Morality at the Grocery Store ~ Thrifty Under Fifty: Living & Gift-Giving on the Cheap
Morality at the Grocery Store

Monday, March 23, 2009

Morality at the Grocery Store

A couple of weekends ago I got 20 flour tortillas for 32 cents and left the grocery store feeling like I saint. Here's how:

I watch the grocery store scanner like a hawk.

The store nearest our apartment has good deals, but the sales are frequently unmarked on the shelves and about half of the items have no price label on them whatsoever. I carry the weekly sales flier with me through the store, carefully choosing the correct brands and sizes. Often, my husband will unload the cart while I point out a mistake or two to the person checking us out.

Invariably, there is a mistake. We leave with a correction on our receipt maybe once out of every two or three visits. Not good odds.

A few weekends ago I noticed a sale on flour tortillas, so I picked up two packages. Like usual, the packages themselves didn't have price tags. The cashier scanned them for $2.09 apiece, which I knew was too high.

She asked me how much they were marked for. $1.69, I thought.

She canceled the sale and punched in the new price. Only she forgot the last number and charged us 16 cents.

I'll admit it: I hesitated. We've gotten ripped off here before. But I pointed out the error.

Now it was time for her to hesitate. But only for a moment. It must have been a long day, because she left the price alone.

If the price rings up a dime more than it should be, I keep my mouth shut. Maybe 20 cents. But more than that, I'll let the cashier know. I'm nice about it, and they are too. Do you point out mistakes to cashiers?

1 comment:

  1. I would but I always forget to look at the computer!

    ReplyDelete