Man thinks he should get cheerios for 0.14 due to "price guarantee"

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

http://consumerist.com/2010/02/no-yo....html#comments

The site has a poll asking readers if they agree or disagree, so far over 60% say the man should get his ridiculously cheap cereal.

The person with the complaint notes the actual price of $2.50 was CORRECT on the tag but the unit pricing was messed up. I don't see this as a valid pricing error.

[HYHYBT]

The price was right; the *weight* was mismarked. No cheap Cheerios for the cheapskate.

[Kiwi]

Ms. K laughed in my face then said,

yes, I'm sure she got right up close and laughed at you in a mocking manner

[BookstoreEscapee]

It's been a month and a half? Get over it already.

We guarantee the accuracy of our electronic checkout system

And the item scanned at the price that was listed for the box of cereal. No free cereal for you.

[Greenday]

I'm siding the the customer on this one. They have a policy posted that if the electronic price doesn't match up with what an advertisement says or what the shelf price says, it's free. Yes, it says $2.50 per box. It ALSO says $0.28 per pound. So why is he a cheapskate for calling a company out for not honoring their own POSTED policies?

[Amina516]

Idjits.

I dont feel he should recieve the marked down cereal. I dont see a "policy" theyre not following. The PRICE was correct. The weight was mismarked, as someone else said. Have you ever looked at those lables with the price per unit/pound? Theyre tiny.

I voted NO

[Greenday]

I dont see a "policy" theyre not following.

It was on a sign that is posted in the store...

[lupo pazzesco]

I'm siding the the customer on this one. They have a policy posted that if the electronic price doesn't match up with what an advertisement says or what the shelf price says, it's free. Yes, it says $2.50 per box. It ALSO says $0.28 per pound. So why is he a cheapskate for calling a company out for not honoring their own POSTED policies?

The electronic price was listed as $2.50 a box, though, and that's what it rang up as. A minor labeling error put price per pound as opposed to price per ounce, but the actual price itself was marked correctly. I have to side with the store, because the electronic pricing system on the SCO scanner DID match the price advertised, just not the measured weight. The weights aren't required to be listed in most places, that I'm aware of, whereas the prices generally are, thus if the price were wrong, maybe he'd have a case, but I respectfully disagree that he does here, because he's arguing over the mislabeled breakdown of the price, not the actual price itself.

Further point, what if it'd been a decimal actually moved instead of a lb/oz difference, and it was listed as $2.80 an ounce? Would he be in a hurry to pay $25 for the same box of Cheerios? Doubtful he'd even bring it up to the store at that point, even though that particular nitpick is equally as nonsensical.

[Amina516]

It was on a sign that is posted in the store...

And the price was correct, rung up correctly and that was their guarantee. Man needs to cough up the other $2.36 and call it a day.

[Greenday]

And the price was correct, rung up correctly and that was their guarantee. Man needs to cough up the other $2.36 and call it a day.

The store shot theirself in the foot by mislabeling it at $0.28/lb. As the guy pointed out, the box is about half a pound meaning it should be $0.14. That does not match up with the scanned price and was not matched. Is he being cheap? Yes. Is he correct that a posted price does not match up with the scanned price, meaning it should be free according to the policies posted by the store itself? Yes he is.

[Amina516]

The store shot theirself in the foot by mislabeling it at $0.28/lb. As the guy pointed out, the box is about half a pound meaning it should be $0.14. That does not match up with the scanned price and was not matched. Is he being cheap? Yes. Is he correct that a posted price does not match up with the scanned price, meaning it should be free according to the policies posted by the store itself? Yes he is.

But the price....was...correct.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

If Safeway is anything like my store, the prices on everything are tied to UPCs and the price on the label is for one unit of that item. He'd have a better case if the Cheerios were sold in bulk, like deli lunch meats or those nuts or granola in the machine where you fill up a bag with whatever you want and then it is priced per pound.

I don't see how Safeway violated their own policies, because the unit price is what's most important for that item, not price per ounce or pound. They just list those so people can shop for the best deal for their money. I don't even take notice of them.

That said, the guy could have a case depending on what the applicable local pricing laws say about it. They're different from state to state and some states have some pretty weird ones.

I would definitely hope that Safeway fixes that little error on their shelf labels and does it fast, so they don't get an onslaught of SCs like this guy thinking they can game the system.

[Calvin St.Hobbes]

Reading the comments to the letter that agree with the letter writer just make my blood boil.

[HYHYBT]

"Tell you what: you find an 8-lb box of cereal on that shelf and it's yours free."