Please Read (It Might Save You Some Money)

**joyb** · 01-15-2009, 03:24 PM

http://www.walletpop.com/specials/retail-ripoffs

I was once at Goody's and Keds sneakers had a "On Sale" sign in front of them....$29.99. I got to checkout and the price rang up $34.99. I told the clerk about the sale sign. She said, "Show it to me". I did. I got my shoes for $29.99, but I wonder how many times this has happened and I didn't notice.

Store are being hit hard economically and, apparently, some of them are intentionally trying to rip us off. Heck, we are being hit hard, too. I guess we need to be extra vigilant.

**mnmarty03** · 01-15-2009, 06:30 PM

Interesting. Thanks!

**homesteadmamma** · 01-15-2009, 06:55 PM

Always, always watch those prices.

**Backtoreality** · 01-15-2009, 07:46 PM

Did anyone else read the comments on the bottom of the page?!? There are some very rude people in this world and we just heard form some of them. Good article tho.

**gardening momma** · 01-15-2009, 08:07 PM

The nice thing is the retailers who really make an effort to avoid ringing up the wrong price, going so far as to offer your money back when the wrong price is charged.

I was at Kroger the other night, and one of the items I bought was store brand pullup diapers. They had a sale sign ($6.99). They rang up at $7.49. I noticed it at the register when the cashier handed me my receipt. I didn't have many items, so I saw it right away. If I had a lot more, I probably wouldn't have caught it, since I don't normally go over my receipts later (I should).

I went to customer service, thinking they'd just refund me the .50, plus tax, and to my surprise, I received $5 + tax. The CS employee told me it was their "scan right" guarantee, where you get your item free (up to $5 of the value). Yay! I assume the computer probably red flags these items, so someone can check on it and get the right price in the system.

**annertak** · 01-15-2009, 09:06 PM

I just got a $50 rebate on a cell phone. What they fail to tell you when you purchase the phone is that the rebate is in the form of a gift card! I haven't gotten it yet, but when I do I'll have to spend, rather than put money back in my pocket! Grrrrrr......

**treeluva** · 01-16-2009, 05:10 AM

I read the comments and what really got me was the poster who said that tipping 10-20% was outrageous. Being a bartender, I survive off of tips. I honestly believe that if you are going to a place where you are being served, whether it is a bar or a restuarant, and you can not afford a tip, then you should not go to establishments where the employees are tip based. Of course if you get horrible service you should not feel obligated to tip, but most servers rely on their tips so they want to give the best service they can in order to receive a gratutity.

For instance, tonight I had a guy who ran a 100 dollar tab. He received prompt service with a smile for 4 hours. When he was closing out his tab, he left me a 4 dollar tip. Maybe it wasn't 10-20 percent, but he still left a tip. I have had customers that run 300 dollar tabs and have their every beck and call answered and they leave a zero dollar tip. Needless to say, next time they enter the building, they do not receive prompt service.I mean, if I am not doing anything, of course I wait on them. But I am not going to wait on them before someone else who I know tips. We also have customers who tip way beyond the 20% range. These customers will never wait for anything. Even if 20 people are in line before them, they will not wait for 20 other orders to be filled.

The poster also made a comment about how servers are making $15-$20 an hour. While it is true that there are shifts where servers make that or even more, there are also shifts where servers make $6-$7 an hour. You just never know how much you are going to make.
There is no guarentee.

Even before I was in tip based employment, I always made sure I tipped. Maybe it was just the way I was raised, but I was always taught that you take care of the people who are serving you.

I probably sound like I am ranting, but another thing about non-tippers is that just because you don't tip me doesn't mean I don't have to pay taxes on 15% of your total bill. A lot of places calculate your total sales and report 15% of that to the tax man. Which means that if someone doesn't tip me, I STILL have to pay the taxes on income I NEVER received. So, by not tipping, you are essentially taking money OUT of the pocket of your server!

**Darlene** · 01-16-2009, 07:54 AM

Originally Posted by annertak

I just got a $50 rebate on a cell phone. What they fail to tell you when you purchase the phone is that the rebate is in the form of a gift card! I haven't gotten it yet, but when I do I'll have to spend, rather than put money back in my pocket! Grrrrrr......

I got one of those with a Verizon purchase but it had many ways you could use it. It was a Visa "debit" card that could be used anywhere Visa is accepted. I took mine to my bank & they converted it to cash & I could deposit it or use it any where I wanted. Hopefully your card is more user friendly than you think.

As for the op's post, yep, always keep your eyes open. It burns me when I don't see them getting on changing it in the system right away, how many people more people won't catch it like I did before it's corrected? I do appreciate it when a manager acts like they are sorry, say thank you to me for bringing it to their attention and move to fix it so it doesn't happen to others.
Buyer beware for sure.

