You won't cook much on that...

[Marmalady]

This happened a couple of weeks ago, but I kept forgetting to post (though I did tell Myt about it)

Cast:
Me
PM : Pump Man
J : Supervisor

PM brings a couple of items to my till. One scans at £7.99 (can't recall what it was now) The other item is a pond pump. The box is weighty, it's obviously a fairly heavy-duty one. There is a price label on the top, nice and handy for scanning, saying £19.99. I scan it.

I turn to look at the screen, and what's this? The description that has popped up for this label is 'XYZ Blarghety Stove'. As in, something you cook on when you're camping, not something you bury in a garden pond.

Hmmm... "That's strange' I say. 'This is coming up as some kind of stove.. Let me just check and see if there's another barcode anywhere.'

So I check around the box, and oh look! Here's a code actually printed as part of the box, rather than just being stuck on. And it looks as if it's been scratched and dug into a bit (And yet the rest of the box doesn't seem to be damaged or knocked about at all) The barcode isn't scannable... but I can still read the numbers, oh yes, and I type those in and hit enter.

Would you believe it, up comes a description for a 'ABC 123XXX Pump'! And just to improve the shining hour, the price is £99.99!

'Oh my' I say, very nice and sweetly, 'I will just check and see if this is right' (PM is looking distinctly uncomfortable) and I call for a sup. Over comes J, I explain it all to her. She confirms that the pump is indeed priced at £99.99, and would sir still like to buy it? Surprise surprise, no PM won't have it now thank you, and J bears it away 'To make sure the correct price is put on'.

Yeah, good try, mister. Believe it or not, I'm awake here.

[PepperElf]

had that happen with a customer buying a comforter once at my first non-food retail job a couple of decades ago.

we had to check products to make sure nothing was stuffed inside. and lo and behold the comforter had a matching sheet set stuffed inside in the package. we weren't allowed to accuse customers of stealing though, so i simply asked if she wanted to buy it too. iirc she said "no".

can't remember if she was embarrassed or annoyed tho.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Hahaha! I love it when they forget that cashiers can - and will - punch the numbers on the barcode in when they can't scan it.

At least he didn't make a fuss demanding the lower price/accusing you of accusing him of being a liar and a thief.

[raudf]

Oooh, I had something similar, twice in fact!

Do you know expensive Bose speakers are for cars? I did. I happened to be in the zone, merrily ringing this guy's purchase up when I got to the speakers. My head snapped up and lo and behold, the thing was ringing up as a mixing bowl for 3.50. Given that we'd just finished setup going from a 24 hour store to a Super Mega Center, I'd worked set up for automotive and knew that there was no way in heck that those speakers cost anything less than $150. I flip the box over and sure enough someone had tried to cover the original barcode with the mixing bowl set's.

Me: I'm sorry, sir. Looks like someone might have been playing musical bar-codes. Let me check the price on this. (do pricing scan) It's $150. Do you still want it?

Guy: No, thank you. I thought it was much cheaper than that.

So I put it back behind my register, notify the CSM about the issue and told her that the next time this guy tries it, I'm calling for a manager. (This guy had very vivid blue eyes and was distinctive. Not a good thing for a petty thief to be!)

Cue a week later, I happen to finish with my customer and notice that Mr. Very Blue Eyes was standing there with *gasp* a box of $150 Bose speakers. I watch her screen under the guise of cleaning my register's belt and set my light flashing. (Thank gods the CSM on duty was one of the good ones!) I watch the cashier's small customer screen and when I see, the speakers ring up as a TRAVEL MUG for $1.50. I call her attention to it and sure enough, the bar code has again been switched.

CSM called the ASM, who happened to be at the service desk, yay! He came over while the other cashier stalled the guy, calling for a price check, "just to be sure." ASM, after a quiet explanation at my register, gets a good look at the guy and says he'll pull the tapes on it and hand it over to LP to watch. Over the radio, he tells automotive that he's got the price check and goes up to "confirm the $150" price, which the guy again doesn't want!

