When you buy something, this might sound like dumb common sense, but check your receipt before you pay, and/or before you leave.
It takes 10 seconds to scan (no need to hold up the line), and another 20 seconds to quickly scan for bigger items to make sure it looks okay.
You just never know, they may forget to give you that discount, or end up charging you the wrong price for the item.
Then when you get home, you get angry because you realize that you have to now drive all the way back and get it fixed by waiting in line behind other exasperated customers for half an hour, who are all filling out endless forms.
This is especially true in a grocery store.
You’d be surprised how sneaky they are.
Once, I saw Liberté Méditerranée Yoghurt on sale at 2 for $5 (or $2.50 each, there is rule or policy here that you had to purchase 2 to obtain the $5 discount, which is something really nice about the grocery stores here).
I picked up Fraise (Strawberry) and Citron (Lemon). Got to the check out counter, and I noticed she charged me $2.50 for the Strawberry, but $3.99 (the original price) for the Lemon.
What gave!?
Luckily, I checked as she was scanning them in, and she called for a price check.
Turns out, they had priced ALL the yoghurts at 2 for $5, EXCEPT the Lemon one.
Naturally, I told them to put back the Lemon one, and I just took one Strawberry instead (although if given the choice, I would have purchased 2 Strawberry yoghurts had I known about this Lemon trick but it was too late being at the counter already).
But if I had gotten home, would I have driven all the way back for $1.49? Maybe not, depending on how far I live.
I may have just said “Screw it, I already imagined myself eating Lemon yoghurt happily while blogging, I’ll just eat it and be more careful next time.”
But since I checked before I even paid, it was just a simple button to cancel the sale on there.
Easy peasy.
This is not an isolated event either and happens at least once every three times we go to the store.
Once I bought mushrooms (mid-priced exotic ones), and they charged me the wrong price, and coincidence of coincidences, it was the MOST expensive amount ($19.25/LB) that could have been charged for mushrooms.
I complained after paying and noticing the mistake, and got ‘em for free.
Free mushrooms taste amazing in an omelette by the way.
And it doesn’t just happen in grocery stores (although they are the biggest culprits). I’ve had this happen in retail stores like Best Buy & Jacob clothing.
Don’t be a statistic and give away free cash based on laziness!
Check ALL of your receipts quickly before moving on to save yourself a potential headache and hassle.
- How we screw ourselves over
- Creatures of habit
- 10 Tips to save money on Groceries each month
- Coupon Cactus: A new site for cash back and coupons
- Haggling: Part Two – When I do it and when I don’t
