Don't Be Overcharged at the Grocery Store

If you found two shiny quarters, a dime, and a penny (a total of $0.61) lying on the ground, would you stop to pick them up? I would. I even stop to pick up single pennies.

The Purchase

After a Thursday afternoon trip in July to my local Super Target, I had placed all the bags of groceries into the trunk of my thrifty '96 Toyota Corolla. It was hot. Ninety-something degrees Fahrenheit hot. Scanning through the long white receipt to make sure I was charged correctly and that all three of my Target web coupons were properly credited, I sighed. The 4.67 pounds of bananas that were supposed to be $0.39/lb were charged to me at $0.52/lb. This was a $0.61 cent overcharge.

The Return

I clicked the car engine (and the cool air conditioning) back off, unhooked my seatbelt, got out of the car, and rummaged through the trunk for the bag with the bananas in them. I trudged across the hot asphalt parking lot back into the store and all the way to the opposite end of the superstore where the customer service desk was. I waited in line with my receipt and 4.67 lb bag of bananas.

Finally, my turn. "Hi," I said as cheerily as possible, "I just purchased these bananas and I noticed I was charged $0.52/lb rather than the $0.39/lb I was supposed to be."

The clerk scrutinized my receipt. I opened the bag of bananas so that she could see they were regular bananas, not a higher priced variety. "They're showing $0.52/lb in the register," the clerk said wryly.

"Okay," I said. The clerk looked at me and said nothing. I added, "Would you like to walk over to the produce area with me to make sure the sign says $0.39/lb?" I glanced in the direction of the produce aisle on the opposite end of the store. I was beginning to feel annoyed about the imposition on my time, not to mention my otherwise cute black sandal straps were beginning to wear red marks on the tops of my feet.

"No, I believe you," the clerk said to my relief. After punching a few buttons on her register, she said, "it won't let me charge $0.39/lb, so I'll just put it $0.39." She voided my previous debit card purchase, and handed me a receipt with the new, lower total amount.

I thought for a moment. If the register is showing $0.52/lb, then is everyone being overcharged? "So is it charging everyone $0.52/lb?" I asked.

"Um . . . yeah," the clerk acknowledged and said nothing more.

"So are you guys going to fix it?" I prodded further.

"Yeah . . ." the clerk said, trailing off.

But what about all the people who have already been overcharged? I decided to leave it at that, and said, "Okay, thanks."

As I walked back past all the people in the numerous lines waiting to purchase their grocery carts full of goodies, I wanted to shout, 'Hey, if anyone is buying bananas, be sure you're charged the right price per pound!' Grocery stores should come with warning signs to always check your receipt.

The Monetary Return

Back in my hot car, I scrutinized the new receipt again. Since the register 'wouldn't let' the clerk override the $0.52/lb, she charged me $0.39 total rather than $0.39/lb for the 4.67 pounds of bananas, a savings of $2.19 off the original incorrect purchase price. I had begun by stopping to 'pick up' two shiny quarters, a dime, and a penny, but I ended up with two crisp paper dollars, a dime, a nickel, and four shiny pennies.