I bought a small heater because of the price that was showing. Checked out and the register showed another price, which I quickly told that was not the price by the heater. They honored the price and quickly moved the old sign.

You were right, he had a stinky attitude. Doesn't build goodwill.

Of course! I was buying a top at Loft and when the cashier rang it up, it was full price. I said it came off the sale rack and it was the only one of it's kind. I shop petite and this section is small, so not hard to see everything available.

She gave me the discount but told me I couldn't return it, she would get in trouble. I liked it and tried it on so I was keeping it, so no problem there.

What I think happened was this was a return from an online purchase.

If I were you I would be thankful that it was sloppy on someone's part. But I would also expect the sign to apply to my purchase.

Some of those sale signs will have removal dates on them in teeny-tiny writing for the staff to have them removed and unless I have my reading glasses on and look for those dates I won't see them. And besides, maybe they decided to hold over the 50% sale, how are you supposed to know.

In mgr's defense, he was accommodating but I think a little annoyed at me or perhaps himself 4 not being up to speed w/ signs, etc. At least he wasn't like the lady in the yarn shop that wouldn't help customer get a larger size or at least pretend to care and offer to help. Somebody's thread here. Me, I'm lucky and my kitchen smells like froufrou, to DH's chagrin

What really ticks me off are the signs in large letters that shout 50% OFF, but in teeny tiny print above it says up to.

I read somewhere that it takes 10 min. to earn customer loyalty and 10 YEARS to regain if you pi@@ them off

I tell you what Steinmart is the absolute worst about misleading signs. My husband refuses to shop there any more because of their tricky misleading signs. They will have a round rack with a big sign up on top of it for say 25% off. So the normal person would think that applies to everything on that particular round rack. But you would be wrong! Only the items directly below the sign on the rack are discounted the rest of the rack is not. Of course people move the clothing around on the rack so it gets all mixed so you discover this at the register. After spending the time to try on something you would not bother with if you knew what would be charged. I would imagine quite a few people don't even realize it and pay for it and leave. I had it happen on a purse there. The ads were completely misleading, we drove all the way there based on the ad. I was furious we have not been back. I hate that because I like some of their merchandise. But I won't support that kind of business. Plus they fill the aisles with so much junk there no way to get around on my scooter or wheelchair. I told them I would be reporting them for non compliance to the Disability laws.

I hold places accountable for inaccurate labeling and applaud you for doing the same. I can understand individual labeling mistakes but a large display should have been quickly fixed. IMHO, you were right and I'm glad they honored it. BBB is usually pretty good about that.

I think my favorite story on this was back in 2000, we decided to purchase a full size van to accommodate my husband's DJ business (better than a small PU truck). We saw an ad in the paper that had some vans marked down about $7,500. All the vans I saw didn't have features I wanted. They took us to a remote lot, I found a van and said ok....this works; take 7,500 off. They said no and immediately separated my husband and I so they could try to convince me to pay a higher price. Hubby found another van and found a tag inside the vehicle that said "Was 32,000, now 20,500". He grabbed the tag and walked back to me saying he found a deal. Well, that he did!

Took the tag back to the office and they tried hard to dismiss the tag and make the sale at full price but I wouldn't budge. We got the vehicle for 20,500 and they were not happy (but they still made the sale so you know they didn't lose $$$). They had their sales staff sweep the remote lot to make sure there were no other tags out there (there were several others too!).

Had that van for 12 years before it bit the dust.

I find Hancocks is notoriously for pulling this stunt: Offer a 20% off disc that is not applicable to sales item. Then they put something on sale by a few cents. Technically on sale so cant use good coupon, yet close to enough to regular price. It annoys me so much!

Any retail manager knows that the law states the price is what they list the price at. They are obligated to honor their listed price even if it was a mistake. For me if I know they made a mistake I ask them to honor the price but do not force it. Doesn't mean I won't call a higher up the next day to report my experience to them when someone refuses to honor the price or is rude.

