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The Kitchen Table

Do you check your sales receipts?

12 years ago

Often I don't check my grocery store receipts. Fortunately I did check today but only after I got home.

I discovered that I had been charged $25 for 48 (yes, 48) pounds of bananas. I had purchased about 4 pounds. I'm sure the store will correct this unless they can prove that I have a house full of monkeys!!

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Comments (18)

kayjones
12 years ago
LOL,Seniorgal!

Yes, I check my receipts MOST of the time, but especially Walmart receipts - they are 'famous' for charging for more than the cost of the items or for more than you actually got. They have cameras over all the registers, so it's not hard to decide if a claim is true or not. I also tally in my head as I go along, so I have a good idea of about what the total should be. If it's more than a few dollars off, I don't leave the store until it's corrected.
susanjf_gw
12 years ago
you bet they'll repay you plus, in some states, extra...that's just plain crazy...

we save all recipts plus i have a tub on the table to save anything from christmas...i also save them for a month after in case the family need to return something...
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I do have to say, if someone in front of me told the cashier to wait while they unloaded, I'd tell them to let me go in front of them then! Or I'd blow a cork and let out with some choice phrases. There's no right to hold people up while you put your stuff up there, the cashier is SUPPOSED to move people through quickly! Can you imagine how much longer it would be if the cashier had to wait for everyone to say "OK" before they started doing their job? If you want to watch it ring in, bring someone with you to unload the cart for you. That's your expense, not the store's nor the other customers'. As for the first items you didn't see, it's a simple thing. Look at the first few items on the receipt! Granted, some receipts sort items but still it'd be the first items in the category on those. Couple things I do when going on a "larger" shopping trip. First I organize my list into groups. For instance, produce/deli, canned goods, meat, refrigerated, frozen, bakery, etc and then I can go through with minimal backtracking. Then, if I have a price I want to remember, I write it on the list next to the item. This way if I need a certain dollar amount for a special purchase or coupon or something I have it on there to total up too. I also prefer to bag my own groceries. I double bag, sort by refrigerated, frozen, canned and fragile items. This time of year there's a lot of fundraising where high school kids offer to bag your groceries. Usually I politely decline otherwise I have to do far more sorting when I get home. I don't really mind putting my own groceries in my vehicle. But I DO object to this business of checking out twice at a store. I can't stand Scam's Club and Crustco just because of that. I don't go to Walmart much but if they're doing it now too, I would turn around, return EVERYTHING and never return. I should give praise though where it's due. I was at a Target picking up a few things and they had cat litter on sale. I put two buckets in the cart and one of the clerks came up and asked if he could bring them up front so I would have more room in the cart and less weight to deal with! That was kind. I happened into another Target later that week and the sale was so good I thought I'd pick up two more. While I was checking out, the cashier asked if I would like some help loading it into my car! I thanked her and said no, I'd be fine, and she got a real sincere, concerned look and said "Are you SURE, it'd be no problem!". Wow. Either I really look like death warmed over or they are some nice people. Granted, not all are that way, but these episodes deserve recognition. And in fairness, I do have to say, even though we all hate it when something is mispriced, the number of times is actually quite rare. Consider the number of trips you make when you check them and things are right. And also, there's a number of times that I've been over-credited, or something wasn't rung in or whatever. Even though I watch pretty close, use the self scanners in the stores and actually I like to use the self-checkouts too. Then I can watch the prices more closely, bag things the way I like and feel more confident about the entire thing. I still would like to see the smaller grocery store come back. But I know it can't. People want Walmart. People love Walmart. People want supercenters. For some reason people want to go to a Megabucks to get their morning coffee, then to a Boozers Bagels for breakfast, but they want to be able to buy their paint and car batteries at the same time they buy their green beans and hamburger. Argue all you want but it's true. Walmart is the way they are because people want it that way. If they didn't, Walmart wouldn't be the size they are. People are cheap. Not frugal people, but people as a whole are cheap and don't want a mom & pop store to make a dollar. And that's sad. Remember the mom & pop stores? They'd pack your groceries carefully and carry them out. No need to ask for double bagging, if it needed it, it was done. They'd extend you some credit and put a candy bar or two in for the kids. If the apples were bruised they'd mark them down or replace them. Even the "super markets" would bag and carry out and you didn't have to stop for lunch going from one side of the store to the other. C'mon now, do we REALLY need 67 different kinds of peanut butter? 140 kinds of laundry detergent? 8 different brands of canned corn? I guess today we they do.
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dedtired
12 years ago
I always check my grocery receipts. One time my total seemed very high and I was charged for 100 cantaloupes instead of one. An honest mistake. Another time the checker (young kid) was drinking a can of cherry coke and when I got home I noticed that he had charged me for it! You better bet I was back at that store in a heartbeat to point out his "mistake".
moonie_57 (8 NC)
12 years ago
Like kay, I keep a running tally in my head and usually I'm very close. If not, I check the receipt before walking away from the register.
azzalea
12 years ago
Yes, and a number of times, I've found that I was charged for things I didn't want--several times, WalMart has added a service contract on things without even asking.

