warrrreagl

Yet another chapter occurred today in mine and Grancey's constant ongoing battles with checkouts at department stores. Today, it was Target. Here is the scam as we see it:

Most of the items you select scan out correctly at the checkout. However, one or two items scan out just a wee bit higher than they should. Now first of all, the screen where you watch the prices is either non-existant or is always magically turned to an angle where you can't read it so you can't effectively follow your checkout. Therefore, as a customer, you must stop before you leave the store and scrutinize your receipt for mistakes. Our firm belief is that Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, etc., use this checkout scam as company policy in an attempt to bilk unsuspecting customers out of billions.

First of all, the corporate offices are depending on the notion that most customers either a) won't notice the mistake, or b) won't think it's worth it to go back and straighten it out. Therefore, if you just let it go then they made a few pennies off of you or at most a few dollars. And that adds up to a shitload of money spread out over thousands of customers a day at each store location. However, if you buck the trend and try to fix the mistake, you must go to Customer Service where the lines are as dreadful as the DMV. The lines are always ridiculously long and slow, and the idea is to make you think, "Ah, not worth it," and walk back out the door.

Secondly, the cashiers are not in on the scam. Even if you happen to catch the incorrect price during the checkout, the cashiers don't have any authority/jurisdiction to correct the mistake from their station. You are required to resolve the mistake at Customer Service (see above). They are playing the odds that you won't and you'll just let it go.

Thirdly, although the Customer Service employees are not in on the scam, they are certainly aware of it, because they hardly ever give you any shit about your claims and they usually take your word for it. It is very rare that they actually send an employee out into the aisles to check the price dispute, and therefore they must have been trained this way. And the only reason a company trains an employee to give refunds so easily is if they know the scam is real.

Here's what happened to us today at Target. We bought several items (probably 20 or so) and our total was $120. Now we are the kind of shoppers who thoroughly check prices before we select an item, so we were aware of the prices of every single item we selected (something the corporate offices are hoping doesn't happen). When we got to the checkout, we had to unload our basket and the checkout girl was halfway through scanning everything before one of us could step around to try and read the screen. Our specific Target is designed similarly to every Target we've been into, and they don't provide ANY space at the front for you to check your receipt. You're kind of whooshed out the door after checkout, and I firmly believe the store is designed that way on purpose.

So, once we got to the car, Grancey noticed that we had picked up four identical items and two had scanned at one price (correctly) and two had scanned at a higher price. I then noticed that a CD I'd picked up scanned at the full price instead of the sale price that was advertised at the CD rack. So, I went back inside to Customer Service. The girl asked what the problem was and these were my exact words. "This CD was supposed to scan at $9.99 and all four of these should have scanned at $8.48 but two of them didn't." Without saying another word, she scanned my receipt, scanned the five items in question, tapped some keys on her register, and then announced, "$11.26 will go back on your credit card, haveniceday." She never checked anything. Therefore, it MUST be a scam. That was an overcharge of almost exactly 10% by the way.

Now here's what makes it even weirder. Whenever we get a chance to use the self-checkout aisles we ALWAYS do that, because we've NEVER EVER had the incorrect scan problem pop up at a self-checkout. How is that fucking possible? Is it possible that the SCANNERS know when to scan incorrectly? I think yes, they do! I think the cashier's stations are set so that a predetermined number of items scan incorrectly on purpose, and the self-checkout stations are set so that they don't. It's the only possible answer.

So, do you go back inside to argue for your refund, do you let it slide, or do you not even notice this happening? Our philosophy is this: Maybe people will think you're cheap for making such a big fuss over a few cents or a couple of dollars. But isn't the store exactly as cheap as you for trying to steal those few cents or dollars?

