38 AM

Maybe one time out of ten when I have a handful of coupons, the cashier misses at least two of them.

It doesn't matter which store, which time I shop, it's like ALL cashiers are pre-programmed to mess up on the coupons.

There's no way I'd return to the store for a refund -- I mean this happens with such regularity that I'd have to double the time I use going to the grocery store.

I do try to keep an eye out that they actually do have their loss leaders for the weekly correctly priced, but it irritates me that I'm expected to watch every single little thing.

I thought this stuff was only happening in my area, but this thread leads me to think otherwise now.

This is one of the reasons I hate using the coupons from the Sunday inserts -- so often, when I think I got a "deal," I'll belatedly notice something on the receipt, and realize that once AGAIN the cashier screwed up.

It's really irritating, and sometimes I wonder if the machine, if the cash-register, and not the cashier is programmed to somehow look & sound like it's accepting the coupon, but that it really isn't, and you don't discover til much later.

Seriously, I do NOT remember this happening with such regularity ten & twenty years ago, but nowadays it's rampant.

mountainmist · #9 (**permalink**) 10-07-2006, 05:38 AM

Maybe one time out of ten when I have a handful of coupons, the cashier misses at least two of them.

It doesn't matter which store, which time I shop, it's like ALL cashiers are pre-programmed to mess up on the coupons.

There's no way I'd return to the store for a refund -- I mean this happens with such regularity that I'd have to double the time I use going to the grocery store.

I do try to keep an eye out that they actually do have their loss leaders for the weekly correctly priced, but it irritates me that I'm expected to watch every single little thing.

I thought this stuff was only happening in my area, but this thread leads me to think otherwise now.

This is one of the reasons I hate using the coupons from the Sunday inserts -- so often, when I think I got a "deal," I'll belatedly notice something on the receipt, and realize that once AGAIN the cashier screwed up.

It's really irritating, and sometimes I wonder if the machine, if the cash-register, and not the cashier is programmed to somehow look & sound like it's accepting the coupon, but that it really isn't, and you don't discover til much later.

Seriously, I do NOT remember this happening with such regularity ten & twenty years ago, but nowadays it's rampant.

jodi · #10 (**permalink**) 10-07-2006, 05:52 AM

Hmm...used to happen to me once in a while when I lived in the city, until the store started a policy of giving you $2 when you caught their error. The first week, I caught an error. I had NEVER had one since - and I checked my receipt religiously.
Since I moved back home (rural area), I can only recall a handful of mistakes in years of shopping weekly (and I shop at three different stores regularly). And I still check my receipt ALWAYS before I leave the store - then I can go directly to the Customer Service desk if there is a problem.
(DH is incredibly embarrassed by the fact that I WILL wait in line to recoup a dime - he doesn't understand the phrase "It's the prinicpal"! I tell him that if they are doing it to me, then they are doing it to everyone and someone needs to tell them)

mountainmist · #11 (**permalink**) 10-07-2006, 06:11 AM

Also, I wonder why at the grocer's or the drugist's if you need to make a return, and OF COURSE you have your original sales receipt, why it is that you have to sign all that paperwork with your name/addie/phone/etc - all that to return some small item which has something wrong with it.

Maybe they are simply victim to so many crooks & & thieves & scammers, that they HAVE to do this, maybe it's an issue written up in trade magazines, I'm unsure why they require such a large amount of paperwork, particularly if it is their error.

mountainmist · #12 (**permalink**) 10-07-2006, 06:11 AM

Also, I wonder why at the grocer's or the drugist's if you need to make a return, and OF COURSE you have your original sales receipt, why it is that you have to sign all that paperwork with your name/addie/phone/etc - all that to return some small item which has something wrong with it.

Maybe they are simply victim to so many crooks & & thieves & scammers, that they HAVE to do this, maybe it's an issue written up in trade magazines, I'm unsure why they require such a large amount of paperwork, particularly if it is their error.

