Pricing errors at the grocery store go far beyond the shelf as there are other ways you can get ripped off.
It may not be intentional but a store definitely has to keep on top of technology and listen to staff when they have suggestions.
Your grocery shopping trip is not over until you’ve read your receipt and are happy with what you see.
We’ve created our consumer pricing policy in the CBB household to make sure we don’t pay more than we should, EVER.
Today let us all look at other ways you may be losing dollars and cents at the cash register without even knowing it.
Pricing Errors Are More Than The Wrong Price
Receipt errors are more than just watching for the wrong price, which most but not all consumers are aware of.
For this reason, reading your receipt is Step 1 in saving money at the grocery store.
Over the years, we’ve conditioned ourselves to look for errors because of The Scanning Code of Practice.
No one wants to believe that a store is being dishonest, and in most cases, errors that do happen are human.
This means the consumer and the grocery store are at fault, not just the grocery store.
These errors don’t just stop at the wrong price, even though we’ve come to depend on UPC scanners that every store should have available for customers.
Most people won’t bother asking customer service to do a price check on a product because that means wasting more time at the store than needed.
We’ve learned that we should be watching out for mistakes rather than just a computer glitch at the cash register or by using self-checkout.
Pricing strategies for every grocery store in Canada differ depending on who they are marketing their products to.
It’s not hard to see which grocery stores in Canada are the best priced if you know your prices.
Be A Pricing Errors Watch-Dog
Defects in the computer system, whether human or not, mean your money could be flying out of your wallet unsuspectingly.
Have you ever gotten home after grocery shopping, and read the receipt only to find out you’ve been charged for bananas but didn’t buy bananas?
How many of you have added up everything you’ve purchased to compare final pricing and taxes after your grocery shop?
Truthfully, you might be shocked to find that there could be an error right in front of your eyes.
Fortunately for us, we do this since we post our grocery shops each week for The Grocery Game Challenge but have yet to find anything suspicious, but you never know.
Am I being too nitpicky?
Perhaps, but no one is forcing you to watch where your money goes; these are just potential holes in the system that you should catch.
Living on a tight budget has made us more aware of every dollar we spend.
Don’t Leave The Grocery Store Without Doing This
It’s so easy for pricing errors to happen that you must read your receipt every single time, whether it was a big shop or you just ran in for milk.
Our consumer watch strategy is to step aside for a moment before leaving the store and to look the receipt over.
If there is a bench or area that is not busy take a moment to start your receipt review.
Once a consumer is a home the likelihood of them reporting pricing errors is slim.
Remember that just because you are at home and find pricing errors doesn’t mean you can’t claim it.
Call The Grocery Store
Make a phone call right away to the grocery store or online customer service and let them know.
They will take your name and number so the next time you shop they will honor the error when you bring your receipt to customer service.
We used to look at our receipt in the parking lot, but with a baby, it was a hassle to bring him back in with the product or full order to have the pricing error fixed.
Some people still choose this option, but I find once you leave the store, you are either not motivated to go back if you find a mistake or forget about it and take the loss.
Pricing errors can add up over the course of a year if you just forget about them.
If you shop once a week for the year and each time you shop you are over-charged $2.00, you’re paying $104 a year more than you should have.
Realistically this wouldn’t happen in each shop but be mindful of the small mistakes adding up over the course of your day.
It might not stop at the grocery store. Pricing errors can happen anywhere you need to pull out your wallet.
Over-charged For A Product
Whether the sale price for a product was not entered or the computer system was not updated by the marketing team at the grocery store, it’s important to read your receipt.
Not only should you be aware of your cash register receipt but any department that prices product by weight or measure.
Manual Pricing Errors
Costs shouldn’t include the packaging or wrapping of a product when working with weight and measurement even though we know it’s likely factored into the overall costs.
For example :
- A produce department may offer pre-packaged, labelled, and priced products.