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jorgelito

Class action suit. The supermarket chain was guilty of this a few years back and had to settle a class action law suit.

ngdawg

Methinks you either have consumer paranoia or are onto something...
Even if something is 'identical' the UPC may not be. Might be two older versions, two newer ones, etc. Also, while we catch people switching the stickers, sometimes we don't and it's possible someone switched the stickers and changed their minds about ripping off the store or got caught at it. Next, you pick up the item and it's a wrong price.
Always look at the UPCs when buying more than one of the same thing to make sure they match. Just because they look alike don't think they'll automatically ring up alike.
As for things on sale: These stores are national, their cash registers are hooked up to an online system somewhere in Geekland, where some devoted nerds do nothing but key in the sale prices to the great retail web. Signs are sent out to the stores and some half-awake part-timers stick them into their holders, using little hand scanners or maybe checksheets.It's an imperfect system at best. Way too many times, they scan the one item that sits on its proper shelf, stick the sign in its frame and the other 300 things surrounding it have nothing to do with the sale. Your cd might not have been included in the sale. Always read the itty bitty print on the signs-the majority of shoppers do not and we have daily 'arguments' with them insisting something they have is X amount when it's something not included in the sale(discontinued items or different size, original price or manufacturer.)
We have installed monitors at the checkouts for customers to read their purchases without having to look over the cashier's shoulder. Now, these monitors are pretty damned big, but we still have to point them out, ala "Ma'am, you can see your purchases on that", pointing to the 17 inch screen against their arm.
The managers aren't 'in on' anything either. Try being an employee and explaining a glitch....this glazed look comes over their eyes and after a few thoughtful moments, utter a very professional "Huh??"

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warrrreagl

The CD was Queen: Greatest Hits. The sticker price on the item said $13.49. The cardboard sign stuck in the slot for the Queen CD's read Queen: Greatest Hits on sale for $9.99. It was the only Queen CD they had for sale and there were three of them in the slot.

ngdawg I'm sorry I haven't paid more attention before, but I didn't know you worked at a department store. Which one (something everybody at TFP knows but me)? Does your store have self-checkout? Why don't we have the incorrect scanning EVER occur at self-checkout?

Also, I empathize with you dealing with idiotic customers because I grew up working in my parents' clothing store, so I know how that goes. However, Grancey and I are not space cadets when we shop and we are diligent in following prices and correct items to match the signs, etc. No matter how much we've complained, I can't remember a single time where we had to admit the store was right and that we'd stupidly misread the sign. And Grancey reminded me this happens in grocery stores, shoe stores, crafts stores, etc.

Also, we've always heard that if the item is advertised at a certain price, then the store must sell it to you at that price. And this includes 300 items with the wrong sign in front of it. Is that not correct? If it's not, then stacking 300 "wrong" items behind an incorrect sale sign sounds like a separate scam in itself to me.

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xepherys

I can say that I've had self-checkouts ring the wrong price, mostly at Wally Word (aka Wal-Mart), but also at Safeway (grocery chain) and Kroger (grocery chain).

Everything ngdawg said I can back up from a retail experience POV. There are some chains that are, in fact, evil and trying to stick it to the customer (I can say with 100% certainty from experience that CompUSA is one such chain), but there are also just errors in the way things work. The similar/identical items with different UPCs happen a lot. Some companies will switch a UPC for an identical product made in a plant or by a vendor in another country. It can be a royal PITA for retail employees trying to take care of such things.

As for target not checking on the prices, they ARE trained not to if the difference is less than a certain amount. If you took a DVD player up there and said it should ring at $9.99, they'll check. It's a feature of both convenience and cost-savings for them (not sending employees around checking, not sitting there arguing with a customer in front of other customers, et cetera). It's like that in a lot of "up scale" retailers, Target being one of them (arguably up scale, but more so than Wal-mart or K-mart for sure).

However, I've never seen a retailer where a price correction could not be made at the checkout, though some may require a supervisor to key the register. That seems strange to me.

Also, in Michigan, there is also a scanner law where if the register scans something above it's listed price and the clerk doesn't catch it, you take the receipt to customer service and get a refund for the difference plus 10% up to $1.00 per item. Mistakes are STILL made, and it sucks for the retailers.