DayByDay · #13 (**permalink**) 10-07-2006, 09:22 AM

Yesterday I went grocery shopping. I usually pay attention closely to the prices being rung up, but I had a lot of things on my mind and was very distracted. When I got home I checked my receipt to see if I got all the sale prices I was supposed to get. One expensive thing I bought (not on sale) was organic broccoli. I was charged for the regular broccoli that was on sale instead. I don't know how the cashier could have missed it because it has a huge, colorful tag hanging off it. I really think many cashiers just want to punch in codes they've memorized and don't want to bother checking their flip chart for codes. I almost felt guilty about it, but I was already home at that point and I remembered about the Sara Lee apple pie I bought on sale from them a couple of weeks ago that had a long, human hair halfway sticking out of the crust. I was so grossed out that I couldn't eat it, and I should have returned it but didn't. (I've been trying to do more and more cooking/baking from scratch, but I lapsed and bought the pie. I think I'll make my own next time!)

PRICEPLUS · #14 (**permalink**) 10-07-2006, 01:34 PM

Always review the tape as mistakes are made on a regular basis. Watch as each item is being rung up. It is best to catch problems early. Always make sure to give your store discount store card to the cashier before they start scanning. Review the tape at home to just make sure you were not ripped off. Invariably we find mistakes and we go back. Fortunately the store is close by. I especially am leary of new cashiers!

amberbamber · #15 (**permalink**) 10-07-2006, 07:26 PM

Thanks for bringing this to my attention...I wouldn't have thought about it at all!

Gruntina · #16 (**permalink**) 10-11-2006, 07:23 PM

Instead of handing a whole handful of coupons to the cashier, I just put the appropriate coupon on top of each items so she can run the coupon with the items at the same time. It’s easier for me to track everything when I watch as well.

tinapbeana · #17 (**permalink**) 10-11-2006, 07:59 PM

check to see if your store has any type of 'scan right or it's free'/'money back' program. customer service should have the info if it's not posted at the cashier's station. bloom has a 'scan right or it's free' guarantee, and i've gotten a free $8 cake this way mmmmmmmmmm cake.....

PetMom · #18 (**permalink**) 10-16-2006, 12:53 PM

This is a total pet peever of mine because I have yet to have a 'mistake' come out in my favor. The grocery store always charges in their favor.

I do notice some stores are the worst! Some I rarely to never have problems with eg Target or Walmart are pretty good.

I do put the items on sale at the front and have jotted down the prices (I may soon go to a sticky note system of putting them on the actual product) and have those at the front of conveyor belt and ask clerk to make sure they are ringing up at such and such price.

But to watch each ring up for each item is tough, you have to make sure you get it all unloaded quickly and stand there and then to watch the tiny ring up numbers hoping you remember the price which is not even on the product!

Worse is if they are chattable and you are just trying to watch the ring ups and not appear rude by not chatting. I just stare intently at the price ringer and answer ya or no if they ask anything.

disneysteve · #19 (**permalink**) 10-16-2006, 01:49 PM

This is one reason why I love Wegman's. They have self-serve scales throughout the produce department. You select your items and place the bag on the scale, punch in the item number and print a bar code sticker for the item. Then the cashier just scans it like any other item. If there is an error, it is because you did it wrong. It doesn't matter if the cashier knows the difference between crimini, ****ake or oyster mushrooms, as long as you know which you are buying.

tinapbeana · #20 (**permalink**) 10-16-2006, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by disneysteve

This is one reason why I love Wegman's. They have self-serve scales throughout the produce department. You select your items and place the bag on the scale, punch in the item number and print a bar code sticker for the item. Then the cashier just scans it like any other item. If there is an error, it is because you did it wrong. It doesn't matter if the cashier knows the difference between crimini, ****ake or oyster mushrooms, as long as you know which you are buying.

bloom in the SE does the same thing, steve. makes it easier to keep track of what you're spending, too.