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Grocery Shopper Beware

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​I harp on a bit about how it is vital to know how much your shopping is going to cost before you get to the register and to check your dockets and receipts before you leave the store.

Those two points were reinforced in my mind twice a while back.

I was shopping at Coles and in amongst the items I bought there were three items I'd been overcharged on, and to make it a little more absurd I'd been charged twice, but two different prices for one of those items - so four mistakes, totalling almost $20. I was in a hurry and didn't check the docket until I was at home and trying to work out why my figures didn't add up. 

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when I figured out what had happened. Laugh because my figures would have been correct without the supermarket's mistakes (I ALWAYS know how much my grocery bill should be before I get to the checkout) or cry at my stupidity in not checking before I left the store, because that involves going back, with the goods and the receipt and waiting for it all to be worked out in-store so a refund can be processed. 

Then I was shopping in an Aldi store and a discounted item I bought (don't you just love the Aldi discounts?) scanned at full price instead of the discounted price. Kudos to the young man on the register, he picked it up straight away and fixed it immediately, so no loss of money, time or energy there.

These two events had me thinking: if just one item on every second shop was scanned at a higher price, and the customer didn't pick it up, in every store of all three major supermarkets, every day of every year, how much would our mistakes be adding to their profits? Because they all make a profit, and now I'm thinking that lack of diligence by customers is adding to that profit.

It has become habit now to watch as things scan, so I can (hopefully) pick up any obvious discrepancies straight away, but sometimes they scan so quickly I can't keep up. To solve that problem, before I leave the register, I check that the total is what I estimated, and do a quick scan over the prices, especially of the markdowns and specials. Then, if, or rather when, there is a problem with a charge, I can get it fixed straight away, without questions, because I haven't left the register. 

There will always be mistakes. Not every shop, or even every week, but mistakes happen. It's up to us, as the buyer, to find the mistake and get it fixed, or we wear the extra cost. I don't know about you, but I budget down to the cent, so any extra costs stand out and are picked up very quickly because I can't afford to give money away unplanned.

I apologise in advance for holding you up if you are behind me at the checkout in the future but Wayne and I work far too hard for our money to glibly make an involuntary donation to any supermarket's profits.  I choose to keep my money in my purse, and my profits in my bank account. In future I will be double checking the price of every item I buy as it is scanned and picking up any errors straight away, and I suggest you do the same.

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  • Home
  • Join the Club!
    • Twenty Reasons to Join the Cheapskates Club
  • About Us
    • Cath's Story
    • Ask Cath
    • Glossary of Cheapskating Terms
  • Forum
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    • How to Use the Member Forum
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    • Getting Started
    • 31 Days of MOO Index
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    • Budget Renovations
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    • Recipe File Index
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    • Add a Recipe
    • $300 a Month Food Challenge >
      • $300 a Month Food Challenge
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  • Newsletters
    • Newsletters 2023
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