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Jetée

Damn, this happened to me just recently over Easter; I was too lazy to go back and dispute it, though, so I just let the few dollars wasted slide.

But I, also have been under the same paranoid notion as you have about this little scam perpetrated by the store chains.

I'm gonna go google this now.





EDIT: found article over claims that Wal-mart is perpetrating this same swindle in many of its chains, specifically mentioned in the article many in Arizona...

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/press/20060707.html

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Martian

This is faulty logic. There's multiple possibilities as to why she didn't feel the need to double-check the prices. If she had a terminal in front of her, she may have been able to check what the correct prices were from there. She may have already had complaints and have been aware of the database error. Or she may have just been lazy.

Don't get me wrong, you do raise a compelling argument. While some of your experiences may merit further investigation, nothing you've written proves that it MUST be anything.

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warrrreagl

I thought of another one that happened to Grancey last Fall. We went to our local Old Navy and she found a pair of jeans that she liked on a sale rack (there was a huge Old Navy sale sign atop the rack). There was only one type of jeans on the rack and she grabbed a pair in her size. When we checked out, the jeans rang up the full price and not the sale price. Grancey pointed this out and they changed the price to what she said it should be without checking.

The next day we were shopping over the state line in the next state and found ourselves in another Old Navy. Grancey found the exact same style of jeans in the exact same display for the exact same sale price. She grabbed another pair because she really liked the ones she had just gotten. When we checked out, the jeans in question rang up at the exact same incorrect price as they had the day before in a different state. When Grancey pointed it out, once again, they didn't even check on it , but gave her the benefit of the doubt. Weird.

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MexicanOnABike

I saw this happen a few times. It really sucks. happened to me once. i saw the tag, calculated the tax in my head and even added an extra 5c in case i was off but it was almost a dollar extra so i thought it was the tag that was wrong. few weeks later, same tag. fucking store wont get more of my money!

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jorgelito

Vons. It was Vons, the supermarket chain that was involved in a "pricing error" lawsuit.

Warreagle, does this happen with online shopping too or is it just the brick-n-mortar stores?

warrrreagl

After conferring with Grancey, we have several responses.

Does your question about online shopping have to do with comparing online prices to store prices or simply buying online? We've never had that problem shopping online because the prices are clearly marked from the webpage to the shopping cart to the grand total. However, we do frequently have PLENTY of issues with the shipping and handling charges of online purchases. My main problem is that when the item actually arrives, the shipping they paid for is usually WAY LESS than the shipping they charged us for. They, of course, keep the difference. Once, I ordered something that automatically charged me $5 for shipping and handling, but the box showed that the shipping had actually cost only $1.79. Does that mean the small cardboard box cost $3.21? If so, then why don't stores charge for shopping bags? Where do you go to complain about that?

As for the suggestion that UPC labels may not match exactly - here's what we discovered. Without giving too much away, two of the matching four items were blue and the other two of the matching four items were striped. The blue ones had a UPC number that ended in 803 and the striped ones had a UPC number that ended in 804. These items were mixed together and stacked behind a sign that advertised $8.48 for each item. Does that mean we should assume that sale prices only apply to certain colored items? Of course if we'd checked the UPC ahead of time we'd have noticed different numbers so should we have expected different prices for different colors according to the UPC numbers?

As for the idea that we should have read the fine print on the sale sign, why isn't the fine print as big as the sale price? That sounds deceptive to start with. If the fine print were bigger it would prevent a lot of arguments I'll bet. And where do the sale signs come from? Aren't they pre-printed by the company?

As for the suggestion that the Target Customer Service girl looked up the CD's correct price on her terminal, doesn't that actually support my position that it's a scam? How can the terminals show one price and the scanners show another if they're both scanning the same UPC?

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Baraka_Guru

All I have to say is this: Managing information systems in retail is probably one of the most complex yet undermanned things I've ever dealt with.