The very last time I saw Mr Blue Eyes, I'd already quit as a cashier. I tried hard not to snicker as the overly obvious LP was trailing him....

[NateTheChops]

I turn to look at the screen, and what's this? The description that has popped up for this label is 'XYZ Blarghety Stove'. As in, something you cook on when you're camping, not something you bury in a garden pond.

Good catch.

[PepperElf]

Cue a week later, I happen to finish with my customer and notice that Mr. Very Blue Eyes was standing there with *gasp* a box of $150 Bose speakers.

Dang. again?

Seriously... who in their right mind would think that ANYTHING made by Bose would be priced even under FIFTY... and here he's trying to sneak it through under five? Twice?

But if they were reviewing the tapes, chances are they were able to ban him from the store for attempting to steal.

[Kristev]

But what scares me is that not every cashier will catch it, or care.

[Marmalady]

But what scares me is that not every cashier will catch it, or care.

If he had tried that at a time when we were totally slammed, with lines 10 or more deep (as does happen at times) and had picked a cashier who was new, inexperienced and maybe a bit more inclined to get flustered by having a queue building up... then he might well have got away with it.

Unfortunately he picked a suspicious old biddy instead

[Catwoman2965]

The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze me. I will admit I bought some plastic storage boxes one time, and they were stacked inside each other, and it wasn't until I got home that Irealized the cashier had only rung up one, rather than however many I had intended to purchase. And as I hadn't been near home, I wasn't able to go back and correct the mistake.

[Zoom]

I remember typing the wrong code number for some common nonfood thing and it rang up as "RIFLES". What a thing to sell in an urban grocery store!

It was the right price, so custy didn't complain, but let's see him return whatever it was now.

[EricKei]

it rang up as "RIFLES". What a thing to sell in an urban grocery store!

Well, 'round these parts (I reckon), pretty much any store that ends in "Mart" also carries firearms and ammo. Our laws on that sort of thing are... interesting. To the best of my knowledge, it is legal to openly carry a AK-47 here if you have the proper state and Federal and/or Military firearms permits...

There's a reason History (or was it A&E) started doing a reality show about a gun shop that's based out of Luuuuziana ^_^

[Marmalady]

Incidentally, I had something similar happen last week as well, only not for so much money. A young woman (20 maybe?) had two packs of cyclamen plants - 4 plants to a pack, very pretty - which she brought to my till. The ticket on them read 'Pansies, £1.99' . And I could feel the stickiness on the cases where the original price - which was £5.99 - had been peeled off. Once more, she didn't want them for that price and they got taken back to Gardening.

My manager said there must be something about me that attracts 'em

[Zaiida]

The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze me. I will admit I bought some plastic storage boxes one time, and they were stacked inside each other, and it wasn't until I got home that Irealized the cashier had only rung up one, rather than however many I had intended to purchase. And as I hadn't been near home, I wasn't able to go back and correct the mistake.

That's happened to me a couple of times. Last time 2 metal platters got stuck together and the cashier scanned them as one. I only noticed when I was checking the reciept in the car park so I went back in to pay but I was told not to worry as it was their fault.

[Flying Grype]

Heh. Stuff inside other stuff -- I almost pulled that one myself, but it was a mistake. I bought a suitcase and it had some smaller suitcases inside it. I knew they were there but I thought they were included. The cashier opened the big suitcase and pulled the little ones out and asked if I wanted to buy them too. I should have noticed that they had their own barcodes...

[Mytical]

Some of the horror stories I have for third shift at B&C and the Mart that sells Wal's would cause a lot of raised eyebrows and have people saying 'that didn't happen'. Not all about SC's though, though most do include people (long long long story there). That being said..I've never had somebody do the bait and switch (changing price tags) or if they did I didn't notice. More get away with it then you'd probably think. Either bored cashiers, or cashiers in a huge rush..

Not much gets past my little silver one though