Do you usually buy this milk? And do you usually pay 3.59/carton for one? then I'd say, you DID get twice as much milk for that price. Are you saying you wanted to get twice as much milk for HALF the regular price? The confusion of the sign notwithstanding, that seems a bit unreasonable to me.

Yes, the sign could have been more clear--it certainly would have been better if they'd worded it... 'half price' rather than 'bogo', but I don't think you were cheated at all.

I'd have taken it as buy 1 and you get the other one free. If it was 1/2 price, they should say 1/2 price. I'm with you on this. Go ahead and dial. Keep us posted.
Leslie

I do not think it is unreasonable to believe that milk that is normally $3.59 per carton would now be on sale at $1.79 per carton; however, it is totally unreasonable to think that you could pay $1.79 for one carton and get a second carton for free.

The sign said that the regular price is $3.59 per carton. You paid a total of $3.58 and got two cartons, so you did "buy one and get one for free."

In fact, it could be argued that you owe the store a penny.

I agree with Lindsey. You bought one at regular price and got the other free. It just showed up on the receipt that you paid half price for each one. Be happy with what you got, with the price of milk these days you got a good deal.

I'm of the same opinion as Lindsey. You actually did get two for the price of one. (less a penny)I don't think its a bait and switch at all.

Here we have a store that every now and then advertises the jeans DS wears for work at buy one, get the second for 50% off. All they do is ring up 25% off each pair.

I would let the store know how confusing the sign is.

I say dial...if it was already on sale...the sign should have said that! Yes you got a good deal but the sign was very misldeading...

Start dialing. I'm with you. The sign clearly said BOGO and the price was $1.79. So you should have gotten 2 for that price. If they meant BOGO for $3.59 the $1.79 price should not have been listed.

Good Luck.

Linda

I think you got a good deal on milk. However, the sign too easily misunderstood and management should replace it with a sign that is more specific. Or they should never have put 1.79 price stickers on the milk, that is what really confused the issue, IMO.

Between the sign and the price sticker, I would be unsure what was meant. I don't think I would have taken for granted it meant 2 milks for 1.79, because that is just too good to be true. That's more like a clearance price, and I don't want clearance milk. LOL. But I know I would have thought, "That should be fixed, someone will think they mean 2 milks for 1.79."

Around here at the local Food Lion stores, in the very fine print on the shelf sign it says something along the lines of--you will be charged half price for each carton bought. Sheila

I had the exact same situation at my local store-the ad said Hershey candy bars 89 cents BOGO, so I figured they meant two for 89 cents. No , that's the trick. If you buy two, they charge you $1.78.

I wonder if the people without a MVP Card had to pay $3.59 for one even though the carton said $1.79???

"Without MVP Card $3.59" that says it all to me.

The 'buy one - get one' is a marketing device to trick people into buying more than they need.

A new Grocery came to our town. I was so impressed with the prices on their signs that I bought lots more then I planned to that day. I was thinking that I will shop there from now on, until I got to the checkout. Everything was ringing up at much higher prices then I figured. It must be the same kind of pricing.

Long story short -- I left it all at the checkout and never shopped there again. That store was out of business in about a year.

I don't trust anyone who uses trickery and I think you should let them know what you think about it. They apparently have the right to do their business the way they want, but you are not required to shop there.

I don't think you got ripped off. The milk was essentially buy one-get one priced. You chose to buy two.

However, I'd still be ticked off at the wording of the sign. They were selling the milk at 1/2 price, and trying to get you to buy 2. If you want to sell the milk for half price, then just sell it for half price! If you had bought just one, you should have been charged the $1.79. I hate those 2 for $5 cans of whatever, too. But if I buy just one can, then I get it for $2.50 whether I buy 2 or not.

So call about the wording of the sign if you wish, but I don't think you were overcharged.

You didn't get overcharged, but the sign tricked you into thinking you had to buy two to get the lower price when you did not. That doesn't seem right to me.

sent comments from forum(without any links to KT names or sigs) by email to their customer relations office....let's see if they respond and if so how....

The store priced the milk at $1.79. Period. That is the price any consumer would pay if they bought one carton or a dozen. Whether they had a card or not. That was the store's marked retail price.

You can't put a price on an item and then tell a consumer if they don't have a card they pay double the marked price.

Nope, sorry. I'm with you on this.

It's obvious that you're not going to get 2 milks for $1.79.
I've never seen a sign that confusing.
They can't mark the carton 1.79 and then charge 3.59....for anyone.
I'd have to see the sign before I'd vote.

the wording in my original post is verbatim...exact...not reworded...nana! in fact, I asked a person in the store about taking one of the signs since management indicated, the wording was probably confusing and they'd most likely redo it....so I have as Coke ads say...."the real thing" Just in case I needed to send it with my note to customer relations....

Please tell us, OldRustyBucket, if you truly believed that you would get two cartons of milk for a total of $1.79?

Did you really, truly, believe that you would???

Or did, deep down inside, you know that you most likely wouldn't, but decided to try it anyway?

One more, very important, question --

WHEN did you get the sign?

Posted by lindsey_ca (My Page) on Sun, Sep 7, 08 at 20:03

Lindsey asked: Please tell us, OldRustyBucket, if you truly believed that you would get two cartons of milk for a total of $1.79? Did you really, truly, believe that you would???

Or did, deep down inside, you know that you most likely wouldn't, but decided to try it anyway?