In retail, margins are notoriously thin. For this reason, not a lot of money can be spent managing the burgeoning information systems, especially if they are corporate and nationwide. There are many errors. The reason the clerks didn't check the errors is likely because they already knew about them. If an error is found, it doesn't mean it will be corrected. Corrections take time. A lot of time, and when you are constantly adding and adjusting things to your system, you just go with the flow. This is not to say corrections aren't made, it's that they are often missed because there could be so many of them.

Human error plays a large part in these systems. I've worked in a large corporate bookstore chain that would often key in improper prices, and they would do other things such as categorize a novel as a finance title, or a biography as new age. It doesn't mean they're being malicious, it could be that they are either dumb or overworked. Although there could very well be something amiss, on purpose, I don't think this is the case for most retail operations because things are right out in the open: there is a list price and there is a charged price.

Many of these systems have two separate modes: the sales mode and the inventory mode. This is where many errors can creep in. This is especially the case with sale price vs. regular price. Sales prices are constantly changing. And, in some cases, so are regular prices.

And shipping and handling covers the cost of paying employees to fulfill your order, not to mention other costs that might be incurred.

Employee cost is often the single most greatest cost in retail operations. It is usually in the top three, at least.

I might be able to address each and every one of your discrepancies, but that might take a lot of time. Could you summarize typical problems?

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Cynthetiq

If I recall correctly in California there is a law if something is scanned and it is incorrectly priced not as on the shelf, then it is free, though that was in the 80's that law may have changed. I believe that it only applies to grocery stores.

Here is a link to an FTC study in 1996 about the accuracy of checkout scanning.

Off the Shelf
Red Tape Chronicles from WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO PRICE TAGS?
Having scanners at various locations isn't good enough.

I too read my receipts and watch the panel. When I open the bills, I double check them for accuracy as well. Just because it is electronic does not instantly mean there are no mistakes.

I know that our local grocery store is notorious for putting up a sign that says Coke $.99 on Sunday, and the following Saturday it is being scanned at $1.39 or higher.

The FTC and Consumer Protection groups are not protecting consumers well enough in the scanner marketplace.

Because of this unclear marked items, I hate shopping and will generally only purchase items that are clearly marked and carry a clear sticker for that price.

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Mister Coaster

I'm willing to think that almost all of the overvcharges can be chalked up to human error. Like others have pointed out, keeping up with the sales and regular price changes is difficult, time consuming and tedious. Errors are made, and sadly, customers end up on the short end of the stick.

I'd bet that the striped items simply did not get entered into the batch of on sale items, a mistake of omission. The Queen CD may have been put back to regular price and the clerk forgot to take down the sale sign. Since I'm a guy that prints in-store signage for a grocery store, I know how frustrating this can be. A good thing to do for Sale items is look on the sign for an ending date on the sign. Not everyone does this, however.

Also, what if they undercharge you for an item? Do you get pissed off and rant at customer service, demanding that you pay the higher price? I didn't think so.

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Push-Pull

That's simply retail for you. Not enough time, nor enough bodies to fix every little thing. I don't doubt that you'll find a couple of crooked deals here and there, but as a whole, I believe that it's simply the human variable cropping up.

As an example, at my store, we have 2 different bays with the same product side by side. But one bay is labeled $2.92, and the other is labeled $2.50. I've personally known about it for a couple days, and I've let the manager know about it, buy yet 3 days later, it's still there. Every time I've tried to fix it, I was sidetracked. Not enough time, not enough bodies. Nothing more.

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warrrreagl

Wow, this is a great response, folks. I am definitely enjoying the exchange of knowledge here, and I'm learning a lot.

Shipping & Handling - As a free-market consumer, I expect and accept that businesses mark up their items for more than they paid for them, and that they use the profit to pay employees, restock items, etc., etc. I understand THAT is where employee salary comes from - profit margin gained from item markup. However, if Amazon is charging $2 less for a book than BAM and then turns around and charges $2 more for shipping and handling in order to make up the difference, then that is a deceptive, corporate scam and is definitely checkout fraud. And its exactly what I'm complaining about.

