Check prices when holiday shopping
SLO County’s Agricultural Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures issues alert:
–For many retailers, the 2015 Holiday shopping season is in full swing. As quick as shoppers are moving about to fulfill their shopping list, so are businesses and employees in their efforts to maintain inventory levels while updating ever changing sale advertisements.
Throughout this shopping season retailers in San Luis Obispo County will be at their busiest with customer purchases and returns, fulfilling online orders and maintaining customer satisfaction levels. Discount advertising of all types can be seen at the retail level; discounts based on percentages, sale prices when purchasing in multiples, and even getting a free item or discounted when you purchase a specific item.
These sale types offer an incentive for customers to purchase items at a specific retailer, 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 presents an unfair advantage to the business’s competitor and is also misleading to customers. Overcharging is often not intentional, but rather an oversight by the business when updating promotional prices. Overcharging is also against the law.
“Retailers know it’s the law to have accurate prices. However, the potential for inadvertent overcharges is greater during the shopping season because of the higher volume of sales and the rapidly changing discounts that are offered,” said Martin Settevendemie, San Luis Obispo County’s Agricultural Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures.
To protect consumers from being overcharged, Settevendemie offers the following tips:
• Pay close attention to prices posted on store shelves, on the item, along with instore 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 to the purchaser 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, speak up and ask for the lower price.
• Review your receipt before leaving the store. If you are overcharged, speak up 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 San Luis Obispo County Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures routinely inspect retail stores to confirm that posted prices are correctly charged at the register. Consumers should contact Weights and Measures at (805) 781-5910 to file a complaint if they experience any overcharge. For more information visit the department’s website at www.slocounty.ca.gov/agcomm.
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