- The Deli may have issues with their weight scale and charge too much or too little
- A deli clerk, produce, seafood, bakery, or meat department could all easily make pricing errors on the sticker, so do the math and always have a calculator on hand. You’ll be amazed that you will find mistakes occasionally, whether they are to your benefit or not.
- You may be paying for extra weight, such as frozen products priced after freezing or added ice for packing fish and other items.
- Products should be weighed before any freezing processes for the true weight and cost. It may be tough to determine but if you think something might be wrong, ask the manager how they price frozen foods or ice-packed products.
- Bulk food products in containers then labelled may have a pricing error.
P.S.- It’s up to you whether you want to be honest if you’re getting a smashing deal by mistake.
Pricing Errors: Charged For Incorrect Product
You might not have noticed, but that package of pre-made hamburgers was labelled sausages which may or may not be costing you more money.
That’s just an example of how easily a pricing error can happen when someone manually prices products or forgets to change a computer system on a production line.
Charged More Money For The Price Of The Product
We’ve in the past had a cashier charge us for more than we purchased for a bakery product.
You may notice they count what is in the transparent packing, but they do make mistakes. Instead of paying for 8 buns, we paid for 10 buns.
It seems simple enough to count but if you’re rolling out the customers, it’s an easy error to make.
Another time the cashier charged us for more avocados than we had in the bag.
At $1.25 each, that can add up if your receipts show one or two extra that you didn’t get.
Also, make sure you read the fine print when making a purchase whether at the grocery store or not.
There may be other fees or extra fees for products and services that apply that are listed but you fail to see.
Online Grocery Shopping Pricing Errors
For those of you who order groceries online from websites, grocery stores, or Amazon Canada, be sure and watch the prices you pay before checking out.
I’ve also found that if you’re not careful you may end up paying for shipping even if your order is a dollar less than what free-shipping costs entail.
Be aware of the cancellation policy when ordering online and what happens when you find a discrepancy in your online grocery receipt.
Charging Tax on Non-Taxable Items
This is probably one of those areas on the receipt that consumers don’t pay much attention to, the taxes they pay.
You may be paying taxes on products that are non-taxable, so as a consumer, I’d say learn what is taxed in Canada and what is not.
Steer Clear Of Pricing Errors With Information
The best way to protect your money is to be informed.
The supply of basic groceries, which includes most supplies of food and beverages marketed for human consumption (including sweetening agents, seasonings and other ingredients to be mixed with or used in the preparation of such food or beverages), is zero-rated.
However, certain categories of foodstuffs, for example, carbonated beverages, candies and confectionery, and snack foods are taxable.
If a product’s tax status is in doubt, the CRA will consider the manner in which the product is displayed, labelled, packaged, invoiced and advertised to determine its tax status.
For a full list of what is taxed and not taxed in Canada
Price-fixing/Inflated Prices
After the recent bread price-fixing scandal with Loblaws, we have been watchful of prices.
Especially if we think a store is trying to promote a product to sell it fast at the reg retail price but inflates the price.
For example, a bottle of shampoo sale is $4.99 but the regular price is $4.99 but they label it $6.99.
This is an inflated price making it seem to the customer they are getting an amazing deal.
Knowing your prices is very important as a savvy shopper for this reason, and taking the time to compare products.
You might find the reduced rack in the produce department is selling strawberries for $3.99 with a reduced 50% price but find out that strawberries are on sale that week for a dollar.
Good Side of Receipts
The receipt always seems to get a bad rap when it comes to pricing errors but there are benefits to holding on to your receipts and reading them.
Below I’ve found a few savings that we’ve benefited from in the past.
Contests
Some shops offer random customers the opportunity to go online and tell the store how they measure up during their grocery shop.
Not everyone might get this but if you do, fill it out. We’ve won $50 and a $25 voucher to Giant Tiger over the years just for giving our opinion.
Coupons
I don’t care who you are if you use coupons on products you do purchase you’re a genius money saver.
We don’t often use coupons unless we find coupons that suit our needs.
That doesn’t mean we don’t look; we do, and everyone should.
