Check Your Receipt Before You Check Out
Every year consumers lose more than $2.5 billion due to store scanner errors.
Dec. 8. 2008 — -- Every year consumers lose more than $2.5 billion because of store scanner errors, according to consumer surveys.
Nobody wants to be overcharged, especially in this economy. So the "Good Morning America" price check team investigated, shopping at a dozen stores in New York, New Jersey and Virginia. We scoured the aisles and scanned the circulars looking for price match-ups and mix-ups.
At KB Toys, we saw a sign for Pokemon key chains -- buy one, get one for 50 percent off. But at the register, the scanner didn't recognize the sale. Luckily the clerks did and corrected the price.
At Walgreens, we couldn't pass up a hat and scarf sale -- two for $5. But when we realized we were charged $6 instead of $5, we went back and talked to a manager who refunded the difference. Walgreens later told us the mistake was on the sign, not on the scanner, and apologized for the confusion.
At Target, we cruised the kitchen section and spotted miniature spatulas on sale for $4.99. Original price? $6.99. Then we noticed tiny print stating the sale had ended more than two weeks ago. And sure enough, at checkout, the spatulas rang up for $6.99.
Target told us it "is committed to accurate pricing. We apologize for the inconvenience guests experience when outdated promotional signs are not promptly removed from the sales floor. We constantly strive to ensure price accuracy and have processes in place to help team members remove signs once promotions have ended. We appreciate 'Good Morning America' bringing this to our attention and have taken steps to fix the problem."
From 2004 to 2008, a team of inspectors investigated whether products were ringing up wrong prices at 120 Target stores in 30 California counties. "We found a pattern of overpricing," said Mark Hanson, a division manager for Sonoma County Weights and Measures.
Violations were found by 75 percent of the inspectors. "There is no law that says you have to change your prices every week. If you do that, then you have an obligation to charge your customer the best price," said Hanson.
