Scanners & Prices
 

Ever wonder how accurate scanners really are when shopping?
We seem to just scan, pay, and leave the store.

With prices increasing so fast it's hard to remember the price of each item while
using those self-scanners.

I read an article not long ago, (maybe the future of Walmart), where you could scan your
items directly from a built-in scanner attached to a shopping cart.

Stay cool!

And then there is stuff like fresh fruit and veggies where you are charged by the weight of your purchase. Or how about a place like Lowel’s where you can buy individual nuts and bolts that don’t have a bar code? What really gets me is they claim self checkout helps with their labor costs, but they have workers lurking around the self checkout area to help customers. Keep the full service registers open!

We have the ability at Sam’s, to scan as we shop, not a big deal, no line, checking at the door with receipt.

Unless there is a special or dollars off, I expect whatever business I’m shopping to keep their pricing in check

They have cameras watching you scan. Audit your receipt when finished. no big deal. Labor saving devices are here to stay

Scanner is only as good as price that was put into computer for it.

Wegmans has it. They have an app, you need to be connected to the store’s WiFi.
You weigh fruits/veggies on their scale and scan the code on the scale.
It is awesome, saves a LOT of time, not waiting in check out line.

Also. sometimes sale prices do not scan the item on sale correctly. :mad:

Like it or not we have to put up with technology. It is you vs the computer. Errors, they never seem to be in the buyers favor. I think they stopped it, lost too much money doing it, Publix used to give it to you for free if, you found a wrong price.

Typical- you wait on line. There is a mistake. You are directed to customer service, where you have to wait again, sometimes the person in customer service only has the power to call over a manager, while you wait. WE including me are the problem. We shop PRICE but demand expect SERVICE. Some, many go to a place with service, take the PAID FOR by the store SERVICE and they buy it elsewhere by PRICE

The world never was perfect BUT, a computer telling you your call is very important to us. You are not supposed to realize it is a computer-IT ONLY CARES IF THE PROGRAMER TELLS IT TO CLAIM IT CARES.

Medicare computer is one of the worst. There are like 20 options. You are supposed to remember the 20 and pick the right one. Don't ask to repeat, it starts at number one and gives you all 20 all over again. By the tone of your voice I see we have successfully given you high blood pressure. You wait half an hour get through and oops they hang up on you.

Progress? I think Mark Twain said we don't make any progress. As we move forward we lose what was.

We bulk buy at Costco or BJ’s keep track of prices on calculator for incidentals at Walmart, Publix WD same haven’t had any issues.

Even back then Mark Twain was right.

No.

Yup, and the exact same thing was said during the industrial revolution, with people longing for the "good old days" of the Middle Ages.

What makes you think a difference data is used on the cash resisters where an employee scans it? They zip through what you put on the belt - do you question that?

I'm just questioning the shelve price over the registered scanners.

I remembered a shelve price once and notice it was wrong when checking out.
I mention it and they adjusted the item price that was marked on the shelve for me.

The scan and go is a real time saver (for us).
The one at Sam's works well. The one at BJ's is quite effective as well.

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:censored:

I am just old enough to remember the small grocery stores when the owner did everything on paper and pencil, back then a lot of people did not really know math as they were not schooled and came from the old country, you had to trust the proprietor. When computers came out and even before they were in supermarkets in stores the old expression always was, garbage in and garbage out so even today there are plenty of errors. What is really shocking is that when we go through the scanners at the airports there have been many tests where 75% of weapons are not found. Now that really scares me. I'm not so worried about 5 or 10 cents being overcharged

Publix gives you the item for free if it scans wrong...pay attention!

I make it a mental exercise to remember prices of my items and checking them at self checkout. The attendant has adjusted the price for me when different.

Shelf price vs scanned price
 

You are very wise to check the scanned price vs shelf tag.

I worked in a corporate office for a large grocery chain. The shelf tag is generated when the plan o gram is created and the shelf is set. Price changes are generated weekly as the ad changes. They are entered into the computer by UPC number and scan at the checkout. While NEW Tags are generated for the shelf. Typically this happens mid week when the ad changes. (Late, at the end of the day). Often times the new shelf tag is missed on some items- OR an old tag is not removed when sale is over - Human error.

It pays to watch your prices as your items are scanned. Same as everywhere else. If a tag is visible with a lower price, the lower price will be honored. You WIN!

I sit down after leaving register and check receipt. Winn Dixxie is infamous for not scanning right. That's why I don't like chit chatting with cashier so I can watch what she is scanning.

Also, another reason why I like self checkout.

I’ll second that. I keep sale items in a separate corner of my cart to make sure they get rung correctly. In my experience there is about a 50% error rate here. This happens in any store.

No, they need more self service registers. It’s so much faster. Only the boomer’s who didn’t grow up with technology seem to have a problem with the self checkouts.

My memory is not that good, so I just keep a rough running total. Then, if it is more than 10% more or less at the scanner I check for anything that looks wrong.

Perhaps if there was a penalty for overcharging. How about refunding the overcharge, and then additional penalty of 10x the error, up to $10 more, per item.
Maybe then we won't be overcharged as often.

I was given the wrong change twice over there. Grrrrr

The Price IS There!
 

Those nuts and bolts may not have a bar code but they DO have a numerical code incised on the piece itself. If the employee puts the items in a bag, he writes the code on the bag. When you enter the code at checkout it asks you how many pieces and the price pops up.

Always check your receipts for correct pricing at Publix. Publix will give you the item free if you are charged the
wrong price. Totally free.

It's worth checking.

I have the ability to remember pricing (not much else lol) and I would say the scanners are accurate. I self check out just to test myself.

Publix Policy
 

I might point out to you and some other readers here that if that situation happens at Publix stores, their policy it to give that item to you for FREE.

My wife has called Publix headquarters in Lakeland before to verify this policy. We have had pricing differences happen more than once, and a call to corporate makes local managers remember that policy.

It is not so much about getting the item for free (although that is nice) as it is about them mis-charging the next guy too! Publix feels that getting the item for free when it's charged wrong makes the stores accountable for a pricing mistake, which is imho a gracious offering to Publix consumers. I wish that more stores took that approach!

Gas pumps is another concern on fair pricing.
When gas was over $5.00 a gallon, those dollar and cent meters who spinning ever faster.