Would you walk by a fiver on the sidewalk, staring at it, then walk away?
Likely not so don’t do that at the grocery store.
Read the back of your grocery receipt as many retailers use this space for marketing purposes and you may just find some awesome coupons.
Discount Codes
Don’t miss out on those discount codes at the bottom of your receipt or on the back. These are savings you might be throwing out the window!
Discussion: Have you found any of the above pricing errors on your grocery receipt? Am I missing anything that should be added for Canadian consumers to be aware of?
Comment below, I love hearing from you.
MARCH – Week #2 of 4- Mar 12-18, 2018
2018 GROCERY BUDGET / STOCKPILE BUDGET AND US RESERVE:
•Total Grocery Budgeted For Year: $190.00 x 12 = $2,280.00 for 2 adults
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REMARKS FOR THE MONTH:
Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! This is my favorite holiday of the year mostly because I love all the Irish dishes we make.
REMARKS FOR THE WEEK:
This week’s shop is about getting ready for our holiday celebration supper! It goes without saying that there’ll be corned beef, colcannon, roasted peppers, onions and carrots for supper at our house on Saturday! I’ll be using up the last corned beef in my freezer though so it’s time to watch for a sale again to re-stock. We’ve obviously got Hot Cross Buns for a bedtime snack with a cup of tea.
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OUR “CANADIAN” SHOPPING:
Thrifty Foods – Maple Ridge –
1 x 510g Blueberries $5.99
1 Green Cabbage $2.77
2 English Cucumbers $1.98
2 x dozen Hot Cross Buns $6.98
• Grocery Budget OOP: $17.72
** Earned 0 Air Miles on this shop **
** USED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
** SAVED $9.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **
========================================================================================
OUR “US RESERVE” SHOPPING:
OUR NEXT USA SHOP WILL BE IN APRIL
========================================================================================
2018 Y-T-D GROCERY SAVINGS:
•Total Loyalty Card Price Reductions This Year: $121.02
•Total Coupons/Rain Checks Used This Year: $0.00
•Total Price Match Savings Used This Year: $0.00
•Total More Points Earned This Year: 88 Points
•Total Air Miles Earned This Year: 4 Air Miles
•Total PC Optimum Points Earned This Year: 0 Points
========================================================================================
• SUMMARY OF FUNDS Y-T-D:
$ 570.00 Grocery Budget JAN-MARCH
($132.91) NET RESERVE TRANSFERS
($ 377.70) Actual CASH SPENT
$ 59.39 AVAILABLE Y-T-D GGC SPENDING NOT INCL RESERVES
• RESERVES Y-T-D:
$ 309.94 Freezer Re-Stocking Fund
$ 217.59 Holiday Season Fund + $260 PC Optimum Points (Mary $220 + Larry $40) + $10 Dream Air Miles = $487.59
$ 694.59 Summer Season Fund
$ 601.87 US Shopping Reserve
$ 42.32 GGC Savings Reserve
$ 0.00 Points Redeemed Reserve
OUR CURRENT TOTAL UNUSED RESERVES ARE $1,866.31. This means the 1,761.30 that we carried forward from 2017 PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $345.80 that we have added in 2018, LESS $240.79 that we have drawn out for use in 2018.
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Hi Mary,
I think I might keep my eye out for corned beef as I’ve never cooked it before. Is this something you put in the oven or slow-cooker?
I actually boil mine stove top with the seasoning mix in the packet. I have done it once in the slow cooker too.
What I see and hear a lot of is people thinking the price on the shelf is for the product they are picking up. Things get moved. Customers like to put things back on shelves or throw into bins where they do not belong because they are too lazy to go back and put it where it belongs. Some prices are for products up above or down below, depending on how shelving is. You name it.
