Studies: Wrong Prices Charged at Wal-Mart (All Other Stores; 100% Perfect!)

Wisconsin State Journal via AP Wire ^ | November 21, 2005 | Marcus Kabel

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

I will now try to buy more goods at Wal-Mart, one of my favorite places to shop regardless.

More wailings from the radical wackos.

Shop more at Wal-mart!

Buy less at Toyota, who caved-in to the Jesse Jackass shakedown.

[glory2]

Sorry... but I have to agree with them. I shop there frequently and I have to watch them ring up constantly. Just yesterday they were wrong on an item price. Of course you have been standing in line forever, and they know you don't want to cause a fuss by doing a price check and having all of the people behind you hum and haw so many times you let it go through. The clerk will look at you as if to say, "Is this hill you are want to die on?", as you look at the crowd behind you, you just give up. But believe me, you have to watch them, because it is a regular occurrence at Walmart. When it happens at Target, they are very courteous and quickly resolve the error. At times they just ask 'what is the price?' and ring it in, giving you a sense they trust and believe you. I appreciate that. At Walmart, the clerk will stand bank with a look of, 'sorry people, SHE is making you wait." I have been on both sides of that line. My family discuss it each time it happens because it is so common and so frustrating.

[Shanda]

I am often overcharged at Wal-Mart. I usually don't notice until I get home and look at the receipt.

Once I checked it and noticed they didn't charge me for a scanner for prints and film. It was on clearance and I noticed the guy had trouble with the price being scanned.

I think he actually just gave up and put it in the cart. I didn't bring it back because I think it basically evened things out.

[Steve_Seattle]

At Fred Meyer, you really have to watch if you buy one or two cans of beer or pop from a sixpack; the scanner reads the price for the entire sixpack and the checkers almost always forget to adjust the price. They would have charged me about $11.60 for two 16 oz beers. And I dread it when there's someone in line in front of me with a bunch of coupons; there are a ton of problems/aguments with coupons.

[babygene]

First let me say that I have knowledge of how these point of sale systems work... My company writes the software for some of them.

The "price" is not encoded on that little bar code sticker that is scanned. That bar code only has the UPC or product code for the article on it. The price that is charged comes out of a database.

The person running the check out, Mexican or whatever would have no idea what the price was suppose to be unless they just noticed from earlier sales.

Databases is the store (chain stores)is maintained and updated by these "Mexicans" as you call them. They would also probably be updated by "union" people either. In most cases the data is updated by "corporate", and the changes replicated to the stores.

Most discrepancies occur when the price gets updated and the local folks don't update the price on the shelf. This could cause an error in either direction, however it's more often in favor of the consumer since prices tend to go down over time and not up.

That's not to say that there is not fraud sometimes in the transaction, but it's unlikely to be at the local store. If the locals were to mark the price lower on the shelf, it would always come up wrong at the check out. If they marked it up on the shelf, they would just loose business and the customer would pay the lower amount anyway.

Errors in the store are almost always laziness or accident on the part of the people who stock the shelves and mark the prices on the shelves.

The fraud part almost always is at corporate.

[sandbar]

We have a guideline of the amount of profit a store can make? Man, this country is sinking sloowwwwllly into the quicksand of communism. I used to laugh at my dad when he'd burst out while watching the evening news "This country is going to communism!". I don't laugh now. Of course my kids probably do...

[kitkat]

***You just complain if the price is too high, and say nothing if it is too low.***

Our Walmart just became a super Walmart with a large food section. They moved the checkouts so that each one is very close behind another. This means that the people ahead of you canNOT get out of the way in time for you to move up to where you can see what you are being charged. In addition, the screen which shows the prices being charged is placed as far away from you as possible and it is facing dead front, not angled to the customer.

[babygene]

"At Fred Meyer, you really have to watch if you buy one or two cans of beer or pop from a sixpack; the scanner reads the price for the entire sixpack and the checkers almost always forget to adjust the price. They would have charged me about $11.60 for two 16 oz beers."

That's odd. The UPC on the Six Pack and the UPC on the can would be different. It shouldn't bring up the Six Pack price when you scanned the can. It's got to be a data entry problem with the database. The checker shouldn't have to compute the price unless the can UPC wasn't in inventory for some reason.

[kitkat]

***If you don't check your receipt at any store or restaurant, then you could be missing something. In Michigan, if you are charged the wrong price, you get the difference back plus $5.00.***

In my county, it's double the price for an overcharge, up to $10, plus the refund of what you paid. I feel it is my social duty to catch them at it, and to be rewarded. LOL!

[Doohickey]

Gosh, another agendized study published a "news". Against Wal-Mart no less. Go figure.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

I have gotten stuff free in stores that offer this when you catch them with incorrect scanner pricing. One time at a store in California I got a free bottle of Kahluha.

[proxy_user]

So I guess that caught on to that little trick.....

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Walgreens makes a fortune by taking advantage of people at the check-out line."

I love Walgreen's and shop there often. We finally got one in Cow Town and we're all anxiously awaiting it's Grand Opening.

I also watch 'em like a hawk at the register, just because I'm one of those PITA customers, LOL! I easily save $20 a week shopping their specials for basic H&B items and a few food items, none of which are made in China. I only buy American at Wal-Mart, too. It can be done. Just read the labels. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"At Fred Meyer, you really have to watch if you buy one or two cans of beer or pop from a sixpack; the scanner reads the price for the entire sixpack and the checkers almost always forget to adjust the price. They would have charged me about $11.60 for two 16 oz beers."

Come on over! I've got beer in the fridge and I'll only overcharge you $10 for two 16 oz beers, LOL! :)

[JoeGar]

More union clap-trap. Move on.

[Common Tator]

The researchers said the average cost of overcharges was more than that of undercharges

That is way to fool you again.

There could be 90 undercharges and only 10 overcharges and their statement could still be true. As in the following example.

Say the 10 overcharges were 2 dollars each.. For an average over charge of 2 dollars and a total over charge of 20 bucks.

Say each under charge was 1 dollar for an average undercharge of 1 dollar. The undercharges would total 90 Dollars.

The undercharges in my example totaled 90 dollars while the Overcharges totaled 20 Dollars yet the average overcharge was twice as great as the average undercharge.

Printing "The researchers said the average cost of overcharges was more than that of undercharges." is just a way to not tell the whole truth.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Not to beat a dead horse, but at Walgreens today I got a free bottle of dish soap, a free roll of paper towels and a free bag of red & green Christmas M&Ms.

Life is good. :)

[i_dont_chat]

You go, girl!