& when did you get the sign?
____________

Well, I have gotten milk within the last year for $ .99 cents a gallon at another store so it's not totally impossible....and I got the sign on Saturday morning upon returning to the store to question my purchase...and pick up some crushed pineapple for a carrot cake.....

and, as I told them in the store on Saturday....the milk was delicious and had they not been offering it at a reduced price, I probably would not have even tried it....oh, did I mention that I had also purchased (at regular price of $3.89) their brand of milk ... so it wasn't like a purchase I made out of desperation ...

I posted this simply because I thought it was an interesting topic that others could reflect on....and wondered if as my subject line indicated....

"rip off...bait & switch....misunderstanding"

why do i suddenly feel like, I need to apologize for my post?

You were NOT ripped off, and there was no bait-and-switch as you were not offered another product...

but the sign was not clear.

Oldrustybucket - Don't apologize for your post!! Over the years I have come across in store sale ads that were very confusing/misleading. I'm glad you contacted the store.

We have Food Lion, (now Bloom) stores here. I've noticed that when something is advertised as Buy One Get One Free, you can buy one item and they just charge you half price. It's nice when it's something you want, but don't want TWO of the items. I've never seen that in another grocery store. So in your case, if I bought 2 milks, they would have showed up on the receipt at $1.79 each. Instead of $3.59 and $0.00.

This isn't your exactly your situation, but maybe that's what happened? I agree the sign is confusing, but you weren't ripped off; unless you thought you were getting 2 milks for $1.79?

I don't think you need to apologize. The sign is VERY misleading, & the store needs to correct it. I've not been fortunate enough to find milk at 99c a gallon -- lucky you!

Tally wrote: "You can't put a price on an item and then tell a consumer if they don't have a card they pay double the marked price." Homeland does something similiar all the time...you can purchase an item at xx sale price IF you have one of their cards. No card? sometimes the clerk will use one, either their personal card or maybe it's provided by the store. But the card has to be used in order to get the sale price. I don't like Homeland for many reasons, and is the least of them.

I would probably have questioned the cashier &/or management re: the confusing sign. BUT! taking it at face value as-it-was-written, the milk should have been 1.79 for 2 units.

Is milks a word? LOL LOL

We have a store that advertises BOGO free and then the item shows up half price at the register. I don't think they actually price the item on the shelf at half-price though. That's the confusing part.

The sign is very misleading! Why didn't they just state 50% off a gallon? I would call the store, request from now on they word their advertisement so it is clear to one and all what the actual cost really is.

exactly......"taking it at face value as-it-was-written, the milk should have been 1.79 for 2 units."

because that's exactly how they take my money...."for face value"

Jayokie, our Ralphs grocery store does the same thing. But they don't physically mark each item at the sale price. Each item is marked at the regular price and there is a sign that indicates a discount price if you use your card.

That's the difference. The items are all marked at the regular price, with the discount noted in the sign. Which, in this case, would imply the $1.79 is the regular price.

I'd have called them on it.

And not been at all surprised when they explained that I wasn't getting what they claimed that they were offering.

Usually if they say "2 for $XX", I ask someone what the price of one is, if I want only one. Often it's a higher number than half of the stated amount.

Sometimes I'll buy the two, even if I don't expect to use the second soon ... and not if it may spoil in the meantime ... (even if "meantime" means about three years).

ole joyful

P.S. Actually, when it comes to precision of composition, grammar and spelling ...

... a number of the offerings here leave somewhat to be desired.

o j

Well seeing as I am always confused on the prices of stuff this one would have totally misled me!

Mis-understanding and not an un-usual one.

The store is doing BOGO If you had bought one item it would have been the regular price of $3.59 per gal. On a BOGO the computer scans the bar code and holds the item until another is check thru then cuts the price of the 2 to 1/2 amount each. Also it is a BOGO for card holders only. If you don't present a card you don't get the BOGO and 2 gal would have cost $3.59 @. With the store MVP card you would only Pay $1.79 per gal if you get both.

Only reason a price on both is for the inventory to be accounted correctly. Every item has to be priced and checked out at the register or accounted for by report of usage for store or damage. What isn't accounted for in inventory is usually chalked up to theft.

My good friend does the computer pricing for a different major food chain and she told me all this because I questioned her about it when I got the same confuddlement over a card holder BOGO.

I hope I've helped some

CT

No apology needed. I understand the confusion. No bait & switch, no rip off, but clearly a misunderstanding.

coloredthumb made the point I was going to make. But one more issue. Several are going off demanding something as unfair, but there's a very important piece of the puzzle missing. What would ONE unit ring on the register??? Is it $1.79 or $3.59?

Also I'm not clear. You're saying they put price tags on each of the milk cartons saying $1.79? If so, definitely confusing, but the sign made the point, albeit confusingly, and nobody has the right to demand something because they misunderstood something. Contrary to popular belief, the customer IS NOT always right. It's all in the "fine print", subject to change. There's no contract on it.

That said, if I were the store manager in this situation, I'd reprimand the one who made the sign. And I'd give the $1.79 refund to you, as long as you were nice about it! ;)

I'd think it appropriate to complain about the sign being unclear but that's about it. But if you see how one unit rings, it would make your argument a lot more credible if it rings $1.79 on a one unit purchase.

I think it does set a good example of the failure of the educational system when the employees are making signs like this. It's not difficult to make it a little more clear and avoid the hassle. It's amazing what I see when I work (and shop) in retail stores!