I don't think a store has to honor a mistaken price ...but that varies by state.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2010/09/your-rights-as-a-consumer/index.htm

The sign in the store says the computer printer is $2.49, but it rang up at $249. Saying it was an error, the store is refusing to honor the posted price.

The law

It's generally a myth that retailers must honor a posted price if it's simply a mistake, although some stores might do so as a matter of policy or on a case-by-case basis. The issue gets murky if the retailer begins processing the order, something that is more likely to happen online, says Jane Winn, a professor at the University of Washington Law School. But even then, she says, a merchant might be able to cancel the purchase if the price was so low that a buyer should have known it was mistake. An online retailer's fine print may relieve it of the duty to fulfill orders based on pricing errors.

You should know

Businesses that intentionally post false prices or that otherwise engage in bait-and-switch pricing can be liable under federal and state consumer-protection statutes.

Bossyvossy, I think you have that saying backwards. It can take years to develop a loyal relationship with a customer and only seconds to lose it entirely.

Large retail businesses stock thousands of items, adjust prices up and down frequently for "sales", and have to keep control of all these items (product handling and sign changing) with underpaid employees, most of whom don't think of their retail jobs as their ultimate dream career positions. Mistakes are frequent and expected, that's why normally what the label scan shows as the price is usually controlling.

Even a manager at a store like Bed Bath etc. has less invested in what he or she is doing than if you were dealing with the owner of the business. At a large chain, a customer complaint plays at a loud volume while a price adjustment may not even be noticed, so you can expect what they're inclined to do.

Many moons ago when I myself (when a student) had a part-time retail job, I learned that some people cruise stores looking for pricing mistakes (often the ones acting indignantly about such things) and others who seem encounter them innocently, honestly, and bring the matter up politely. Having had psychology and learning about Pavlov and his dogs, I was always very accommodating to the second group and much less so to the first.

Thank you for correcting me, SWW, but backwardness notwithstanding, I think most people got that it is cheaper and easier to KEEP an existing customer than to get a new one. And there is a study than says it's by a factor of 10. Anyway, I guess I must have been sweet as I got the discount I believed I was entitled to. And I do agree with you that there are consumer sharks out there. One time I was at a group lunch and the leader made a scene about not getting bread quickly enough, and demanding the entire meal be comped. The rest of us were all embarrassed and paid for our share, all except the complaining party.

PS. @snidely, I think you would be the Perfect BBB store manager as you would never let mistakes go by. Again, thank you for correcting me.

you also suggest that since retail jobs are not most people's dream jobs, that more mistakes happen. Is that acceptable? Dishwashing at restaurant is even less of a dream job. Does it mean I should be more tolerant of filthy flatware?????

Well, then there's the one that isn't even an error. I was looking for furniture for a new business. It wasn't going to get a lot of wear--not like waiting room furniture, which is expensive, so was looking for retail bargains--but I needed a stylish sofa that could manage a fully stretched out man for a nap. There was the perfect stylish but not overtrendy, long, deep, comfy sofa right in the front. Obviously, a special. Medium quality leather--the kind that's textured to hide the stretch marks, so also doesn't show scratches (a good thing). White. So, then the salesman starts showing me color and quality options, pillows, etc. Even just in a different color the sofa was more than three times the price of the white one, and the white would look fine in the space. He was beside himself that he couldn't budge me and had to sell the (custom made, hand tied and sewn) advertised loss leader to me at the advertised price. :) Poor guy. I don't think there's any commission on a loss leader. :)

It's true that stores can't be held to egregious pricing errors, like the misplaced decimal. It's less straightforward, however, if it's advertised, rather than just signage, and if it's misleading rather than mistaken. If you could buy it yesterday for 50% off, but they forgot to remove the sign today, that's a lot different than expecting a printer for $2.49. OTOH, if there's a circular in the paper that says "Pennies on the dollar sale," and it's signed at just that price, it's more reasonable to think there was a customer expectation that this was an accurate price.

I would have asked for it to be honored but asking "was it that difficult to keep up w/signage?" seems rude to me. Mistakes happen, especially during the busy holiday season. Every single person here has made a mistake at a job before - it's human nature. I know I wouldn't appreciate a sarcastic comment about it before I even had a chance to fix it.

