The Harris Teeter on 29 (at Forest Lakes) has an ongoing problem with pricing wine and beer.
Example: Dead Guy Ale is on currently on sale, according to the huge sign at the door, for $9.99, except that when you get to the register, it’s $10.99.
According to store management, this kind of problem has been going on for months: wine and beer often don’t ring up at the same price as the sign on the shelf. “Oh, we get several of these a day,” said the apologetic manager. “A couple of days ago a bottle of wine rang up for twenty dollars more than the price on the shelf!”
The reason for this, according to the corporate office in North Carolina, is that sometimes the distributors set the prices for wine and beer. They create the display, apparently, and even print the little sign. And sometimes they just MAKE UP discounted prices, and don’t tell anybody.
So the lesson is: if you shop at Harris Teeter, and you find that your favorite beverage is on sale, get out a pencil and write the price on the bottle. When you get to the checkout, make sure you got charged what the sign said. If you’re overcharged, don’t be a dick and hold up the line. Pay the cashier, and take it the receipt to the manager, who’ll cheerfully refund the difference. They’re all really nice about it. But they apparently have no control over the process. [Written entirely by an observant birdie] [Photo Credits]
Related posts:
Tagged as: Beer, harris teeter, Wine
I actually noticed this the other day too, and lazily shrugged it off. thx
Not to be that guy, but this is not an example of “price fixing”. This is an example of “bait and switch”.
I figured the ‘price fixing’ probably wasn’t quite right . Thanks for the info.
This would be more bait-and-switch if it wasn’t a (repeated) mistake. Also, usually a bait-and-switch is when the offered product “turns out” not to be available and a less attractive/more expensive alternative is offered.
My thoughts:
1 – Given the manager’s comment, sure seems like there might be room for an enterprising lawyer with a little free time to smack Harris Teeter around. If they know about the problem, and if the solution obvious (double check any time a new alcohol poster goes up), then Harris Teeter sure seems to be doing the wrong thing here.
2 – Yes, it is dickish to hold up the line. But perhaps that would be the only way to induce HT to do the right thing – to “preemptively” fix their pricing data. And, unless refunding the difference is accompanied by fixing the price in the system, then you are really going to have to hold up the line either way – you’ll either be holding up (delaying) the people physically behind you in the store right then, or you’ll be holding up (delaying) the people who will have to go through the same process for the same purchase later.
I really like this part of the excuse: “And sometimes they just MAKE UP discounted prices, and don’t tell anybody.”
Uh, if they didn’t tell anybody, no one would ever know to be upset. No, they told someone alright – they told freaking every single person who walks into the store. Which, as far as I know, includes local management. Stop whining corporate office, and do a better job managing.
Or you could do the smart thing and shop at a different store, be it Kroger, Food Lion, or Giant.
i don’t think shopping at food lion is ever a smart thing to do.
They are the cheapest place for wine actually, so I think it’s very fucking smart.