Also a good idea to carefully check your change. We've been shortchanged a number of times lately. Not sure if the sales people are that stupid (how dumb do you have to be to not be able to read and count out the change the register TELLS you to give the customer) or if they're purposely doing it, and adding our change to a friend who may come through the line later? Frankly, I suspect it's the latter--it's been happening too frequently lately.
sue_va
12 years ago
I mostly buy groceries at Krogers and I don't check my receipts until I get home because I don't like standing around the area of the checkouts, which is right near the door with people coming and going.

Recently after shopping at KMart, and checking my receipt at home, I noticed a bag of Hershey kisses had not been rung up. It was about 2 weeks before I got back to KMart, and I took the candy and receipt to show them. I was thanked, twice, for doing that.

So it works both ways.

Sue
Lily316
12 years ago
I self scan and look each time I scan something. It was BOGO blueberries and blackberries. I scanned one for $3.99 and the next said 0, but when I got home I was charged for both. So I took the receipt in and got my $3.99 tonight.
chisue
12 years ago
Of course I check. Why wouldn't you?

I also stand to the side of the pharmacy counter and make sure I've received *my* order -- correct medicine, correct strength, correct number of pills. (I don't actually count the pills until I get home; that hasn't been an issue.) They won't credit your account if you've left the pharmacy, and I don't want to make another trip anyway.
goldy
12 years ago
Always check your recipes.I brought Liz Taylors parfume.I brought two and was charged for one.I took it back .It works both ways.Honesty is your best policy.
jannie
12 years ago
No I dont. But I watch like a hawk when I'm at the checkout. And I prefer those scan yourself checkouts. If there's a problem, I deal with it before I leave the store.
bee0hio
12 years ago
Of course I check. Why wouldn't you?

Lazy? Careless? Distracted?

Me: Guilty to all of the above. I have often vowed to check the receipt or watch the screen when the cashier is ringing up, but more often than not, I never even look at the total when I sign for the credit card receipt. Sometimes I'm still taking things out of the cart & can barely keep ahead of the cashier's ringing things up.

I feel like I would notice if the total was way out of bounds, but ... maybe not? If I had to pinch my pennies, I undoubtedly would focus on this more, which, I know, flies in the face of my saying "I am not a spendthrift."
Marilyn Sue McClintock
12 years ago
Yes, I always check mine.

Sue
Chi
12 years ago
I rarely do though I really should. I watch usually as things are rung up, especially if I bought sale/clearance items because they often don't ring up correctly. If something seems higher than I expected, I'll take a look then but I'm not as diligent as I should be, especially since I use cards for 99% of my purchases and there's less connect with the money when you swipe a card compared to counting out cash.
wildchild
12 years ago
Always.
goldy
12 years ago
When you go to those "self check out" you are knocking some kid out of a job.I will stand in line no matter how long it takes.You are paying the same thing.Please think about it the next time.Jobs going overseas and people doing what someone else could be paid for doing.
nicole__
12 years ago
Yes.....I went back to Safeway today, I drive past that store every day so it's not out of my way to stop, they over charged me $1.36....but why should I shop a sale and NOT get the advertised price? Right!
homemadecountrylife
12 years ago
I do now. Two nights before this past Thanksgiving I needed to get some last minutes groceries as the number of guests had changed.

I bought:

2 bottles of Candied Ginger 50% off of $10.99 (each)
Garlic 4/2.00
bag of Potatoes $1.99
Butter $1.49
3 - 12 packs of Coke
a loaf of Bread

The cashier who rang me up said the candied ginger was on sale as a BOGO, on top of being 50% off of each.

My bill came to $37!!! I KNEW that was high but there was 30 people in line behind me, so I took it all to my car, got in and re-read my receipt.
The cashier charged me FULL price for BOTH of the candied ginger and for 4 heads of Lettuce (What?!?!)! The heads of lettuce alone were accounting for $8.00 of the overcharge. So I go back in to their service desk and wait for 35 minutes their and straighten it all out. The nice lady gives me the garlic that they mistakenly added as lettuce, for free. And I got $15 back for being over charged for the candied ginger. A major, major mess, but one I learned from!

I especially check Walmart's after a cashier insisted a salad dressing was a dollar higher, when I said it wasn't. I told her I would wait while she went to the isle and checked it for herself. She did and in a huff and I was right. My Mom and I now mark on each package the price of each item we add to our carts. Less confusion, reminds us, helps the cashier (weather they believe or not :), and keeps track of the total easier, too :)

I know during the holidays you will get over charged more mostly by accident, the cashiers are tired and overworked, so I understand it happens, but it is a hassle :)
lynn_d
12 years ago
I'm like beeohio, and I know that I should not. The funny thing is that I double check every charge that comes thru on my boss' card and our business account.

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