Verify that indeed that shelf label and its price is for the item. Don’t want to hear at the register, “oh, the sign said that was $8 something” not the $10.97 it is ringing up. A store may take your word for it and check afterwards (don’t become one of those dishonest people, however, who pull that crap again and again), and I can tell you, many times when it is checked afterwards, either the price was made up, the price was for the item on the shelf beside the one picked up, or the price was for the store brand on the shelf beside the name brand you picked up. You want the stores to be honest, etc. with you….goes the other way as well.
Yearly grocery budget for 4 adults 2018: $7800 or $650/month (The above total does not include the stockpile budget of $300/year or $25/month.
Total Grocery Budget for this Month: $650
Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $650
Total Gift Cards used to date: $40
Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $0
Total Rewards Points used to date: $80
PC Optimum Points to Spend: 178451
Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP) to date $0
Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)
Zweet -$13.25
Checkout51- $11.50
Our Grocery Shop This Week
Shoppers Drug Mart
2 Sensodyne toothpaste @ 3.99, stockpile
Total out of Pocket- $9.02, stockpile
No Frills
2 Tide laundry @4.47
1 tetra pack NN orange juice -1.97
1 plum sauce- 2.00
1-30DR Royale TP -7.97
1 PF cookies- 1.97
2 KD @1.07
1lb butter -3.97
1 4l milk -4.27
1 bag GG frozen peas- 2.99
1 pineapple -1.47
1 pack muffins -3.47, 50% discount- 1.74
1 raisin bread -2.47
1 bread crumbs -1.99
Total out of Pocket -$50.90, 1.74 discount and 800 PC points
Foodland #1
3 cases pop@ 3.69(last day of sale)
Total out of Pocket- $12.51
Foodland #2
1 Folgers coffee -6.99
1 jug water -5.49
1 kg brown sugar- 2.49, 6 AM
3 pasta sauce @1.99, 5 AM
1 block cheese -4.99
1 bag frozen fries -1.99
Bananas -.97
1 pack lean ground beef- 10.28
1 pack boneless chicken breasts -7.82, 30% discount- 3.91
Total out of Pocket -$43.14, 11 Air Miles, $3.91 discount
.
Total to spend this month : $650
Stockpile budget 2018 : $25.00/month
Stockpile budget used this month: $9.02
Total coupons used this week: $0
Total coupons used to date: $16.00
Total in-store discounts this week: $5.65
Total in-store discounts to date: $30.50
Total spent this week: $106.55
Total spent so far this month: $297.91
Total over/Under spend this shop: under
Total left to spend for the month: $358.09
Total Spent To Date 2018: (does not include stockpile budget) Jan $565.41+Feb $414.90+March $ + April $+ May $ + June $+July $+August $+September $+ October $+ November $ + December $
Weekly Overview (your final thoughts)
Things are going well this year so far for my grocery budget and I am trying to keep that rolling. The pop was on sale, and the boys drink it. Nice part was a couple of the boxes of ginger ale have $2.00 off coupons printed inside. Those will be handy later! With the sale in ground beef I’m good there for a little while. The Sensodyne I just happened to see in the store picking up a list of medical costs for my late uncle’s income tax. So I grabbed a couple for the drawer upstairs. I have enough there to keep us going for a while now. Things like the orange juice and cookies are for hubby.