**joyb** · 01-16-2009, 12:56 PM

Treeluva, my DD worked as a server for 3 1/2 years while going to school and I know what you mean about tips. The owner of the restaurant paid her $2.15 an hour. Without tips, it wouldn't have been worth her time to show up.

What I didn't realize before she worked there is that servers are taxed based on the cost of the meals they serve. If they don't receive a tip, it actually costs them money. I see servers in a new light now and ALWAYS leave a tip. I consider it part of the cost of eating out. If I can't afford a tip, I'll stay home.

**danni** · 01-16-2009, 01:08 PM

I always check my reciept before I leave the store. Here we have a scanning code of practice and if an item rings in at the wrong price you get it free up to $10 if its over $10 you just get a $10 off. I have gotten so many things free that way.

**peanut** · 01-16-2009, 06:00 PM

treeluva: I hear you, but by the same token, I've received some pretty bad service in tip based environments in my life. DH and I just decided we'd stop tipping people who gave us bad service. We had one server make a major price mistake on the bill. He was rude throughout the whole meal too. Not what we had planned when we'd planned to go out for a romantic evening on the town...for close to $100. We didn't tip.

Our experiences have been so lack lustre in restaurants that we've decided to stay home and eat. We'll take turns cooking. The food is better, the service is better, and the atmosphere can be adjusted so it can't be beat! Plus there's no driving in the snow and ice to get there. Now if we go out, we go for tea...something real simple that's self serve.

I found some of the ideas in the article old news, but I've sure noticed the dips in the bottoms of containers lately. Pretty sad. We've been keeping a close eye on the price comparison between organic and non-organic, and the quality of both. We've decided to buy more organic. Non-organic stuff is looking pretty sad on the grocery store shelves in this town.

Jean

**MomToTwoBoys** · 01-16-2009, 06:08 PM

Linens-N-Things tried ripping people off in the stores back when they had sold the company to a liquidator. The liquidator was putting higher-priced stickers on the items, only covering the old ones. Someone found it out, reported it to the news station and the station did a story about it.

Here in Canada, there's a little rule about the sticker price and that it is a guaranteed price. If the item is priced a specific amount in a sales flyer, and it's not coinciding with the price on the sticker where the item is stocked, you get the item for the price in the flyer. You also get the item for the price that it is marked if it rings up higher at the till. They even have a sign at every till that states if the price is marked one way, that's the price that is to be honored.

I always write down the item price and make sure that it scans that way. If it doesn't, I take it to the customer service counter. They're usually better at giving you a partial refund on the item than the person at the till. It's sad because customer service is supposed to be the same across the board.

As far as tipping goes, I tip depending on the service. If it was delivery, I would tip at least 5-10 percent. If it's a delivery truck, I'll tip $20 for the delivery. The only time people that deals with tips get irritated is if you don't tip them at all, complain about the service, etc.

**jmac** · 01-18-2009, 07:30 PM

I worked in the restaurant industry & I always try to tip well, usually around 20% or so. When I receive horrific service which does happen fairly often nowadays, I always leave a tip, sometimes it's been a quarter. It tells the server that you didn't just forget, you weren't impressed with the service. I believe in tipping for service but I also believe in tipping very little for non-service.

**HandyMom** · 01-19-2009, 03:20 AM

I had it out one day with a cashier over a sale price sign she said didn't exist. She made a big deal out of it only to end up embarrassing herself and ticking me off. I seldom shop that store now. I suppose if they don't care about my business then I'll be happy to take my cash elsewhere where I am a least treated with some respect and not like a petty thief.

Nice article, too!

**MoonMommy** · 01-19-2009, 07:32 AM

The othere day, my mom and I were shopping at Kmart for a baby shower gift. My cousin's daughter is having a boy, my SIL a girl. We picked up two of the EXACT same items on sale but one for a boy and one a girl, and the girls was marked $3 higher. When I asked why at the service desk they didn't have a good reason. Not the season, not the year, etc. I told them it was sexist that they would charge more for girl's clothes than boys. They changed it for me, but I had to basically make a small stink about it first. The clothes had the same initial price as well so it wasn't that the girls clothes were pricier to begin with. It is just that they didn't want to mark the girls one's down as much.

I had another problem there at the holidays. They had slipper socks marked buy one get one 1/2 off and they didn't ring at the register. I took it to the service desk. The woman checked, came back and said no, so I took her myself over to the endcap where they were hanging with the sign. She commented that they must be in the wrong spot, but she gave me my money back.

Have had similar signing problems with JCPenney's. It pays to be vigilant. But, I learned that from my mom who always checks her receipts.