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 21st, 2008 at 5:07 pm
This just happened to me last Sunday at Powerbooks Megamall. I bought 5 books. I was looking at the cash register everytime the cashier scanned an item. One showed a higher price than that indicated at the back of the book. In her rush, the cashier didn’t notice it, so I called her attention right away, before she even rung the total amount. So it was corrected asap. Yeah, watch that register like a hawk.
November 19th, 2008 at 8:27 am
You also made me laugh with your phrase ‘What if they are already taking over the world?!!’
Nice One! Anyway, I’ll better check my receipts from now on. I don’t usually check it as I put my trust on the bar code scanner.
Thanks for this post.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I understand the point here.
What I usually do, that is if it possible is to still look at the teller’s screen for the items being scanned. Sometimes this is not possible if there are no screen to look into, though highly unlikely.
I look at the prices anyway when i get the items from the shelf (except of course things like coffee, milk, the usuals) so I would have an idea when an item was priced way off. An item that normally cost P99 and show P4,200 in the screen can be corrected early. Although I admit if the difference is like 5% or 10% off would be highly un-noticed.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I don’t think the problem lies on the bar code scanner.
There are 3 probable causes of pricing errors.
1. The bar code sticker was placed on the wrong item. To prevent mix up, an item description is usually printed together with the bar code. You should always check this when you shop, as some merchandizers are so reckless, and irresponsible.
2. Wrong bar code information was printed. This is rare, since the data on bar code stickers are normally printed by getting information directly from the POS/Server database. However, it could happen, if a supplier skimpped on getting a good system.
3. Wrong pricing information in the POS/Server database. Pricing information are still manually encoded, at least once. When it’s wrong, it goes all the way down.
Bar code scanners are extremely accurate. However, it still has to be used properly to get accurate results. It’s a garbage-in, garbage-out thing.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
“What if they are already taking over the world?!!”
Watching too much of “Matrix” and “I, Robot”, eh? But you really made me smile at that comment of yours. And I initially thought (mistakenly, it seems) that economists and/or financial managers have a dry sense of humour!