Week 11 –March 12 –18
Weekly Budget ($140 for a family of 3)
Total to date: $150.35
Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $600
STORE: BM Produce
-Onion Yellow $0.72
-Onion Red $0.32
-Cabbage $2.38
-Kabocha $3.48
-Organic Banana $4.08
-Leeks $1.25
-Green Pepper $1.19
-Spinach $1.68
-Pocky $4.90
-Strawberries 2lb $4.88
-Beet $1.07
-Ambrosia 5lb $4.98
-White Mushroom $1.21
Total Out Of Pocket: $32.15
STORE: Thrifty Foods
-Brown Eggs $2.89
-Cucumber (2) $1.98
-Chicken Thighs $7.87 (B1G1)
-Stakes $7.71
-Wild Snapper $7.60
-Crab Cake $2.00
-Chicken Breast Cooked $2.24
-Ham Oven Roasted $1.67
-Smoke Salmon $3.83
-Honey Ham $1.63
-Bread $2.99
Total Out Of Pocket: $42.43
STORE: Donald’s Market
-NP Cereal $3.65
-Oranges $2.72
Total Out Of Pocket $6.35
STORE: Farm Fresh Produce
-Leeks $0.75
-Green Pepper Bag $1.00
-Red Onion 3lb $1.75
-Broccoli $1.50
-Yam $1.50
-Green Onions $1.00
-Orange (5) $2.00
-Cantaloupe $2.00
-Banana $2.34
Total Out Of Pocket $13.89
STORE: Independent
-PC Frozen Fruit (2) $5.98
-Que Pasa Chips $2.49
*Used a $25 gift card
Total Out Of Pocket: $0
STORE: No Frills
-Ambrosia Apple 3lb $2.88
-Mushroom $0.88
-Cucumber (2) $1.76
*Used a $25 gift card
Total Out Of Pocket: $0
STORE: Whole Foods
-Ground Beef $2.88
-GF Bread $3.99
-Bread $3.99
-Tuna can (2) $3.00
-Eggs $4.69
Total Out Of Pocket: $18.55
STORE: Fujiya
-Seaweed $4.22
-Rice $32.78
Total Out of Pocket: $37.00
Weekly Overview:
This week is bit higher than normal week because I bought a bag of rice. Otherwise, staying away from a bakery and using $25 gift card from Superstore helps reducing expenses. I still have $10 on that card. Try using it next week.
MARCH 12-18
Yearly Budget for 1 Adult $2400 or $200/mo
Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $200
STORE: NO FRILLS
-Medium Eggs $2.85
Total Out Of Pocket $
STORE: T&T
-Mizkan Rice Vinegar 710mL $3.89 *
-T&T Dried Shitake Mushrooms $10.88
-Jayone Sliced Rice Cakes $5.99
-Sticky Rice Roll & Hot Soy Drink $6.81 (lunch)
Total Out of Pocket $27.57
*Last time I spent $4.77 for a 355mL bottle! I’ll have to remember this price in the future since I use rice vinegar a lot.
POINTS OVERVIEW
Total Gift Cards used to date: $0
Total Rewards used to date: $42.61
PC Optimum Points Balance: 20741
PC Optimum Points Redeemed: $0
Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP) to date $0
COUPON APPS
Checkout51- $6.95
GROCERY SHOP THIS WEEK
Total to spend this month : $200
Total coupons used this week: $0
Total coupons used to date: $0
Total in-store discounts this week: $0
Total in-store discounts to date: $0
Total spent this week: $30.42
Total spent so far this month: $37.67
Total over/Under spend this shop ($50/wk): Wk1 under $42.75 + Wk2 $12.33 = under $55.08
Total left to spend for the month: $144.92
Total Spent To Date 2018: Jan $217.46 + Feb $127.79
WEEKLY OVERVIEW
Again, not much shopping this time. I haven’t been feeling up to it lately and I feel I have plenty of stock to make some basic meals as I have also not been feeling up to cooking much.
For week 3, I’m planning to make Tuna Pasta Salad for lunch and Japanese Curry for dinner. I am totally fine with eating the same thing everyday for a week so I just make a big batch of each. Since I haven’t been feeling like cooking, it’s nice to just have everything ready in about 2 minutes.
