Posted on 11/22/2005 7:01:35 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Wal-Mart Stores charged the wrong price to shoppers in California and the Midwest at a rate that exceeds those set by federal guidelines, according to two union-commissioned university studies released Monday.
Attorneys general in Illinois and California said the reports raised serious concerns. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, on a conference call held by the studies' backers, said his office would investigate what he called a "culture" of inaccuracy.
The two studies said random purchases at 60 Wal-Mart stores in California found that the wrong price came up 8.3 percent of the time. At 78 stores in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, check-out scanners rang up the wrong price 6.4 percent of the time. In both states, some prices rang up higher and some were lower.
The National Institute for Standards and Technology says that for every 100 items scanned, no more than two should have the wrong price. The NIST's last industrywide study, in 1998, found the rate at 3.35 per 100.
The recent studies were commissioned by the United Food and Commercial Workers, which has been unsuccessful in its attempts to organize Wal- Mart workers for years, and released by a UFCW-backed campaign group, Wake Up Wal-Mart. The research was conducted by the University of Illinois-Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development and the University of California-Berkeley.
The researchers said the average cost of overcharges was more than that of undercharges.
Wal-Mart said its last internal audit found an error rate of 2.4% - less than the 1998 national study by NIST - and slammed the union studies as incomplete and outdated. The company noted that the studies' authors say their results are specific to those states and cannot be generalized for the entire country.
"This desperate attack has more holes than a pasta strainer. This is another paid attack by union critics," Wal- Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark said. Clark had said earlier Monday that it was no surprise the study was released just ahead of the holiday shopping season - a retailers' busiest time of year.
Analysts said the findings were surprising, especially since Wal-Mart has invested heavily for years in leading- edge software and hardware to keep close track of its inventory.
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.
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.
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.
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...
***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.
***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!
Gosh, another agendized study published a "news". Against Wal-Mart no less. Go figure.
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.
So I guess that caught on to that little trick.....
"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. ;)
"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! :)
More union clap-trap. Move on.
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.
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. :)
You go, girl!
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