Could you be paying more than you figured?

Most people don’t take the time to check their cash register receipt before they leave the store.  Folks tend to trust the computer scanning equipment and don’t give it a second thought.

As more and more news reports have revealed, mistakes made at the cash register are not at all uncommon.  Some areas of particular concern involve ringing up

• Produce – Since many produce items don’t contain bar codes to scan, it is easy for the clerk to enter in the wrong price.
• Sale and Clearance Items – Items on the clearance rack may ring up at full price at even though a clearance price sign is displayed on the shelf.
• Multiples of the same item – Clerks tends to grab one of the multiples and drag it across the scanner the several times until they believe the number of scans matches the number of items in your card.

Here are a few tips that might help

• Write down the shelf price of the sale and clearance items that you’re buying and compare the cash register receipt against the prices that you wrote down.
• Watch the clerk as they scan your items (especially if you’re buying multiples of the same item)
• Take a couple of minutes to double check the entire receipt before you leave the store.  If you find mistakes, point them out to the clerk or the staff at the customer service desk.