What can I do in this situation related to consumer product pricing?
Asked by
hefalle (
8
)
October 24th, 2011
The convenience stores on my campus routinely get their product prices wrong. That is, the product will be marked as one price, but I will be charged another (most of the time they overcharge me). For example, today I bought a bag of Cracker Jacks. On the bag, it says that they cost $0.99 However, it rang up as $1.09.
First of all, is it legal for a store to charge more for something if the price is specified on the product itself? (It didn’t say the MSRP was $0.99, the bag just listed the price as $0.99)
Secondly, isn’t there a state law that says that if a product is advertised at a price, it must be sold at that price? I’m in Maryland.
I realize that the price difference is miniscule, but as a consumer, the principle bugs me. What kind of action should I take, or at least threaten to take?
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7 Answers
If there is a price on a package or item, or on a shelf, that’s the price. Tell the cashier, if the cashier doesn’t correct it, speak to the manager. If the manager blows you off, tell him or her you are calling the state department of consumer affairs and a local TV station.
As annoyingly principled as I can be sometimes,
I’ve shrugged this off at mom and pop shops before.
Totally not legal. But I’d rather pay a bit more for them to stick around.
A convenience store on your campus though?
To be on campus, they’re probably not that small.
And I hate the idea that they’re ripping students off who have no money.
That’s just wrong. I’d call them on it.
If they don’t do anything about it, I’d report it to the school.
I’m sure there’s another honest store owner that would love to take their spot.
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For a comprehensive list of laws by state you can look here.
Looks like there isn’t a law against mislabeled or overpriced goods in Maryland to me..
But here’s the sort of legislation you were hoping MD has does exist in about 8 states..the most stringent I know of is in California.
Please consider, if they aren’t a large chain, they’re simply doing mark-up of pre-printed prices because their margin is so narrow that they aren’t making money unless they mark-up. It may seem “wrong” to you, the consumer—but then, unless you know their operating margins (maybe they pay a far higher rent as a mom&pop in a prime campus location) you can’t know that it isn’t just to break even.
If they are a large chain..then something is likely wrong here. Most larger retailers have technology and savvy to negotiate to have pricing labels printed by their item suppliers/vendors with THEIR price point. You wouldn’t see a mismatch in the retail price…because they’d dictate the printed price to the vendor.
Little guys (mom & pop places) don’t have that leverage. Hence, they need to re-ticket or re-label..and maybe it’s not possible to do that for all items in their store (e.g. cracker jack or bags of chips)..either due to prohibitive labor costs or the packaging being in-feasible to re-label.
Flutherother brings up a good point. If grocery or market food items make up less than 10% of their food sales, they’re not considered a substantial grocery or market business, so Maryland’s sale and use tax would apply.
Then there’s the whole issue of whether or not you’re consuming it on or off the premises. Maybe it being affiliated with the campus means they can tax you if you eat it on campus?
[scratches head]
While the price difference may be minuscule, it seems like they do it alot, and that’s a major issue, it’s wrong, and they are probably being intentionally misleading, b/c that minuscule 10 cents times all the students they pull it over on adds up to big bucks.
Not only would I ask them to correct it, but I’d go so far as recording the next few times it happens, and bring it up to the highest level management there.
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