Since the price to fill your grocery cart has soared by 28%, the mere possibility of being overcharged--on top of inflated price--by computer error, has shoppers like Patrick Carlson scouring receipts for pricing errors--which Carlson says have become common.
“You’ll find discrepancies eventually,” Carlson told KIRO 7. “I mean I find them almost every single time.”
Grocery store giants have been fined millions of dollars this year by government agencies in several states, for overcharging customers because of scanning errors. The Washington State Department of Agriculture used to conduct statewide random unannounced inspections of price-scanner systems at retailers to check for accuracy between prices advertised and prices at the register.
According to the department, the program no longer exists, due to a lack of funding.
In Oct., KIRO 7 viewers were asked on Facebook if they noticed pricing errors overcharging them, and 493 people quickly reacted. “This has become a constant problem. I watch the scanners like a hawk now,” commented one viewer. “If I didn’t check my receipt THEY would win,” added another.
A longtime grocery store manager who asked KIRO 7 to hide their identity to protect their job, says after working for several grocery corporations, scanner errors overcharging customers are occurring a lot more often.
“They’re not being charged what they expect to be charged,” said the store manager. It could exceed the twenty-dollar mark.’’
When asked how frequent scanning errors occurred the manager supposed, “Every third or fourth customer. It’s a lot.”
KIRO 7 put that to the test. We randomly shopped for items at Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, Target, Walmart and Walgreens stores in Snohomish, King and Pierce counties.
Out of a sample of ten transactions, we found three overcharging pricing errors at three different stores, with the highest overcharge of two dollars. All of the errors were noted and refunded by customer service at each store.
The store manager told KIRO 7 that very few customers diligently check their receipts but added those who do, often point out errors and request refunds.
One customer who buys a lot of Sparkling Ice sent us a receipt after he noticed he was charged a five-cent bottle deposit.
Washington is the only state on the West Coast without a bottle deposit program. A store worker told KIRO 7 it was likely a coding error, charging a bottle deposit from another state.
No one at the store could tell us how many customers were charged for that nickel deposit before the error was caught by one guy who checked his receipt.
The City of Seattle funds the only inspection system in the state to randomly check for price scanner accuracy.
John Megow manages a crew of Consumer Protection Inspectors for the city of Seattle’s Regulatory Compliance and Consumer Protection Department.
“We tell (store managers) that we’re here to conduct a price scanning inspection. And that’s an inspection to make sure that the price on the shelf matches what the customer’s charged at checkout.”
Megow’s Seattle team checked price accuracy at nearly 100 grocery stores so far this year and noticed a troubling trend.
“We’re seeing a higher fail rate, and we’re using the same inspection criteria,” he said. Megow said inspectors used to see an average of 4% to 5% of retailers fail inspections, which means more than 2% of what they scan are over-charges. This year, that fail rate jumped to 12%. Megow suggested prices are changing faster than workers can keep up with them, leading to more mistakes in posting the correct price.
“One (overcharge) that comes to mind is a bottle of alcohol that rang up $30, $20 more than what the shelf price,” said Megow. He said his inspectors warn the store of the failure and return for more unannounced inspections.
“If they fail a second one, we let them know that the third one that they could receive a citation and a fine associated with that. And it’s a $2,000 fine for the third violation,” he said.
Our incognito manager told KIRO 7 the overcharging issue isn’t intentional price gouging--but rather a chronic staffing issue plaguing the industry. The manager said typically, only one or two store workers are told to keep up with physically revising every tag in the entire store, and often workers just can’t keep up with potentially thousands of price changes daily.
“Look at your receipts,” the manager said. “Grocery prices are high enough. You’ll always get your money if the scanner is off.”
John Megow agrees.
“Pay attention to what you’re charged at check out,” he said. “And if you see a problem, give us a call.”
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