UNITED STATES—How often do you check your receipts? Why do I ask that question? If you don’t you can find yourself being overcharged. This recently happened to me at a retailer where I was picking up a few Xmas gifts.
I love a good deal and I’m all about saving money any way that I possibly can. Why? The budget for many Americans is tight right now. We have to find a way to navigate things so that our funds stretch just a bit more when we need it most: the most expensive time of the year.
So, I had purchased a few items that were on a sale rack. Most of the items were accurately ringing up at the register, but one item not so much. I felt something was off when I was given the total, but I didn’t think too much of it and paid for my order. However, right before I left the store, I decided to check my receipt to make sure all was right.
Good thing I looked at that receipt, because my instinct was right. One of the items did not ring up at the discounted price that it was expected to. It was to be 70 percent off the ticket price, but the register only did it at 40 percent. You might think that doesn’t matter, but you would be wrong. I went from saving $20, to saving $35. Yeah, that is a $15 difference.
The money I actually spent on my order; I got that back plus some more. I know there are so many people out there, who refuse to complain if the price of an item is not correct. Sorry, I’m not one of those people. I work way too hard for my money to just frivolously spend it and not be charged the right price for what I expect an item to be.
Here is the thing, if something is marked a certain price, or appears on a certain shelf or discount rack, you expect that to be the price for the item when you are checking out at the register. Perhaps there are those Americans who can get away with those things and they don’t have to care about price, but I’m not one of those individuals. Price matters and I have to be attentive to what I’m spending so I don’t overspend on the budget that is in my wallet and bank account.
The holidays are all about getting a good deal, and whenever you can make that happen it is a fabulous feeling. With that said, the place where you absolutely have to check your receipts all the time is the grocery store. They will overcharge you to death on items and Americans just don’t look at the receipts. This tends to happen a lot with produce that is priced by the pound. So, things are sometimes incorrectly entered into the retailer’s computer system.
What does that mean? Whatever is in that system is the price that item will ring up. I cannot tell you how many times that has happened for me and I had to go to the customer service counter or send an email or make a call about being overpriced. The grocery chains don’t expect the consumer to check the receipt, but I’m here to tell you, make it a habit. You could literally be tossing hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars away each year.
Written By Jason Jones
