mikec

My wife and I were going to hang out at a friend's house on Saturday night. We stopped at Stop & Shop to pick up some snackies before we went over. Now at S&S, I’m all about the Scan Savers….items that the store puts on sale, and you have a little card on your keychain you scan, and you’re registered for the discounts…kinda like a coupon without the coupon. So we see a nice shrimp platter, already cleaned, cooked and ready to go….and on scan saver! 12.99 regular, 9.60 w/the saver discount. So I grab one….

Checkout time….we’re going through self checkout…and the scan saver for the shrimp does not register. Other stuff we bought on saver did register, so I knew it was not me. Now in CT, the state law is if an item scans higher than the advertised price, you get that item for free. That’s to prevent the stores from scamming consumers. I had someone come over, and she voided out the overpriced one and manually keyed in the price on the price tag. I said, hey don’t I get that free now? And she says she doesn’t know, talk to the service desk. Fine.

I told the woman behind the counter the deal…she says because I had it voided out and the right price put in, that I was SOL. I say, that doesn’t matter…it scanned wrong and now the Shrimp are free. She disagreed with me, and we started talking over each other, at increasing tones………at this point, my wife walks away, hehehe, because she wants no part of this confrontation….and God forbid the old weirdo who was scratching lotto tickets stare at us hahahha. Anyway, I say to the woman, what should I have done? Stopped checking out to come over here? And she says yes. I say that’s crazy, what should have happened is that the woman who voided it out should have keyed in 0 for the price. Then this numbnut says, well then that would’ve been like stealing, and then we would’ve had the cops follow you out. I say, no, Stop and Shop was trying to steal 3 dollars from me! Refund my Money!

Then she goes, well I’m going to do it for you this time. I say no, you’re going to do it every time. It’s the law. She says no, it’s just S&S policy. I again say no, it’s CT state law, now refund me my money. She’s all pissed off at this point….wtf, it’s not your money biotch. Heh. So a manager happens to show up, unrelated to this incident. She shows him my receipt and he’s like yeah, fine. See, he knew they were wrong. Hahah.

The best part, is that though I only paid $9.60 for the shrimp, they refunded me the full advertised price, 13 dollars. Hahahhaha. I walked out of there feeling fucking fantastic! The man tried to stick it to me, and he failed miserably! LOL.

Nothing tastes quite as sweet as free shrimp won in Victory!!!!!!! I’m not sure what the laws are state by state, but they do have to have a sign posted by the service desk if it’s in effect. Check it out, and don’t let them get over on you if it overscans. Thanks for reading my story hehehhe.

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Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

santafe5000

Shame on you for taking advantage of the system. You are not supposed to do that. That's the law.
Don't you know the customer's alway's wrong.

WAY TO STICK IT TO E'M

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Fremen

Watch your six, mikec, the Stop & Drop Secret Police have now tagged you as a 'person of interest'.

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shakran

well actually you were frankly a jerk.

Let's break this down.

1) they scanned the shrimp at a higher price.
2) They now have to give it to you for free. They do not have to pay you to take it.
3) You fight for your rights, and finally prevail, they agree to give you the item for free.
4) They screw up and give you too much money.
5) You notice but don't fess up. Why? That's not your money. You just pitched a royal fit (over 9 bucks might I add) because they were trying to take money they didn't have a right to, and then less than 30 seconds later you take money you don't have a right to. That's hypocritical.

TM875

Um, you do realize that it's not 'the man' trying to cheat you, right?

Every single thing that you see on sale is entered into a computer database. That's generally done by some underpaid clerk in the head office, generally on a Friday, and it's a really monotonous, crappy job. Mistakes do happen - he may just have overlooked something on the list, or entered a wrong number.

Being an asshole to the poor Service Desk lady did nothing to change the effect of what happened - a human being made a very human mistake. I'd be willing to be that you bought your shrimp on the first day of the sale (which is usually a Sunday). This means that they never had time to get it fixed at the head office. Now, most likely, the cashier and service desk people had no idea this mistake happened. More importantly, the desk clerk may not have known of CT's law regarding full refunds.

