Do you watch to see if the you get the sale price?

@raydene (9871)
United States
December 1, 2007 7:34am CST
I have noticed that Walmart often doesn't have their registers adjusted to take off for a sale price. I have started checking my reciept before I even leave the store. I can't always watch while it's being rung up because I'm putting the items on the belt. I think they do it on purpose! I wonder how many people choose an item solely because it's on sale and then take it home and never realize they paid the regular price. Do you check to see that you are charged correctly? Keep an eye Folks...You may be overcharged!
7 people like this
18 responses
@Metallion (2227)
• United States
1 Dec 07
I try to look, but I also have an idea of what my total will be when I get in line. If it's a lot different then I will check my receipt closely.
2 people like this
@raydene (9871)
• United States
1 Dec 07
It just amazes me how often the prices are wrong! Like I said I think it's on purpose!
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157563)
• United States
1 Dec 07
I agree,it often happens, not just at Wal Mart, but at other mass merchants. My grocery store has a policy if something rings up wrong it is free. At Wal Mart it used to be that if it rang up wrong they gave you $5.00 off.I think I would ask, if I caught them in an over ring. I do not really feel like they do it on purpose. On the other hand it is still important to watch the prices, because with all the thousands of items they sell, and the sometimes not fully staffed departments, mistakes can and do happen. Sometimes stuff comes in as freight and never even makes it to the floor before the price is ordered down by the General Office.
• United States
4 Dec 07
WalMart is famous for sending the managers of the departments hundreds of price changes every week and it sometimes takes them a couple days to do them. If you're not paying attention to the price on the shelf and the price at the register, you could very well be paying more than you should for an item. A few weeks ago I was in a K-Mart when it opened and they must've been in a rush and they put merchadise on an "endcap", but someone didn't change the pricing on the sign (yes, I took a picture of the endcap with the price) and sure enough my 11.98 item didn't ring up at $2.49 as listed on the sign. They went and checked and of course changed the sign to the correct price and told me I must've been mistaken...until I showed them the picture I took at the $2.49 price and let them know they were required by law (at least in the state I live in) to sell me one. After asking for the phone # for their corporate offices, they let me have it at the "wrong" price. These big retailers are so poorly staffed anymore that if you don't pay attention to the price on the shelf and at the register, you may just be overpaying and giving them free money!
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
1 Dec 07
Trouble is my dear friend these companies, shops, stores rely on you NOT checking. Do you realize the amount of money they make through people not checking that they get the sale price? I bet the big bosses rub their hands with glee to see what they get away with, especially with the aged. Although I am always checking even if it's a BOGOF or money off that they check it, it's not the money at the end of the day it's the principle.
@lbinkley (1075)
• United States
3 Dec 07
I ALWAYS watch to see that I get the right price like a hawk. And if something is marked incorrectly... say the shelf tag says it is supposed to be $10, and the price sticker on the item says $8, I make sure they give me the cheaper price, it isn't my fault they mark it incorrectly. If you dont catch it at the register, you can go to the customer service desk and tell them what is going on. Remind them of their scan-right guarantee, and if the item you were overcharged on is under $5 then you will get the item free. If it is over $5 you will get $5 off on your order. Just a little tidbit. But really, when I get items I always look at the shelf tag and the price sticker on it and I make them give me the cheaper of the two if they don't match. I have got a 12-pack of coke for $1.18 because someone marked a whole stack of them incorrectly. Call me crazy, but it truly does save you a lot of money, and I really don't have much of that to spare right now.
• United States
11 Dec 07
Actually, at many WalMarts, if you have an item that costs $15.00 and it's on a shelf (with others) and the price says $3.99, WalMarts policy is they will sell you one at the price it was incorrectly listed for. But they will only sell you one at the incorrect price. People, if you shop often at some of these stores, and make a big enough of a complaint about their recent service, how long you've shopped there, etc. Always ask for the store manager...if the manager isn't there, ask them to write down the manager's name and ask for the corporate office 800# (and the person's name that is "helping" you) believe me, you'll see how fast they remedy the problem at the store level. The last thing they want is the home office to hear how inept the store's management is. This works at any reputable chain store.
• United States
1 Dec 07
I try and always check but as you say when you are loading your purchases it is not always possible. I now check before I leave the store and last week made myself quite unpopular as I noticed one item was incorrect and the cashier did not believe me so I went back and ripped the sale price from the shelf and took it back to the cashier who informed my I should not have done that. Now I am getting teed off so I held up the whole line until I got it corrected.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Dec 07
Here's a little tip. When you find you're being overcharged for items that are listed at another price, ask to see the manager. You'll most likely get an assistant, explain the situation, making sure to mention this isn't the 1st time or even 2nd time this has occured in the last couple of trips into their store and unless they do something for you, insist on the store manager and go through the same story, still not satisfied? Ask the store manager for the corporate offices 800# and ask him/her to spell their last name. Chance are, you'll be offered a $25 gift certificate for your troubles ; )
• India
3 Dec 07
Yes, of course I look for bargains when I am shopping and what you say is a very common ploy of large departmental stores of not passing on the benefits to the consumers. Either they will not change their register, or they will forget to add the ‘free gift’ or they will stock the regular pack saying that the promo pack with the discount/free gift has not arrived yet. And since I come to know of these offers thru the newspaper of local TV channels, there is precious little I can do except wait. And until and unless its an emergency, I don’t get duped into ‘push selling’…I would rather wait than buy something which I am not wanting to. But yes, checking the receipt, esp if the list is long, can be very tedious.
