balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,395
|
Post by balzaccom on Jul 12, 2019 16:09:44 GMT -8
So I am buying a bunch of energy bars for our summer backpacking trips, and I stop in at a local grocery to see what they have. One flavor of Kind bars is on sale for $0.93 apiece. Cool. I grab an unopened box and head to the register.
The cashier calmly rings them up for $12 for 12 bars.
I point out that the bars are on special and cost $0.93 apiece.
She replies, and I quote here: "Yes, but you bought a whole box. The boxes are $12."
I ask her if she wants me to take all of them out of the box, so she can ring them up at $0.93 apiece.
"You can't open the box. The box is $12."
I start to laugh out loud, as the does the nice lady in line behind me. At this point the manager comes by and tries to get involved. He opens the box, and scans the bar code on one of the bars. "They're $0.93 apiece," he says to the cashier.
She fixes me with a death stare and pointedly deletes the $12 charge and then slowly rings up all twelve bars individually for $0.93 apiece. Note that she does not ring up 12 @ $0.93 apiece. She rings up the same bar twelve times: beep beep beep beep ...
By this time the kid at the end of the checkout line has put my bars in a paper bag.
I explain that I don't need a bag, and that I had brought my own bag anyway. (This is California, we charge for bags and encourage recycling.)
The cashier says in a loud and not particularly friendly voice that she is not charging me for the bag.
At the point I figure I am better off just taking the bag and leaving. But I once I'm in the car, I'm tempted to go back in and buy another box...hee hee.
|
|
reuben
Trail Wise!
Gonna need more Camels at the next refugio...
Posts: 11,082
|
Post by reuben on Jul 12, 2019 16:16:16 GMT -8
This has a certain Blues Brothers episode written all over it.
|
|
desert dweller
Trail Wise!
Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
Posts: 6,291
|
Post by desert dweller on Jul 12, 2019 16:16:51 GMT -8
That's hilarious.
|
|
balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,395
|
Post by balzaccom on Jul 12, 2019 16:20:59 GMT -8
Or Five Easy Pieces ordering a cheese sandwich...
|
|
sarbar
Trail Wise!
After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
Posts: 908
|
Post by sarbar on Jul 12, 2019 19:21:30 GMT -8
That is awesome.
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,632
|
Post by rebeccad on Jul 12, 2019 19:58:23 GMT -8
Gotta love it. You ruined that poor cashier’s day!
|
|
|
Post by High Sierra Fan on Jul 12, 2019 20:46:37 GMT -8
Hah. I’ve seen that sort of mismatch before, shrink wrapped bulk multiples that hadn’t kept up with an individual box sale discount.
Seems to happen a lot with my boxed Mac&Cheese of choice for some reason. Usually the six packs are cheaper, as one would expect. But every now and then the individual boxes go on sale, ten for ten dollars, say, and the six pack is all of a sudden uneconomical.
They have different scan codes so it’s easy to see how the difference can be generated.
|
|
BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 12,850
|
Post by BigLoad on Jul 12, 2019 21:32:39 GMT -8
I’ve seen that sort of mismatch before, shrink wrapped bulk multiples that hadn’t kept up with an individual box sale discount. Me too. It's more common than it should be.
|
|
driftwoody
Trail Wise!
Take the path closer to the edge, especially if less traveled
Posts: 14,877
|
Post by driftwoody on Jul 13, 2019 3:53:53 GMT -8
You should have gone all Jack Nicholson Five Easy Pieces on her.
|
|
|
Post by autumnmist on Jul 13, 2019 7:05:22 GMT -8
Not to be less than understanding or tolerant of that kind of frustration, I think it's also reflective of the level of math skills of the cashier. I've been in situations in which someone clearly couldn't subtract or do basic math or figure out change. It's a toss-up whether to pass it off or try not to embarrass the clerk, server, or whoever while working out some basic math issues.
And there have been times when my own mind went on strike and I couldn't figure out something very basic. For some strange reason that's happened recently with tips.
|
|
swmtnbackpacker
Trail Wise!
Back but probably posting soon under my real name ... Rico Sauve
Posts: 4,886
|
Post by swmtnbackpacker on Jul 13, 2019 12:16:59 GMT -8
...I’ve seen that sort of mismatch before, shrink wrapped bulk multiples that hadn’t kept up with an individual box sale discount. Seems to happen a lot with my boxed Mac&Cheese of choice for some reason. Usually the six packs are cheaper, as one would expect. But every now and then the individual boxes go on sale, ten for ten dollars, say, and the six pack is all of a sudden uneconomical. They have different scan codes so it’s easy to see how the difference can be generated. It’s basically managements fault that the box scan wasn’t updated to reflect the sale on individually wrapped bars. Of course, the cashier was in on it a little bit too.
|
|
|
Post by bluefish on Jul 13, 2019 12:51:07 GMT -8
Although I understand, I would have just paid the extra 84 cents and got out 5 minutes earlier. The cashier was not at fault, I doubt they have everything that's on sale memorized. Sometimes there's a number limit on sales items, too. I also hand my cloth bag(s) to the cashier or the bagger with my purchases so they don't have to ask. Are we more civil out here on the right coast? I guess when everything goes automated this problem will be no more. You can take it up with the programmer in Sri Lanka.
|
|
|
Post by autumnmist on Jul 13, 2019 13:11:19 GMT -8
Interestingly enough one of the few major chain stores in this area just remodeled a store in an upscale area and eliminated the self checkout for no limit purchases. There are still faster self serve checkouts for 12 items or less. When I asked about the reason, the door greeter was unsure why. That's a major step backward. Perhaps it's because of the area, bordering some upscale communities. Might be that those folks don't want to pack their own groceries.
|
|
|
Post by High Sierra Fan on Jul 13, 2019 23:42:37 GMT -8
Although I understand, I would have just paid the extra 84 cents and got out 5 minutes earlier. The cashier was not at fault, I doubt they have everything that's on sale memorized. Sometimes there's a number limit on sales items, too. I also hand my cloth bag(s) to the cashier or the bagger with my purchases so they don't have to ask. Are we more civil out here on the right coast? I guess when everything goes automated this problem will be no more. You can take it up with the programmer in Sri Lanka. Yep: my reusable bags go on the conveyor first so they’re ready for loading. In my area the self checkouts keep expanding. I tend to go off hours so unoccupied staffed lanes are rarely an issue.
|
|
balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,395
|
Post by balzaccom on Jul 14, 2019 5:41:49 GMT -8
My (paper) bag was in my back pocket while I shopped, and I was so distracted by the conversation with the cashier that I didn't remember it until I saw that bagger had already bagged my groceries.
And no math was involved. Everything is scanned through the cash register. It was just a question of scanning by item rather than the whole box. And she wasn't going to do that until the manager stepped in.
Good to know people on the East Coast are more polite and willing to pay extra for things...🙄
|
|