But, again, let me make sure I have this straight... they scanned wrong... they fixed the price... you still bitched? Now, again, honest mistakes happen. You really had no moral entitlement for the $9, because they did what they were supposed to, and fixed the price.

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"I've made only one mistake in my life. But I made it over and over and over. That was saying 'yes' when I meant 'no'. Forgive me."

Psycho Dad

I've seen worse. The Sam's here will give you a dollar if the cashier does not thank you by name after your purchase. I saw a lady Saturday throw the biggest shit-fit over that dollar that you ever saw.

But back to the topic at hand. You were willing to pay nine bucks for this fish bait platter and they were going to do that. That would have been good enough for me.

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splck

Like shakran said, I think it's hypocritical to bitch that they tried to rip you off and then turn around and rip them off.

Hope you didn't choke on the shrimp

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nice line eh?

Livia Regina

If that's the law in CT then you should have gotten the shrimp for free, they should not have had to pay you anything. You were wrong to keep the extra $3.40.

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ratbastid

Here's the kicker. That service desk woman was probably in a vicious mood all the rest of the day. She probably took out her frustration on everyone around her--which put THEM in vicious moods, and set them up to take it out on those around THEM. And so on, and so on, and so on.

It never ceases to amaze me the damage we human behings are willing to do to one another for the privelege of being right about something. Oh, and for a plate of shrimp and 13 bucks.

Carno

So you'd rather get scammed than stand up for yourself and risk the possibility of someone getting mad?

Everything you do is a choice. That woman made a choice to get mad. She could have chosen to remain calm, but she didn't. He didn't point a gun at her and force her to get mad, it was her choice. It's not his problem she can't control herself.

He was right to have gotten the product for free, but not right to have kept the extra $3. Even the manager knew he was right.

jaded

nothing wrong with arguing for the free shrimp if it\'s indeed the law, yet keeping the extra $3.40 and bragging about it is another matter. at least, don\'t call that fighting for your rights for it\'s not even right any more.

Blackthorn

I agree wit ratbastid.

You pointed out that it was not priced correctly and they adjusted the price so you got your three dollars back. Three dollars. Pass on the next triple shot latte you are craving and viola...three dollars goes back in your pocket.

I'm in the camp that says you should pay for the product you "purchased" at the advertised price. Pushing them for free product was not necessary. The spirit of the law was not that you should get free shrimp when somewhere a computer spits out what amounts to an honest mistake. You yourself said your super saver card was working so it's not a systemic problem here right?

Pick your battles...this one was just about being right. Hope the shrimp tasted good enough to make up for the after taste.

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mikec

I bought it on saturday night. Typically sales run Sunday to Saturday, so my guess is that people were overpaying all week long. And I wasn't an asshole until the clerk suggested that the police should follow me out...wtf is that??

Regardless if the cashier or clerk knew about it or not, bottom line is, if it overscans, the law says it's free. If they know about it for 10 days or 10 minutes.

They fixed it and I still stood up for my right as a consumer....you better believe it. If the law puts in place, an item that is advantageous to consumers, why should one not take advantage of it? And it is the desk clerk's job to know that law....I don't buy the excuse that they didn't know it.......the sign is posted clearly behind the desk....they can read.

And as an aside....why is milk almost 4 dollars a gallon at the supermarket, and only 2.50 at the gas station?

and the "spirit of the law" is that if it scans higher than the COMPUTER GENERATED advertised price, the price tag on the container, then the store is trying to scam the consumer, and they are penalized by giving one item for free. If I tried to get multiple items for free, then yeah, that's an asshole move.

Most of you are probably right about the extra 3 bucks....I figured it was their penalty for trying to dick around it in the first place. And settle down, I didn't to "damage"....if she just did it right the first time, we would've both walked away happy, and quickly.

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Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

Munku

Personally, that's one of the dumbest laws I've ever seen. I've worked in a retail food chain and more often than you think something scans wrong. You were planning to buy it for 9 bucks, why not just pay the 9 bucks you originally planned to spend? The law causes companies to lose money which in turn causes them to have to charge more.

Stiltzkin

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Ishmal

well i say GO MIKEC GO... congrats on winning a small victory against a large company!!!

