My husband and I went crazy at the DIY Handyman shop over the weekend to buy stuff for the house, so we had quite a stack of things to pay for at the cashier. I knew we probably overspent, but the bill still surprised me when it reached P9,000 plus.
I paid for the bill and then asked for the tape receipt. Rugs, check. Two different sizes of hooks, check. Car cleaning stuff, check.
“What’s this item that costs P4,200?” I thought my voice sounded really calm.
The cashier and her bagger checked each item and found that it really cost P99 but the scanner somehow made P4,200 appear on-screen. Great.
They voided the charge to my credit card and counted everything all over again, while my son complained of a missed meal and general tiredness at the things that adults worry about. I paid P5,121.23 instead of P9,291.48.
I was lucky it was a big item, that I spotted it and double-checked the tape receipt before I left the store. But what if these automatic scanners have been taking money from us without us knowing it? What if these are in increments of P50, or P100? Would we notice? What if they are already taking over the world?!! (kidding)
I once scoffed at my brother-in-law who checked each item in the tape receipt every time they went to the grocery. He may have a point after all. I just hate having to feel like I can’t trust something as simple as a scanner or barcode.
29 Responses to “Do you trust the bar code?”
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Pages: « 6 5 4 [3] 2 1 » Show All
November 12th, 2008 at 11:56 am
wow..thanx for informing us!
another problem for me is that most of the supermarkets & groceries do not put individual pricetag for each item.they usually just put a price in the shelves beneath the items. the problem is manytimes, the goods are mixed in the shelves. & you will spend more time checking what is its real price. Time is gold, so i feel bad about this.
because of this, sometimes, its very hard to compare prices. also a few times, you are misled of its true price
November 12th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Wow! I have to double check the prices then when they scan it. Thanks for the heads up Salve! I’m learning new things every time I read your articles here.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:21 am
wow that is really quite a shocking revelation. from now on i would definitely double-check my receipt everytime i make these purchases. thank you salve.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Hi Salve,
Would you still buy at DIY shop Salve?
This is bad. I doubt that this is a practice among retailers but it is good that you posted it.
I suggest that everyone keep away ( as far as you can) from DIY Handyman shop. If this is a practice of their store, then the DTI and BIR should crack down on all their stores. Pronto.
If it was a mistake, then how many more mistakes are there in their coding (inventory system). I suspect that they would have tens of thousands of items. Shucks! How many loyal clients have been victimized by this a.) practice or b.) mistake. Wow! Inexcusable.
Every code assigned to the items in their inventory is now suspect. So, why take the chance. I am sure their competitors will be more than willing to accommodate all of us.
Here is how bad this is:
1 customer x (4200-99=4101) = 4101
10 customers x 4101= 41010
100 customers x 4101= 410,100
1000 customers x 4101 = 4,101,000
and this is just for one item. It would be a bit obvious to customers who are diligent enough to review their tape receipt (like Salve).
What if they a.) sneeked in or b.) accidentally encoded other mistakes that costs P10 for 1000 customers a day, that would mean P10k a day.
How many thousands of customers do they have a day?
November 12th, 2008 at 10:07 am
I have do have encountered it once at SM supermarket where in i bought something worth 100 a piece but when the cashier pass it to the scanner its now worth like a box of it.
Actually the problem there isnt the scanner or the barcode. Its those sales attendants, for rushing or not able to double check what they stick on the products.