I have also tried to make it clear that I don't believe individual stores and individual managers and employees are responsible for perpetrating these frauds on their own. Many of you have pointed out that their systems are too bogged down, too centralized, too outdated, too updated, and/or too understaffed to handle the mistakes. But, once again, that bolsters my assertion that this is a fraud at the corporate level - not at the local level. Corporate offices seem to be well-aware of these anomalies and they won't take steps to fix them unless a) they get caught, or b) they lose profits. And passive compliance = fraud.

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Grancey

I bought tomatoes at our local farmer's market a couple of weeks ago. While I was shopping for peaches I noticed that the "tomato lady" had given me too much change. I went back to the tomato stand and told her she gave me too much, and I gave it back. She didn't care, but it mattered to me. This has also happened at our local supermarket, and I straightened out the error with the manager. I don't remember being clearly undercharged for an item. If I notice a lower amount and I question it, I am told that the item is on sale or it is a special unadvertised deal for multiple purchases of the same item.

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Baraka_Guru

This isn't a scam nor would it be considered fraudulent behaviour. As far as I know, Amazon lets you know how much shipping costs before you agree to pay. It would only be a scam if you didn't know what you were getting into. A company is able to set their prices as they see fit so long as they aren't breaking any laws. I don't see a lower price tag/higher order-processing variance as something deceptive. It is up to the consumer to shop around if they feel they are paying too much for something. To call it fraud is a bit far-fetched because it would mean this is illegal. As far as I know, Amazon's practices are well-known in terms of their pricing and shipping details. Wouldn't it be easy for someone to point out anything illegal? You might want to cross-reference this practice with laws in the U.S., but it sounds okay to me. It's how they do business. You see variances like this in other retail places. Consider the variances between service fees. Do cell phone companies all have similar hook-up fees, system access fees, cell phone price tags, and other service fees?

I doubt there is a culture of complete passive compliance. A company would rather have everything accurate, especially since it is so easy to spot these errors. The headoffices have the same problems as they do at store level: labour is expensive. The systems are typically managed at headoffice, yet the stores are all different in terms of stocking levels, sales, promotions, etc. These systems are ridiculously complex, I'm telling you. Didn't I read somewhere that the systems for Wal-mart are more complex than those of the Pentagon? The difference being that Wal-mart's errors won't destroy lives.

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Mister Coaster

Grancy: There's a big difference between Target or WalMart undercharging for an item and the Tomato Lady giving you too much change.

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warrrreagl

Speaking of phone companies, I just googled well over a million hits concerning class action suits against phone companies that collect all these extra "fees" and "taxes" and simply keep them as sheer profit. It's not ethical and it's not legal. Similarly, I have no concern over Amazon making a profit with item mark-ups, but I have a huge concern over Amazon making a profit off of fake shipping and handling charges. But the legality of all this is not my issue.

I'm seeing that we're having a huge translation problem over what's legal and what's right. I really don't care if they can legally get away with it or not - that's not my issue. Corporate defrauding of me as a consumer doesn't have to be illegal to raise my hackles. I'm trying to stay focused on what's wrong to consumers rather than what's legal in a courtroom.

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Grancey

I was giving you an example of my reaction to a specific situation. But I'll be more direct. I don't believe in cheating people. I don't believe in overcharging, and I don't accept undercharging. It's all wrong. If I'm overcharged or undercharged anywhere, I will say something to correct the situation.

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Baraka_Guru

Interesting. This phone-company fiasco is another issue altogether because they are adding "extras" on services or taxes that simply don't exist. To charge more for "handling" isn't illegal, nor is it unethical if consumers know beforehand what they are paying. It is especially the case if it really does cost you more to run your business in this area. Amazon is a huge company. Maybe you should take them to task and ask them why their handling costs so much.

Again, I will stress that you aren't being defrauded if the pricing is out in the open. You don't have to pay Amazon's shipping & handling cost if you don't want to. Shop somewhere else.

