Last month, Bank of America settled a lawsuit against it for defrauding consumers and investors. Basically, the bank loaned money to people it knew couldn’t repay subprime housing loans and sold those loans to investors. The settlement requires the bank to pay the U.S. government, communities, and homeowners more than $16.5 billion.
I am willing to bet that grocery stores have defrauded shoppers of more than $16.5 billion by advertising one price and charging another.
I’ve been an exceedingly careful shopper for as long as I can remember, probably 30 years. Why should I pay $5 for a box of cereal when I can get that same product for $2? I carefully scrutinize sales prices in newspaper ads, store leaflets, and on the stores’ shelves.
When I get on line, I know EXACTLY what I am paying for every product I have selected and know my total bill within less than a dollar. Then, I prepare for a “fight” because that’s apparently what grocery stores prepare their employees to do.
And “fight” they do. I swear that I am overcharged two or three times per week – and have been for decades.
A few weeks ago, I saw dozens of signs advertising all sorts of vegetables and beans for 69 cents per can at a Pathmark store in Weehawken, N.J. I bought a couple of cans, or tried to. They were 99 cents each, according to the cashier.
Why would a cashier fight a customer over 60 cents? But she did. I went to the shelves, took the 69 cents sales tag that pertained to the cans off the shelves, and showed it to the cashier. She decided to fight some more. With a tag and a can with identical code numbers in her hand, the elderly cashier walked slowly – very slowly – to the aisle and pointed out a couple of 99 cents signs in a sea of dozens of 69 cents signs and argued that the cans I bought cost 99 cents.
“Look at the code numbers,” I pleaded. The woman finally relented – after wasting 10 minutes of my time – and then took another five minutes to fix the mistake at the cash register. But she wasn’t done yet. The next item in my shopping cart were bagels, which always cost 58 cents. She said she didn’t know the price. I said “they’re 58 cents.” She began walking to the bagels, which were on the opposite side of the store. I walked out of the store – with nothing.
Luckily, this incident occurred at 1 a.m. so the fight didn’t hold up any customers on line. On literally hundreds of occasions over the years, though, I’ve left the line to retrieve the price tag that shows the cashier that the computer has charged the wrong price. Sometimes, I’m lectured on removing the price tag, but I’ve learned from experience that retrieving the tag myself saves me – and the people on line behind me – five to 10 minutes.
Oftentimes, the cashier will still charge me the wrong price despite my protests – and require me to go the Customer Service Department, where I have to stand on another line. I think the only times I’ve been wrong in my “fights” have been when the fine print on the leaflets or shelves is so small that I couldn’t possibly notice the “must buy two” (or four, etc.) rule to get the advertised price.
My guess is that the overwhelming majority of shoppers don’t know they’ve been overcharged – and many would accept the overcharges anyway. I have to admit that about once per month I’ll just let the overcharge go. Sometimes, I’m just too tired to fight. I’m also almost never undercharged – and I point it out when I am and pay the difference.
The overcharge:undercharge ratio must be at least 100:1. Thus, I believe the grocery store price overcharge swindle has cost shoppers way……………………………………way more than $16.5 billion.
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