Over-Charged AGAIN at Super Target; Absolute Last Straw

I worked retail for nine years and I would say about 70% of the time,
the customer who thinks they're being overcharged is wrong. They
either read the sign wrong or sometimes, I swear, see a sign or price
label that doesn't exist. This is probably why Target didn't just
"take your word for it" regarding the pricing. However, there is the
other 30% of the time when the customer is overcharged which is
usually a problem with not getting old ad signs pulled.

While mistakes happen, what would have irritated me the most about
your situation is that the manager was standing around gabbing instead
of rectifying the situation. I can't tell you how many times I've seen
customers who need assistnace and the employees will finish their
personal conversation before helping them. And they have no shame
about it. They think that the customer SHOULD WAIT until they've
finished telling their co-worker about their bad date the night
before. It's unbelievable.

Regarding pricing errors, I had an incident at Wal-mart in
Albuquerque, New Mexico a couple months ago where the 20oz. soda I was
buying rang up at a higher price than the label stated. It happened to
be from the cooler that was directly in front of the cashier. So when
I alerted the cashier to the incorrect price she did what any good
cashier would do, she removed the label, threw it away, blamed the
vendor for the pricing error and refused to adjust the price of my
soda. Needless to say I was irrate although I have to say that now I
laugh about the ridiculousness of it all and wonder exactly when it
was that competence went out the window.

I wonder if it wasn't an honest mistake and whomever was responsible
for changing the signage simply missed that one. You certainly ARE
entitled to pay the price marked on the signage, but I don't think
this is some big evil plot to screw you out of your money.

Why do you keep going then? Doesnt seem worth the hassle.


Good Day

You're letter is great, except the part when you intentionally budged
in front of everyone to interrupt him. If I were that customer in
line, I would have been quite irritated if someone just cut me off.
That could have been completely avoided, and you can always take a
better approach.

Ugh, I think that if this manager doesn't want to manage, she needs a
new job. I'd be so frustrated if I were a cashier working under her!!

Here in Michigan, we have an item pricing consumer protection act that
states that;

- All items must have a price tag affixed to them.
- By law the consumer is required to pay the affixed price and nothing
more.
- If an automated scanning system charges you more than the affixed
price, you are owed the difference plus a bonus of 10X the difference
with a minimum of $1 and maximum of $5.
- If you are overcharged on multiple identical items, you are owed the
bonus once but a refund of the difference for the number of times you
were overcharged.
- Retailers may exempt 20 specific items from individual pricing if
their names, sizes, and prices are conspicuously posted on a sign in a
public entrance to the store.

Many retailers hate the fact that every single item is required to be
priced, but it eliminates the confusion of remembering everything. It
makes it so easy to get your refund when you are overcharged because
it is right there on the item. Plus, you get the bonus.

You should suggest to the attorney generals office in your state a
similar program. Write to your congressman or the AG office itself.
These are the types of retailers these consumer protection acts seek
to prevent.

It could hurt your credit. Just stop using it. It costs Target money
to have it open every month anyway.

I agree 100% with everything. I hope Target sends someone to this
store to deal with management. They are the ones who program in the
new prices. This is ridiculous.

it sounds like you had last straws before?

however, i do agree that being overcharged and then charged for
something you didn't purchase is bad and needs to be fixed

the one thing i do disagree with you on is this...

"I interrupted him while he was checking out someone else to do that"

Regardless of how upset you are, it's not entitlement to budging ahead
of others.

Sure you'll say that "my kid was screaming" but... I jsut can't help
but think that...
1) the people you budge ahead of could have as pressing needs as you,
even if they aren't showing it

2) if it'd been reversed and someone budged ahead of you, you might
not like it either.

However, if this keeps happening to you... then by all means stop
going there.

I would be so irritated. I wonder if there is anyway to contact the
state and see if they will do a price audit on the store.

At least twice a year, my store is audited by an outside source to
make sure we have accurate pricing. I'm not really sure who audits the
store...I just know we get in trouble if we have, at the very least,
three incorrect prices.

My local target seems to be fairly accurate with their prices. As
someone who does pricing/merchandising, I'm always paying attention to
what rings up as what and so forth.

It sounds like this Target needs to talk to their pricing team. Maybe
it's understaffed or just plain ol' lazy. Who knows. (that's not
really an excuse either!) It just irritates me that some people can
take their job very seriously and other company's employees don't.

I could be wrong, but if I had to guess, I would say that this is a
local issue. It sounds as if they are great at marking down items
with signage, and not so great at actually inputting the information
into their systems.

This issue is certainly frustrating! I have found that one of my
local Walgreens has the same issue...an item will be marked one thing
and scan in at a higher price. In one trip to them I had 2 or 3 items
ring up incorrectly. Since I was in a hurry and the total I was
overcharged was less than $4, I didn't bother. Must be really nice
for them considering how much money they are bringing in that isn't
rightfully theirs!

I think voting with your dollars is the way to go in this situation.
Hopefully someone in corporate reads this letter and realizes that
there is a real issue with this location. Not just the pricing
issues, but also the way management treated the situation.

It is a shame you had to do that. I would probably not go back there
if I were you.

This is the second time this week I'm saying something I rarely
say...

Don't go back to that store! I wouldn't give them one more penny of my
money. Reading your letter made me realize how great my Target is.
Everyone there bends over backwards to help customers. And if you
dispute a price at the register, the cashiers are authorized to make
an adjustment without having it verified or approved.

You have given them plenty of opportunity to do the right thing, and
they obviously couldn't care less about you or your business. Unless
that store undergoes a complete overhaul, I'd stay away.

Your frustration comes through loud and clear and you have every right
to feel that way.

It's not just the overcharge...it's the abject apathy you're met with
when you try to get the issue resolved. That's got to be maddening.


It doesn't matter if the employees have to deal with hundreds of
customers every day. It doesn't matter if mistakes are made because
they're only human. When confronted with a problem of their making,
any employee you come into contact with should be respectful, gracious
and willing to do what's necessary to get the problem solved. The net
result should be that you feel valued as a customer who makes a
conscious decision to spend her money in one of their stores.

Clearly you don't feel valued and, given the circumstances of your
case, we wouldn't either.

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