I could never deal with the public.

I am not saying that this applies to your situation I just found it odd and a little amazing, and this thread reminded me of it.

My son had a job at a large department store for the holiday season to take advantage of the 40% discount. A significant portion of his job was going through the clearance section and removing the items that people had put back into the wrong place. He was glad to do it, because a friend had the job of picking up items that people had thrown on top of the displays and into the floor.

I was interested in how the business worked and quizzed him mercilessly. Each day he goes in the store has changed. The merchandising team comes in at 5am and are responsible for repricing, signage, initial displays and restocking merchandise. Through the day items are moved and shuffled constantly, bare racks look bad as do racks that are too full. The store stopped doing additional percentages off because of return scams so all items are priced as marked, however, the price of items are set by corporate and entered directly into their POS system. The merchandising team is responsible for repricing and resigning hundreds of items every day that they may or may not be able to find. He told me that many of the Christmas gifts he bought were priced incorrectly (too high, so he was happy).

I wonder how any of these places manage to have any idea what they have or how much it is priced at.

Edit: This was one of the high priced with exclusive brands department stores.

bossy, I may have explained my comment poorly, but what I meant was that when there's leeway for the store employee, a customer who's nice and polite about a problem will always receive better service and more accommodating treatment than someone who acts like a jerk.

Filthy flatware? Haha, I'd say the nature of those employees is one of the reasons why commercial dishwashers rinse at something like 180 F. I wouldn't say you should tolerate it, but you certainly should expect it, at some places more than others.

I could count on just a few fingers how many times I've ever spoken up (or left a bad tip) because of a problem in a restaurant. When I encounter a situation I don't like, I just don't return (as per the other thread). To be rude when with a group of co-workers concerning something as trivial as bread is truly embarrassing.

Gotcha. These discussions are always interesting to me 'cause you read about the diff in people. there are flaws in all of us in diff degrees and in diff aspects. For example my friend who made scene at restaurant is a children's book writer, highly rated on Amazon b/c of her tender and sensitive writing, yet she was an opportunistic customer from hell on that particular day. I've been adorable to some and to some others just plain hideous, but I'm not giving details, ha

I see no reason for complaints or crabbiness if punishment/retribution is your end goal. If a complaint could MAKE CHANGE so no one else has to endure the offense, then I think it is our Christian Duty to right wrongs. Leaving, with no complaint, and never returning serves NO ONE, all it does is perpetuate your bitterness.

As to the original question. Signage HAS TO BE HONORED, in every State I have ever lived or shopped in, and will be if the customer asks. Having said that, having worked retail for many years it is POSSIBLE especially during the holiday rush for items to be returned to racks where they do not belong--BY CUSTOMERS mostly. In this instance I do not believe it is FAIR to expect the store to honor signage...but most will due to the priority of customer service. I applaud the sales associate who gave you the discount after the sale...too often I was in this situation, as the sales person..I HAVE TO uphold the store standards..not on sale--no discount. BUT if a manager was ever summoned so the customer could go over my head they ALWAYS got what they wanted. It is embarrassing and unfair, when the customer gives you a look like you were withholding on purpose. Please do not take your frustration on store policies out on poor shop girls!!!

I only did this once, to a local butcher. When I moved to this town, I wanted to duplicate how I lived in my previous neighborhood, by going to small business.

One day, I realized after I got home, that I was short changed $15. We had just moved, money was tight, so I called the store immediately. I was told to come in at my convenience. It was convenient for me to go right then

When I walked into the store, The man who short changed me announced loudly, "Well, you sure came back in a hurry." I found this disrespectful and it made me wonder if he purposely did this to others. This is an affluent town, and I could see others not noticing.

I never went back. I felt he should have just said, "So sorry for the error, hope to see you soon." The outcome would have been different for them.

Wow, it almost sounds like it was a deliberate shortchange by a guy who bet that most would not notice it. Clever way to steal, good you don't go there any more

"he had a stinky attitude".

