Re: stores that overcharge

 wrote:


here in new york city all the supermarkets have scanners and you have
to be really alert especially the day the sales start.  some are
better than others in that when you tell them the scanned price is
incorrect, they just change it.  but others consistently have scanned
prices higher that the true prices.

if i haven't been able to watch the prices as they come up on the
screen, i stop and check my register tape right then.  i may not make
me friends, but at one of the stores, they know me now and just agree
if there is a dispute.

elise

  wrote:


So you're saying you can't count items that are all a buck and figure
out the BASE COST OF YOUR PURCHASES?  And that you're furthermore
incapable of doing a little basic arithmetic in your head so that you
know approximately how much you're going to pay at the checkout?

Even knowing an APPROXIMATE number will allow you to "check the
checker".

Or possibly you're just a lazy shopper who doesn't understand the
concept of caveat emptor the rest of us learned about during grade 3
civics lessons...

 WoolyGooly (boogers@lots.of.snot) writes:

I won some grocery store gift certificates last month, what a treat, and
there were four $25 certificates.  While I admit to taking a calculator
along, I've used three of them on three separate occasions, and came in
really close to the amount.  It's not particularly hard to keep track of
what is and isn't taxable, if you have actually done much shopping, and
you can even write down the prices off the shelf so you have a running
total.  If that's not clear, you go to the bar code reader and check
the price before getting to the cash (which I admit can be handy to
see whether something has had its price adjusted when on sale, or
for that matter to see if a specific item is included in a sale).  The
calculator lets you figure things, so you know the full price with
taxes and you can always throw things back and get something else
if you're trying to keep within a certain limit.

One of the things about the exemptions are that they don't mean a thing
to you if you don't buy them, but if they are something you buy you
will soon learn whether they are taxable or not.

  Michael

  (usenet2006@THE-DOMAIN-IN.SIG) writes:

Assuming she's in Canada, it really is straightforward.  You may
have to do a bit of learning to begin with, but then it is pretty standard.
The only thing I find hard to keep track of is food items, because some
things are taxed and others not.  So things like cashews are untaxed, but
if you get them presalted they get taxed.  And similarly, the tax kicks
in if it's a "snack" size item (ie one cupcake) but if you are buying a
package to take home, it's not taxed (or something like that).

It's not like Item A is taxed and Item B is not taxed, there are broad
categories that define what is and isn't taxed, and realistically the
exeptions would be things you quickly grasp because you are buying
them on a regular basis.  So hearing aid batteries are not taxed,
but for most people they never buy them so they don't need to remember
or even know, while someone who is buying would quickly pick it up;
any confusion would be over the first buy.

Those dollar stores likely even sell small calculators, so someone
could keep track, and figure the tax before getting to the cash.

  Michael