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Journeyman

So the solution, when losing money to people who know they're getting overcharged for something and ending up with it for free, is to keep overcharging and THEN hike up the price to make up for the losses you incurred when you got caught? If the company thinks things through along these lines, there needs to be more laws putting them in check.

lite campfire

Surely any store of significance in CT would have heard of this law before? Seems like one of those pieces of local knowledge that everybody knows.
It also seems pretty normal to me to make a nusance of yourself untill you get what you're entitled to.
Sure it's profiting from their error, so what? They made a mistake and they're paying for it.

Boo

A large company that will raise prices to cover the loss. Then we can ALL pay more. Gee thanks!

Accepting more money during the refund was criminal. The best thing to do was to politely show them that they made another mistake. Then you could sleep at night.

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Ustwo

I wonder if at the end of the day when the cash in the register didn't balance, if they took it from the poor slob working the register.

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tropple

Keep the money.

Enjoy! Stop and Shop is more than getting their money back from you every time you shop there.

The books balanced, so don't worry about the clerk.

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The_Dude

gg





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mikec

that is the beauty of supply and demand. if stop and shop charges more, then go across the street to shaw's. simple!

__________________
Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

kutulu

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the lady at customer service was correct and you were wrong. We'd have to dig up the CT law to check it but I think the law would apply to the customer AFTER the purchase is made. In other words, if it is caught at the register then the correct price may be applied. If it is not caught, the customer goes to the customer service desk and gets it for free.

That seems like the logical way to write the law, but logic doesn't necessarily prevail when laws are written. It should be written that way because if the problem is caught at the register before you pay, there is no harm. If I see something ring up at the wrong price I wait till after I pay to avoid that scenario.

mikec

no, the law states if the item "scans higher than the advertised price, than one of that item is free"...regardless if it's caught or not, the store is responsible for ensuring their scans are accurate. if they're not, their penalization is having to give the customer an item free.

the purpose being, the customer should not have to watchdog what they bought, how much is costs, and if it scanned correctly. Do you stand there and make sure each item scanned accurately? And I think it's pretty safe to say the cashiers are not checking....they just scan the items blindly and as quickly as possible.

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Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

kutulu

You can't expect the cashier to know the price of every item in the store. I see nothing wrong with expecting the customer to be responsible for his own money. Do you have a link to a citation of the law?

MiSo

it was right of you to argue about the shrimp because thats the law.


but to take the extra money?
it's only 3 dollars! you'd want to give up your character for 3 dollars?

mikec

no I don't have the link. the law is posted in the store. preliminary google searches didn't yield the law........if you'd like, I'll take a pic of the service desk and post it??

and yeah, of course a 7 dollar an hour cashier is not going to know every price. but the casheir is also not going to verify that the price scanned coincides with the price on the item. that was the point.

ha, I'd hardly call getting the extra 3 bucks giving up my character....hell, it might have even been right for them to do it...I don't know. if the employee and the manager gave it back to me, then fuck 'em, I'll take it. It was payment for pain and suffering for me dealing with someone who was arguing with no legs to stand on.

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Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

smooth

I would suspect that since you purchased it Saturday night, the sale kicked off too soon--not that people were paying too much all week. It's also more likely that the sale was from last week, and the tag simply didn't get removed.

Laws like this, as I understand them, were enacted to protect consumers from businesses overcharging their customers intentionally--not due to sales going on and off or accidental error. Now you might have a case of "so what," but the point is that customers were getting charged pennies and dimes more so customers wouldn't notice. And an advertised price being different than the ring up is not the same as a saver card price not registering properly. The price of the item is and remains $13. They take off a few bucks for their loyal customers as a service or gimmick.

And I don't interpret the manager's acquicense as an acknowledgement that you were "right." I attribute it to maturity and recognition that $4 bucks wasn't worth his time or sanity. That, and he likely recognized that other customers who didn't know the details are starting to hear a very agitated customer.

Sometimes I go back for a buck or two, but I don't consider it a "right" when the issue is obvious it's just accidental. Depending on my mood I would have argued for it to be free. Hey, I might have even felt good about the extra cash "for my time."