There is a rule in retail... in business in general... about pricing: How high can you price your goods/services? As high as the consumer is willing to pay. High-priced services aren't unethical, nor are they illegal. If Amazon wants to make a high margin on their shipping & handling (being a web-based company that does nothing but ship things), then it is their prerogative. I'd say it's a smart move considering how they're set up. Maybe they feel they deserve charging more, considering the challenges of warehousing and handling the incredible breadth of products available through their service. Isn't it a bit unprecedented? If consumers are willing to pay the shipping & handling, then there is no problem.

Are hairdressers also committing fraud? Why do they charge women so much more for service as compared to what they charge men?

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warrrreagl

Baraka, you raise some very intriguing points, but I'm not going to respond to any of them. This thread was intended to be an opportunity to vent about consumer checkout issues, but apparently the way I've responded to specific items has turned the thread into a TFP vs Warrrreagl and Grancey. I'm not looking to "win" - only to raise some consumer concerns. If I'm way off base, then so be it. I assumed there were other TFPers who felt similarly to the way we did about consumer issues based on previous threads and posts, but due to the lack of diversity, I must have been mistaken.

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xepherys

warrrreagl, I'm not against you, I just like to debate. Also, I think some of your logic is mildly flawed.

As for the shipping and handling fee, how is it fraudulent? Merriam-Webster defines fraud as:
Since the price is right there before your eyes when you click "Buy Now" in your shopping cart, there is no trickery afoot. If I sell a pack of gum online, then charge $50 for S&H, it is not deceitful, it's right there in plain sight. If you choose to pay $50.75 for my gum, that is on you as the consumer.

The UPCs with one sale price one not? Human error, almost definitely. Doubly so if it was a regional sale (or a store-specific one) and not a national sale. National sale prices are changed at an HQ location and pushed to all stores. They are GENERALLY more careful at this level. Regional and local sales are usually a printed list that a merchandising manager has to manually input changes from. It can be very taxing.

In the end, though, I doubt much of a conspiracy going on. Stuff like this happens all the time. Humans make mistakes. *shrug*

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Baraka_Guru

Oh, certainly. I'm sorry if I was party to diverting the attention of your intent. I just didn't want it to get out of hand and having it become a big conspiracy theory. If you want to discuss the need for consumer advocacy at the checkout, then I'm all for it. But let's not assume that companies are doing this intentionally because I seriously think it isn't the case. If you want my opinion on the matter of checkout discrepancies, I think more needs to be done to force companies to prevent these errors from occurring in the first place. I'm sure there are many examples of other industries where there are legislated regulations that ensure accuracy of one thing or another to prevent problems for users or consumers. Would you propose something like this in retail? Why should it be any different when it comes to people's hard-earned money?

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The_Jazz

Warrrreagl and Grancy - I can understand your frustration. But, as it was eloquently pointed out in another thread recently, corelation does not necessarily equal causation. I think I understand why you think there may be an over-arching conspiracy to defraud consumers, and I think that you make an interesting argument for it. That said, I don't think that your experiences provide enough data points to come to your conclusion. Now please note I am NOT saying you're wrong, just that you don't have the evidence to prove yourself right.

Given the scale of the conspiracy that you see, I think it would be fairly easy to prove - or disprove. You would only need to gather a sizeable group of shoppers to track a target set of chains and ask them to note price discrepancies over a set amount of time. Using informed shoppers tracking hard results, you could figure it out fairly quickly.

That said, I am disinclined to believe in this kind of thing. Personally I think its more likely to be poor employees, poor management or poor data entry skills responsible - or some combination thereof. I think that the large data set would reveal that some stores are better than others and that results would vary based on personnel assignments.

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jorgelito

Whoa whoa whoa. No one is against you guys, I thought this thread was going very well. We are all learning some interesting things and I am glad you started it.