@kareng (54724)
• United States
6 Dec 07
I do this often. I try to put sale items last on the checkout shelf so I can keep an eye on them as they ring up. That way I can have the clerk adjust the price right then and there without having to go stand in line at Customer Service and be delayed for their mistake. I find the price rings up wrong quite often. It is really to the buyer's advantage to keep an eye on prices as they ring up! Every little bit saved adds up by the end of the year!
• United States
10 Dec 07
I try to watch the prices as they come by. Sometimes it is hard to do when I am wresteling with my 2 kids. I ususaly call the store and let them know when I have been mischarged. It isnt always worth the tank of gas to get there but if enough of us call then maybe they will work harder to not let it happen anymore.
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
3 Dec 07
I do check the price before I join the queue at the counter. And if there are any sales, I do check the receipt to make sure the discounts are in. It may not be a lot but cents added up makes a lot. lol.
@mummymo (23706)
30 Jan 08
I most definitely do and I know exactly what you mean, it has happened to us so many times. We used to love when it happened as you got to keep the item and get a refund too but I guess they were losing too much money that way and now you just get the difference of what you paid and what it should have been. WE go one better now we usually always go to the self scanning checkout so we can check the price as it is scanned in - it is a lot easier! xx
@nelly5 (1424)
• United States
5 Dec 07
Oh my, I certainly do check the prices of everything, even if it isn't on sale. If something states that the regular price is $2.00 and I am charged $2.25 I tell them about it. My husband gets upset with me and says just forget it...but I don't =) He knows and even picks on me for always wanting to save a cent...but we can't afford not to, so I know in the end he appreciates it.
@chrislotz (8137)
• Canada
10 Dec 07
It isn't done on purpose. It just didn't get entered in the computer or it got entered wrong. There is such a thing as human error. Sometimes things go on sale so fast and so many at one time, that the people who enter them into the computer get behind. I worked in the retail business for 6 months, only, and I found out that happens quite often. I was a cashier at a big chain store called Sobeys. It happened to us a lot and because of that I learned to always check my sales slip before I leave the store. Or I get my hubby to load the items on the belt while I watch the prices come up when the cashier scans them. As a cashier I got frustated a few times because the right price wasn't keyed into the computer yet. It slows things down for the cashier, too. And a cashier does not like to have a line up at her till anymore than the customer likes it. It tells the managers that the cashier is going slow.
• United States
6 Dec 07
i either have an idea of how much i will spend or watch while they scan my items. i always look at my recipt after and if it seems off, ill look at each item to add up the total.
@Wiiguy (93)
• United States
1 Dec 07
R, now you know one of the reasons why I never shop at Walmart, despite the tempting low prices.
@OURDEW (4809)
• United States
2 Dec 07
I sure do, if I can't check everything as it's being rung up, I try but can't always see everything, I read the receipt before I leave the store. I have many times gone back to the customer service to get my money back that I was overcharged. I check no matter what store I'm in.:)
@faith210 (11224)
• Philippines
2 Dec 07
Hi raydene! Although we don't have Walmarts in our country, same thing usually happens. I had an experience before that i purchased two items on sale and i have computed the total amount i will be paying while i am lining up for the cashier. When i paid for the amount, I was surprised to see how much more i have to pay..i thought first my computations were wrong but after i took my receipt, i saw that the price is the original and not the sale price..this i inform the cashier about it and made a complaint and was found out that the sale price was not yet inputted in their inventory prices..I was reimbursed with the money i have paid and i was glad i did checked the receipt because i normally don't do so..since then it became a habit to check everything that is listed even though sometmes it really takes awhile checking especially when the ink on the receipt is blurred or almost faded. I just don't want to be cheated anymore somehow. Take care and have a nice day. :)
@moneyandgc (3428)
• United States
2 Dec 07
I have been charged the wrong amount so many times I have lost count. Luckily yes, I always pay attention to the amount being shown on the cash register. I have pretty much stopped letting my husband pay for anything that is on clearance or on sale. He never ever pays attention! I have sent him back in the store to get the difference because of it. If something was supposed to cost $10 and ring up $60, he would pay and leave. Ugh, that is frustrating.