This past Friday, my husband Bill and I went shopping at the Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah. As an aside note, we went to the Oglethorpe Mall because our teenager wanted something for Christmas with a certain label attached to it which cannot be purchased in Statesboro.
We made our purchase, and on our way back to the car, we walked through a large bookstore. I think we all know which one I am referring to. We saw this very nice book at a stellar price, so Bill went up to the cashier to buy it.
The cashier scanned the book and promptly told us that we owed three times more than the advertised price back on the display. My husband said that the price we were being charged was not the advertised price and that was wrong.
The cashier promptly replied, "The computer says this is what it is." Bill went and retrieved another one of the books with the sales price actually on it, and gave it to him.
His response, "Oh, then you owe this." Not "I'm sorry for the inconvenience" or anything of that nature.
Since I do the majority of shopping for my family, I know how many times items are rung up at a wrong, higher price. It happens all of the time. It has gotten to the point that I have to check every single transaction that I do to make sure that I am being charged the advertised sales price regardless of the type of store that I am in.
I will also bet you that I find mistakes in one out of three transactions where I am the purchaser and there are "sales" items involved.
I can no longer trust that I am being charged the right price. As times have changed, we, as consumers, have had to educate ourselves in virtually every area of consumption, and now I have to go behind and check every retail transaction that I make from food to clothes to make sure that I am not being "ripped off."
In my opinion, when someone advertises something for one price, enticing you to buy it, and rings it up at another, they are ripping you off. They are no better than the shoplifter, because effectively, they are shoplifting out of my pocket book.
As an advocate and proponent of business, I am issuing this call to action. Retailers and grocery store operators, get your computers to match the prices that you are advertising. Do not stick an advertisement on a table of clothes unless the discount applies to everything on the table, and when something goes off special, remove the sign!
I have not decided if it is a conscious effort to pad the bottom line or just bad business. I would like to think that well intentioned, unknowing shoppers are not being preyed upon, but most of the time when I point out a mistake to a cashier, I get the patented, "Sorry, sometimes things just aren't in the computer right." And, they don't seem surprised at all, which tells me, it is "old hat", and part of the way that business is done today. What a shame.
In response to the Soundoff question regarding the Southern Buffet, the marquis states that they are opening today. Hope this is helpful.
Until next week, I bid you au revoir.
Got a scoop for Jan? Call her at (912) 489-9463 or e-mail her at jmoore@statesboroherald.net