I asked about online because I am also frustrated with checkout experiences and I tend to be almost a full time online shopper because of it. I do enjoy the interaction with my community by patronizing the local stores but I am also suspicious of the checkout shenanigans like you mentioned. Then I wondered, holy crap, would it be possible for them to apply the "scam" to online shopping. Which would leave a poor sad jorgelito with no shopping safe haven.

Regarding shipping and handling, as long as the prices are disclosed, I don't worry too much because I know I can go elsewhere. When I comparison shopping, I always take into account the shipping and tax charges too. And if a site tries to be sheisty, I immediately go somewhere else. No way I am going to reward a merchant for trying to be sneaky.

The phone thing is a great example. Maybe we should open up another thread. What is up with all those charges?

Anyways, I think as we discover and share more experiences, and do some more research, we can find out if this is indeed a corporate policy or if it's just coincidence/human error. I seem to remember that Vons supermarket did something similar to your Target example and as a result, was embroiled in a class-action suit. Luckily, the consumer's won.

Your logic is sound and reasonable, which is why when these things happen it can be shocking. However, in the Von's case, it was deliberate. Very similar to the Target circumstances. I think there is a good possibility that warrrreagle may be right in his theory.

cyrnel

It has been done before. I see little reason it can't happen again. I recall one larger grocery chain being nailed late 70's for placing items near the checkout that would be rung onto every shopper's charges. I think brooms were the most common. Unfortunately for them, once multiple stores were investigated and people began talking the conspiracy of minor roles fell apart.

If you were designing a system to systematically gather an extra small percentage, wouldn't increased error be a great place to hide it?

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Cynthetiq

Holy shit. I might channel host if there is a thread like that. It used to be a personal crusade for me for those "fees" and "taxes."

Again, warrr, I don't think that it is a corporate wide thing. I do think that it is individual managers and stores, as exampled by my soda experiences.

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ngdawg

As an example: If X sheets are on sale for 60% off and share a unit with YZ, which are not on sale, but you pick up YZ in the belief it is, the store is not obligated to give it to you at that price. It's up to the consumer to know what is being said on the signs.
I have sympathized with customers as to the ambiguousness of signage. And, while I would never suggest you and Grancey are space cadets, way more are and just see one thing, grab another, then raise holy hell over their wrongful assumption. We don't normally bow to that. I've had customers follow me back, insisting we're incorrect, then when I point out exactly what is on sale, they storm off in embarrassment.
We don't have self-checkout. Our registers are 98% accurate. Most times, as in the case of your CD, I'd guess, it's human error-someone forgot to remove the sign after the sale ended.
NJ's Division of Weights and Measures can inspect any store at any time for accuracy, false advertising, etc. They're pretty tough when they're around. A candy manufacturer I worked for had to pay some hefty fines for being off a fraction of an ounce in some bags sold at a Shoprite.
I really don't think it's fraud in the legal sense at corporate levels or any other; I really think it's a matter of corporate getting as much $$$$ in their wallets by not hiring enough competent staff in the background to ensure there is complete accuracy. Perhaps they do hope that most shoppers can't be bothered; loss is part of the retail entity and prices reflect that. I shake my head daily at the utter stupidity of people who think they're so smart as they sit in their offices making assinine decisions....
Then the two were on sale, the other two were not; doesn't matter if the style is identical; one color may have been discontinued, hence the lower price. I've had customers argue that all the time-a discontinued item could be so only due to its color and they want a new color for the sale price-we don't do that.
The fine print wouldn't fit! It's not deceptive, it's 'marketing'. Ever hear car ads on the radio and at the end, some guy speaks 1,000 words a second to get the disclaimer in? Same thing.
Yes, signage is from corporate-another major bone of contention....our store is relatively small compared to others in the chain, and many times we don't carry what's in the circular or we have only a couple. Plus, stock replenishment is based on what's been sold, in addition to new merchandise, so if we have one or two of something, we won't get more til they're sold, thus, no new stock during a sale sometimes. They also use an 'instock' reader that is totally bogus....it could tell corporate we have 6 of something, but if two are damaged, one got stolen, one's a display....we have 2, not 6. There are some stores in our district that use it and I refuse to.

