Reminder to check your receipt

Here's an example of why you should always check your recipet before you leave the store. Thanks to Margaret for sharing via e-mail her experience at Kroger earlier this week:

"Faye,

I attended your  workshop at the XYZ Club in Durham last week and set out to get back into couponing; I used to do a lot but then stopped for several years.

I took to heart some of your suggestions, like checking the register tape before leaving the store. Here's what happened this morning:

I went to the Kroger store on Hwy 54 in Durham as I always do on Tuesdays. As I was roaming the aisles with my notebook open, I stopped at the 10 for $10 bin where they had bags of Russell Stover Sugar-free candies and picked up a couple bags for my husband who is diabetic. As I was checking out, I noticed a rack by the door that had the same candies for $1.69 a bag. Before leaving the checkout area, I checked my tape and found that I had been charged the $1.69 price so I went right to the service counter and asked about it. The gentleman there went to the aisle where I'd found the candies and came back with a bag and asked if that was what I had purchased. When I confirmed it, he gave me back the full price for one of the two bags I bought and the $.69 for the other one! I suspect that if I were to go to the store now, the 10 for $10 bin would have something else in it because the woman behind me in line at the checkout also went to the service counter; she'd bought 9 bags of the candy! That could have been rather costly for Kroger!

Just thought you'd like to know that your suggestion paid off for me."

Margaret E.

Great job checking your receipt, Margaret! In case some of you don't know, there are a number of stores in our area who have a Price Scan Guarantee. This means that if you are overcharged at the register and you pay the incorrect price, you can take your receipt to customer service. At customer service, they will verify what you purchased and go to the shelf or sales ad to verify the advertised price. Once they see that you have paid more than the advertised price, they will give you the full money back that you paid for the item and you get to keep it. Yes, your item will be free! If you bought more than one, the first one is free and you will be refunded the amount you overpaid for the remaining items. It doesn't happen a lot to me, but I always check my receipt before leaving the store.

Stores that offer a price scan guarantee include Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Kroger and Lowes Foods. Sometimes the cashier at customer service is not aware of this policy so you may have to remind him or her about the policy if they only give you back the amount you overpaid.