But I wouldn't expect a lot of support from anyone around me if I told the story to them. If your wife is anything like my wife, she was probably embarrassed about your conduct. Mine can't stop me from acting like an ass in public, but I tend to appreciate her respect.

I would have kept this "victory" to myself.

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mikec

ummm, no, when an item goes on sale, the price changes to the sale price. they put up a sign advertising the new LOWER PRICE. heheh. it's really not that hard to understand.

sometimes big stores just want to see what they get away with. for every person like me who noticed it, 10 didn't. they made their profit. you have no clue if it was accidental or not, what, are you a store manager or something?

and again, a massive store like S&S has much more buying power than the local gas station. so why do they charge so much more for bread, eggs, and milk. all stuff I refuse to buy from S&S because I can get it cheaper from the gas station.

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Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

kutulu

Mistakes are made everywhere. It's good to have protections that penalize a merchant for incorrect prices but fair is fair. IMO, if it is caught at the register before you pay there is no harm in it. I would like to see what the law says in this case because theoritically you could get a $2999.99 flat screen tv for free because they had a sign wrong that said $2999.95.

As far as the higher prices on the eggs milk and bread go, the prices are high so that they can sell the loss leaders at a lower price. There are items that attract people there that they will sell near or below cost just to get people in. They make up for it by selling the eggs, milk, and bread at a higher price. Nearly everyone gets that stuff and they might as well get it there while they are getting the stuff on sale.

smooth

I am not a store manager. I certainly don't have a clue whether the price difference was accidental or not. But judging from your response to me, I am getting a deeper understanding of how the discussion between you and the CSR might have escalated in intensity in not too short of time.

Perhaps I am confused. I was under the impression that the sale you are referring to was actually a loyalty card promo.

That is, if you have the card you get the item for $9 whereas if I walk into the store and don't have the card, I pay $13. Albertson's, Ralphs, Vons, and a number of large chains I've been to have these types of cards. The price the card grants you is not a difference in price, it's not an entitlement, it's a promotion for people who shop at the store regularly and incentivizes them to pick up a card (and presumably track purchases).

But whatever the case, my ultimately opinion was in the last line of my post.

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"The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann

"You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman

shakran

I'm with smooth. They had the wrong price. You noticed it. You called 'em on it. They made good. They accidentally gave you more money than you were entitled to. You noticed it. You didn't call 'em on it. You kept money that you did not deserve. It's pretty obvious who is in the wrong. You have yet to make good on overcharging them. Come back to us when you have.

splck

You don't see a double standard do you? Being proud you cheated a store speaks volumes.

You know about karma?

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nice line eh?

k925

Nice work, Mikec, standing up for yourself.

Laws are laws for a reason.


About the extra $3.40... I would consider it payment for the time you spent educating them on the law they didn't obey and should have already known about.

Your time is worth at least $3.40 for five minutes, isn't it? And that's not even considering hazard pay for the high-stress environment in which you were double teamed by the opposition, etc.


There's a store near me that pays double your money back if you're not completely satisfied (e.g. if that shrimp situation happened to me at this store, I would have gotten something like $19 or $26 back- depending on which price they'd decided on).

Considering that, you got a rather rotten deal.

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I can has furburger?

mikec

Don't be a dick, and don't tell me when to visit and not visit the forum. *resists further flaming*

coincidentally, they overcharged my buddy just the other day on some 20 dollar hair gel......yeah, don't ask me....who knows why he wanted 20 dollar hair gel hahah....anyway, when he went to the service desk, the woman was more than happy to give it to him for free, because she said "I love when this happens...this store rips people off". So it all depends on who you get. Nice.

kutulu, the law only pertains to items in a supermarket....if it was for electronics, boy oh boy would we have a field day!!!

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Until the 20th century, reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear. Since the initial publication of the charted electromagnetic spectrum, humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear is less than one millionth of reality

cyrnel

Name your price. It's the oldest occupation.

shakran

Let me get this straight. You're a thief, and you brag about it, but *I'm* the dick? What color is the sky in your world?

Faygo

Way to stick it to the man.

Tbird

It's all your fault Mike!!! hehheheh