CompUSA tried some shit with me....now they're closed. Karma's a bitch.
Similar items with different UPC's, as I stated, is a matter of what's newer or replacing an item.
When we get newer items with the higher price, we are supposed to backcheck floor stock to make sure all items are priced the same. But we have some of the slowest floor managers on the planet and I've had to sift through stock only to find stuff that should have been either remarked or clearance marked weeks back...I'm doing that currently and finding stuff that was destined for clearance 4 weeks ago....another time, I had to sift through all our rugs, checking UPC's and retagging most at a new, higher price. Not supposed to be MY job....
Supervisors have to sign off or change the price as a way of double-checking that the cashier isn't scamming the company...in the good ol' days, before scanners, it was great to be able to go to a Jack-in-the-Box where a friend's friend worked, and get $20 worth of food for a buck....or charge Mom a dollar for the shirt at Grant's. Scanners plus supervisors helps loss prevention.

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Doctor_Max

Target allows it's cashier's to change things immediatly without needing a supervisor present, if it's reasonable. You're not gonna get a new release CD for 5$ but that pair of pants marked $9.XX can get changed no problem. That, of course, opens things up to people taking advantage of us so it works both ways.

And if you do notice something wrong on your receipt, you should not have to be sent to Guest Services. Cashiers can fix that as well.

Target sales end Saturday, but changing all these sales in the entire store (I work at a larger sized one) is a very big task. I don't tend to get out until at least an hour and a half after closing (thanks to cleaning up after the hundreds of customers who destroy our store and make a huge mess), and that's on days where we don't have to change sale signs. Chances are they'll be missed. Check the dates. If something has a red sticker on it, you should get that price no problem. But, sales vary by both size and color so be aware. That's not a scam, it's just catering towards what's popular. Why put a medium sized t-shirt on sale when it's already selling pretty well?

Pip

Grocery store cashier from Sweden calling in...

The store I work in has 13000+ different items in stock which is probably not a lot compared to an average US superstore. There are three different databases with the barcodes and prices and stuff. The central database sends out price updates and campaigns to all the store databases in the nation, while the individual store databases keep track of the inventory of the specific store and sends out data to the registers. With 13000 items, even an error of .1% means a bunch of items.

Every Monday morning an update is sent from central with all the campaigns for this week. Theoretically. There is an ad leaflet going out weekly and we also get sales tags and signs to put up in the store. For some reason there are hardly ever any significant errors in the leaflets or the tags, but there are almost always errors in the database update. In my store we used to have one cashier come in early on Monday morning to collect and scan all items on campaign to catch these errors before the store opened, but due to cutbacks we don't do that anymore. Instead, as soon as a customer discovers an error we try to get someone to correct it in our local database.

But it doesn't end there. Sometimes our corrections disappear. Mystery!
I suspect it's because our database is getting force-synched with the central every once in a while to keep the local managers from diverging from the ordained prices.

It annoys us to no end, all these problems. Customers get angry (rightfully so!) and we have to spend hours on giving back money and hunting down people who can change the prices in the database. I daresay the checkout "fraud" is not a conscious effort, because seriously, we can't even keep up with the stuff we're supposed to do. Organising a huge mofo fraud on top of that? Nah. The store workers and computer monkeys are too over-worked and the management is too impractical.

Ratman

In Japan there is a 5% consumption tax on all purchases- food, cars, toothpaste, whatever. Two years ago they passed a law that requires the seller to show the price with the tax included as the "price" of the item. That means I can walk through the store with a calculator (a feature on every cell phone here) and know exactly what my total should be at the checkout. In addition, the clerk says the price out loud (in Japanese, so practice your numbers!) as every item is scanned. If I buy seafood at half price, they first say the normal price as scanned, then the sale price as they hit the discount button. I have checked the receipts for double scanned items, non-discounted-with-the-member-card items, and so on, but never in 5 years found an error. I like this attitude of total transparency at the check out!

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