With shoppers overwhelmed with filling their gift lists this Holiday Season, the SLO County Ag Commissioner is warning everyone to check those register receipts to make sure you’re not being over-charged and are getting the best available prices.
Retailers are busy maintaining inventory levels and “updating ever changing prices from sale advertisements,” reads a news release. “Discount pricing takes on many forms and offers incentive for customers to make purchases. However, if the price charged at the register is more than the lowest posted or advertised price, then any expected savings may be lost.
“This creates an unfair marketplace and is also misleading to customers.”
While overcharging for a product is against the law, it’s often not done intentionally, but rather an oversight by the business when updating promotional prices.
“Retailers know it’s the law to have accurate prices,” said Martin Settevendemie, SLO County’s Agricultural Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures said. “However, the potential for inadvertent overcharges is greater during the Christmas season because of the higher volume of sales and the rapidly changing discounts that are offered.”
Settevendemie offered tips to protect yourself from these inadvertent overcharges:
• Pay close attention to prices posted on store shelves, on the item, along with in-store and online advertisements before you buy an item to ensure you are charged the lowest advertised price at the cash register.
• Stores are required to clearly display the price of each item on the cash register screen before the transaction is completed. Watch the display screen as items are scanned. If you believe you are overcharged, bring it to the attention of the cashier and ask for the lower price.
• Review your receipt before leaving the store. If you are overcharged, contact the store manager and request that the store policy on overcharges be provided to you. In some cases the store policy may provide for further discounts or call for the overcharged item to be given to the customer free of charge.
Inspectors from the County Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures are charged with routinely inspecting retail stores to confirm that posted prices are correctly charged at the register. They are also responsible for checking scales in markets and checking the accuracy of such things as gas pumps.
Readers can call Weights and Measures at (805) 781-5910 to file a complaint if they experience any overcharge. For more information see: www.slocounty.ca.gov/agcomm.
