No you cannot have designer jeans for a penny!

[katie kaboom]

This happened today. It drives me nuts when people are so stupid and ignorant they don’t realize they are stupid and ignorant.

background: for some reason, we have a problem where lots of merchandise is ringing up at one cent. obviously that is not the real price of anything. and the price checkers usually don't read the one cent and it will just say "please see associate". When we find one of these "penny items" as we call them, we're supposed to mark them as such and put them in the stockroom. If a customer finds one of these items and wants to buy it, we take 50% off the original price and sell it to them for that price.

SC1: The star (read: BITCH) of the show
SC2: bitch's friend
Me: Duh

These two women walk up to my counter with about 3 things. I start to scan them, and when we get to the jeans (these are designer jeans, keep that in mind), this conversation takes place :

SC1: can you check the price of these jeans?
Me: sure….*scans it and sees the 1 cent*…give me a sec, it’s gonna be…
SC2: oh, it’s one cent. That’s what it came up when we scanned it at the price checker.
Me: well I’m sorry ma’m, that was a computer error...
SC1: (cutting me off)
NO! It is one cent. I don’t care if it is a computer error. They should have fixed it then. That is what it said when i scanned it. You HAVE to give it to me for one cent. It’s THE LAW!

As I’m trying to explain that I can’t possibly sell it to them for one cent, SC1 interrupts me and starts grumbling about how we’re being ignorant to her, and she knows what ignorant people are like, and she is NOT ignorant.

SC1: Just ring up my other things and I’m taking THESE (as she snatches the jeans off the counter) to customer service. This is bullshit, they have to sell it to me for one cent.

We finish the transaction and she stomps off to torture our poor customer service people. Oh how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during that scene. I don’t know how it turned out, but I swear on all that is holy, if I find out they caved and gave her those jeans for one cent, I WILL quit on the spot.

[Kiwi]

I know where I live now (Canada) they have a scanning code of practise, its a voluntary thing but most big retailers follow it.

heres a link about it here http://www.frugalshopper.ca/links/article.php?n=5

In New Zealand they also have something similar, you usually get the first item free.

Im not agreeing with the customer, and I have been on your side of the same frustrating situation, when people at headquaters didnt do their job right and loaded prices incorrectly. I however was under the instruction to give the customer the scanned price (my boss hated how lazy HQ was) until I once ended up owing a customer around $40......

HQ smartened up after that one.

[JustaCashier]

Corporate should absolutely be on that situation 24/7 (Jeebus, I hate buzzwords/phrases like that!) until it's corrected. It's unfair to store staff, and I'd also include on-site management when doling out the sympathy, for having to deal with that. It's times like that, I wish it could be arranged where a phone number would be called, and corporate top brass and/or those to blame for, or not immediately getting onto correcting the screw-up, would be forced to deal with the irate SC's, instead of store staff, or some corp secretary/receptionist having to take the heat.

All that being said, a big salmon kabonk on the ol' noggin to the SC's that aggressively take advantage of a very obvious error!

Mike

[scary cary]

oh man i'm pissed too now! ugh, i hate when people say "IT'S THE LAW" like it's all set in stone, MUST happen, and they're right. update this please!!

[feedyourfeet]

The Scaning code of practice for Austalia is do to when an item scans higher than the shelf price. So in this case that would not apply and its only for supermarkets.

[batmoody]

I bet if you sold enough of those jeans at 1 cent, corporate would be on it!

[NightAngel]

So, then it'd be fair for me to actually make people PAY the price I scan when, oh say, a previously viewed copy of Relative Strangers rings up for $3,547.95?
(A very real misprice from about 2 weeks ago.)

I mean... I scanned it and therefore you have to pay for it... right?

[RentalRacer]

I mean... I scanned it and therefore you have to pay for it... right?

Geez don't you know its the LAW!!!!!!

[South Texan]

I love when customers make up "laws" to suit their attempt to get away with something.

Until the customer actually pays for the item, the store may decide not to sell it or to change its price. Typos and computer glitches are going to happen and the "law" understands this. As long as the customer did not rely upon the listed price to her detriment (and not getting her jeans at an obviously mistaken price the customer did not know of until she was in the store does not qualify) there is nothing the "law" will do for her.

[SuperB]

I've yet to have someone tell me it's "the law" but I'd dial the Sheriff for them if they ever did.
As if I could be required to sell something at a loss.

[Naaman]

I love when customers make up "laws" to suit their attempt to get away with something.

But it's in the rules, "The Law!" always works in favour of the SC

[HALFHUMANHALFZOMBIE]

Sure..Sell it to them for a Penny. Then get security to tell them to pay full price for the merchandise!

[myswtghst]

This is one of those lovely situations where common sense cedes to the customer's need to be an SC, instead of a level-headed individual who realizes that mistakes happen, especially in computer systems.

I think you guys are already going above and beyond selling stuff at 50% off that rings up at 0.01. But that's just me, and I don't fail at life.

[katie kaboom]

Sure..Sell it to them for a Penny. Then get security to tell them to pay full price for the merchandise!

oh how i wish i would have thought of that