Week 11 – Mar 9 – 15/18
Name Your Store: Wal-mart
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points =
Total Out Of Pocket: $9.28
Human
2 – 450 g Marble Cheese = $7.54
2 Cans Mushrooms = $1.74
Name Your Store: Frescho
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points =
Total Out Of Pocket: $34.52
Human
Case Kraft Dinner = $5.88
2 Frozen Pizzas = $7.98
4 lb Clementines = $3.99
2 Goldfish = $4.98
Ham = $5.99
2 WW Bread = $3.30
English Cucumber = $.98
Tomato – 0.360 kg = $1.42
Name Your Store: No Frills
Total Coupons Used: $
Total Points = 10,500
Total Out Of Pocket: $130.64
Human
1 kg Sugar = $1.98
1 kg Icing Sugar = $1.98
4 NN Pasta = $4.00
2 Boxes Cereal = $5.96
1.89 g Mayo = $3.98
4 L 2% Milk = $4.27
2.27 kg Lasagna – (1,500 PC Points) = $12.00
4 NN Frozen Vegetables = $8.00
2 Chicken Lasagna = $9.96
Bananas – 1.590 kg = $2.00
Chicken Legs = $10.54
Hot Cross Buns = $3.00
St. Patricks Cookies = $3.00
Cinnamon Raisin Bagels = $1.87
Sesame Seed Bagels = $1.87
Cats
7.26 kg Friskies Chef’s Blend = $22.58
10 Boxes Baking Soda = $10.00
3 – 18 kg NN Cat Litter = $23.66
Grocery Game Challenge Results
Total Grocery Budget for the 2 Adults ($1820.00)
Total Human (Adults) this Week Period: $118.20
Total Human (Adults) to Date: $495.54 (minus Debt pymt & Gift Cards) = $479.22
Total Grocery Budget for the 3 Cats ($390)
Total Cats this Week Period: $56.24
Total Cats to Date: $176.31 (minus Debt pymt & Gift Cards) = $128.42
Total Grocery Budget for the Personal Hygiene ($390)
Total Personal Hygiene this Week Period: $6.78
Total Personal Hygiene to Date: $98.00 (minus Debt pymt & Gift Cards) = $73.73
Total Coupons Used this Week Period: $
Total Coupons Used To Date: $2.25
Total Grocery Savings for this Week Period: $14.27
Total Grocery Savings to Date: $40.02
Total Price Match for this Week Period: $
Total Price Match to Date: $1.18
Total PC Points Received this Week Period: 10,500
Total PC Rewards Points Used this Week Period:
Total PC Rewards To Date: 62,718
Overview: Did a major stock up on goods and PC Points.
Week 2 March 12 – 18
March Monthly budget $240 ($60 per week)
March Costco budget $80 ($20 per week)
Total Spent Grocery this week: $48.25
Total Spent this month: $63.40
Total Spent Costco this week: $0
Total Spent Costco this month: $0
Grocery left to spend: $176.60
Costco left to spend: $80.00
Coupons used: $0
Coupons to date: $0
PC Optimum Redemption: $0
PC Optimum Redemption to date: $0
Checkout 51 Opening Balance: $136.45
Checkout 51 weekly offers redeemed: $0.10 (watch video offer)
Checkout 51 Current balance: $136.55
Checkout 51 Cheque Redemption: $0
Checkout 51 Cheque Redeemed to date: $0
Grocery carry over: $22.95
Costco carry over: $31.45
Food Basics
Pad Thai sauce 7 x 1.25
Pepperoni 5.49
Black Diamond Cheese slices 2 x 1.88
Pita bread .99
Total Paid 19.00
Walmart
Pizza Kit 4.67
Cheese blocks 6 x 3.77
Pizza Sauce 1.96
Total Paid 29.25
Did not need a lot again this week. My son had a friend over for a day on March break so I got pizza fixings. We also were completely out of cheese blocks at home and the Walmart price of 3.77 is a stock up for us. So, despite not planning to stock up, we got cheese (and that will never go to waste). I took a look at the clearance bin at Food Basics when I went in for a couple of things, one of our favourite Pad Thai sauces looks to be discontinued at the store, I bought every package I could find. We will use it all well before it expires (we use two packets at a time) and the cost normally runs about $6-7 each package. A big find for us, but a sad moment knowing that we will have an even tougher time locally finding this ingredient. If there were more than 7 packages, I would have bought them too. Some things are just too good to pass up, and we had hardly spent anything this month. Other basics we didn’t need, traveled to my sister’s house for 4 days at the end of March break so we wanted very little for perishables.