I didn't get the sense that the manager had an attitude at all. He said that the sign didn't apply, and bossyvossy asked, firmly, how hard it is to keep up with signage. I actually find that comment confrontational. How hard would it have been to say, nicely, "oh - gee. Well, the sign is still there so I'm guessing that you'll honor the price, right"?

Stores should honor the price shown. Period. If it's wrong, too bad, so sad.

Where I work, we would take down the sign and give you 2/$20.00 as that is all we have to give. But, if you were really really nice about it, we would give you the 4@$10 each. It depends on the customers attitude. Nice person: better deal. And if you mention the code of scanning practice, we will take off up to another $10 for our mistake.

Also, I print the flyer for our store every week. I print on AVERAGE 7000 sale tags. How hard is it to take them all down? Work retail for 3 months and find out for yourself. We miss many of them each week. And we can go over the store 3 or 4 times, with two or 3 people and still miss them. It's easy. Please don't say, "how hard is it?" if you've never worked retail. Also: we do not HAVE to honour the sale tag. We do it for good customer service. Stores are allowed to have human error work on their side.

I have never worked in retail but suspect from looking at most workers that it is tough. But if you ask the Dr, the trash collector, the cook, the lawyer, the entertainer, they're all going to say their job is hard and you have to be in their place to understand how hard and reason for mistakes. I don't think the issue is whether mistakes are allowed, they happen, period. The issue is who PAYS or is ACCOUNTABLE for them in retail or anywhere, for that matter.

It would be interesting if somebody collected data on how much money a biz loses from worker errors, such as missing pricing tags, etc. vs. how much a biz loses from buyers that requested (politely or rudely) and got pricing as a result of such errors.

what is the code of scanning practice, never heard that term

"It would be interesting if somebody collected data on how much money a biz loses from worker errors, such as missing pricing tags, etc. vs. how much a biz loses from buyers that requested (politely or rudely) and got pricing as a result of such errors."

Losses from pricing errors (sometimes even intentionally done by employees selling to colleagues or friends), customer price adjustments, theft, returns of unsaleable goods that the store can't return to its supplier, etc, etc., are collectively called "shrinkage". It's the amount of revenue the store expects to have had (based on its purchases) but doesn't get. I think it runs in the 1-2% of sales range, depending on the store. Most retailers track this closely internally and probably analyze shrinkage trends in various ways, including by type and by location, but may only disclose total numbers to the public. Some amount of retail inventory shrinkage is inevitable and expected, but it's something the larger operators try to manage carefully and aggressively.

This is the webpage for the Scanner Price Accuracy Code that we have in Canada:Scanner Price Accuracy Code

I HAVE worked in retail on several occassions as a second job and yes, it, like any other job can have its moments and/or challenges but that's no excuse, it comes with the territory. To error is human and there is no getting around that, BUT when a store makes an error, they need to own it, not their customer. It's as plain and simple as that.

Bossy, I don't think you were out of line at all. In a case such as this, it's the manager's job is to gracefully say, oops you're right, the sign is still up, thank you for letting us know and of course we will honor the posted price.

A number of years ago, about the time that the little price stickers on each item were being phased out, I was looking at fish in a bunker in a major retail grocer, checked the price per lb. on the item and it was quite a lot higher than on a hand-lettered sign hanging over the bunker.

I called a store employee and said that I should get the item at the advertised price, as on the sign. He said that was the sale price that finished yesterday, but I persisted, saying the price on the sign was the price quoted, thus what I should have to pay. He re-priced my package, finally.

I walked around the store for about 10 min. or so, and when I returned, the sign was still there.

I called the manager, told him what had happened, and said that a number of us were rather deeply concerned that the sticker price wasn't to be on each item, any more.

He listened, politely, and spoke of the need for greater efficiencies, as I recall..

I don't recall whether he took the sign down - I think not. Don't remember whether I returned after another ten minutes to check.

If we just complain to the people involved and don't tell folks higher in management about our issue, there's little possibility of change. Even in our blood pressure.

ole joyful