products behind wrong price stickers at stores - on purpose?

 

   Today I bought a couple of items at the grocery store - mussels in
garlic and wine sauce, and a package of crab rangoons.  Both had marked
down price stickers that said $2.99 in front of the rows of products.

   However, after I paid, instead of the $5.98 total I was expecting, I
ended up getting back only 2c in change from a 10 spot.

   I complained, saying that both items had been priced $2.99, but she
told me I'd have to take it up with customer service.  I saw a long line
there, and since I was holding our 8 month old, and also had our 5 & 6
year olds along, I decided to simply walk back and double check the labels.

   Well, it turn out that once again, they put a whole pile of a
different product behind another price sticker.  The price is really
large, but the description is small, so I didn't notice it.

   If they do this sort of thing a lot, it could give them higher
products.  I wonder if they do this on purpose?

 


Some stores offer a price guarantee. For example, I work at Safeway.
If the price at the register is different (higher or lower) than the
the sign, you get the item for free. If you have multiples of that
item, you get the first one free, and the rest at the lower price.

I do the price audit for my department which means that each week, I
go around and scan EVERY item and compare the price on the telzon
(portable device that shows the current price at the register). I
check these in the afternoon on ad change day. This is to catch any
sale tags that might not have been removed, or a sale tag not yet up.
Most times, all I find are missing tags, or no sale tag (register
price is lower than shelf tag). It is rare for me to find a tag that
shows a lower price than register price. Maybe one per month. That's
for my department, not a whole store. But there are other people
checking the rest of the store.

I do keep an eye on prices, especially at other stores. I have found
that Walmart often has things ring up less than the shelf tag. Not in
every order. But when the price is different, it is usually lower.