Caveat Emptor

Or in plain terms "let the buyer beware". I had the t.v. going a couple mornings ago while I was getting ready to go to work and a report came on about "scanner switches" in retail. It said that many stores, in an attempt to get people to buy more, are leaving up old sale signs (after the sale has expired or finished) and people are falling for it. They see that an item is on sale for a great price, but don't look at the fine print. By the time they get up to the register and have everything scanned, the original price is what rang up. Many people don't catch that, or the retailers are beginning to have another sneaky way of not letting you see the prices. Usually, the register monitor is turned--or they have another one turned toward you--so you can see the scanned price; now, many retailers don't have that and you don't know what the price is until the final tally or until you see your receipt. When you point out the error, many retailers are willing to refund the price, but others don't, (or won't) because it is "up to the consumer to know the price of the object they are buying".

I decided to try this out myself. Now, I won't pay full price for something when I know that I can find it at a better price someplace else, or I know that it will be going on sale soon, so with all the sales that have been happening, I've been finding some pretty good deals. I was in a store in the mall (which tend to hike up prices unless you know what to look for) and I saw something that caught my eye, a bogo sale (buy 1 get 1 free). I love sales like this because if you do it correctly, you can save a bunch of money. So I started looking through items and as with all bogo sales, you pay for the most expensive items and get the least expensive free, so it is always a good idea to get an equal amount of items and try to make sure they are all around the same price (you'll get a better deal that way). I found a few tops and a skirt that I wanted and went up to the register. I asked if the bogo sale was still current and he said yes, so I told him I found everything on those racks. The guy started ringing everything up and this is one of the stores that the monitor is turned away from you, but I could the computer screen that they had under the desk and I noticed that a few of the items were ringing up their normal price, so I asked him again. He looked at me and then realized that I could see the monitor and said that yes, they were all on sale, but he couldn't fix anything until he had scanned all my items. He finished and I thought he would do as he said, but he just pressed the final price button and told me my total. I thought that was a bit high, because I had written down and figured out about what my total should have been. I told him this and he looked down and then fixed everything. He didn't look happy that I had caught him. The lady behind me was getting impatient, but I wanted to see this through. When he was finalizing everything for me, I took a peek at what the lady behind me had and I saw that she had the same couple tops I had bought that had scanned in wrong. I didn't say anything, got my bag and stepped to the side so I could wait for my friend. She didn't notice that her final price was wrong and just paid it. They guy behind the counter just kept smiling and said that she had gotten a wonderful deal.

A couple stores later, I saw the same lady and I decided to ask her if she had noticed that her final price back in _____ was higher than she expected. She said no, that she had gotten the same deal I had. I told her I wasn't trying to discredit her, but I asked if I could see her receipt and compare it to mine. She was a little hesitant, but did it and I showed her that while she did get the bogo deal, she didn't get the marked down price that was on the tag . . . she paid full price. She didn't believe me and I pointed it out to her again. She then said "eh, whats a few more dollars anyway" and walked away.

Now, normally I don't do things like this, but in this economy, you really need to be on the lookout for phony sales and sale gimmicks. Some stores will hike up the price of the item, only to put it at 40% off which normally brings it right back down to the retail price. They aren't losing any money, you're actually just being duped into paying normal price. Also, you need to at least glance at the fine print on sale flyers and coupons. Many are now restricting what can be purchased with that coupon or at what times the sale will actually end.

Another problem that has been popping up lately is many products are shrinking in size, but the price is staying the same.  Before, you could buy half a gallon of ice cream for a couple of bucks, now it is just 1.5 quarts for a little bit more than the half gallon.  Bags of chips are getting smaller, loafs of bread, and even candy bars (like cadbury) are shrinking.

Don't be duped! Be on the lookout.

Caveat Emptor! Caveat Emptor!