my AMAZING ground beef deal!

[Mariep26]

I agree that legally I don't think an obvious law was broken. Ethically -- I would have pointed it out to the manager and asked what the price is and then made my decision about purchasing it (the thing about beef is that they could reweigh it and stick the correct price on it or he could have cut a break and gave it for less per pound or just leave it as is). In my mind this is different than some big display that advertises an item at one price and then it scans at a higher price - in that scenario, in Massachusetts, they are required to honor the advertised price. $0.99/lb is unheard of here in Massachusetts (well at least where I am in Massachusetts) -- I think $2.49 is about the minimum I can remember paying.

 

[OLT2004]

cmwade77 - Ground Beef For .99 per pound in Salt Lake City...???

Hmnnn...Let's do some internet research...

Would you care to recant your post...before I research???

Have a nice day...

 

[KellyNY]

I only scanned down to the bottom of this because I *KNEW* someone would try to say that. You are incorrect. If a store marks a price on an item or advertises it on sale a certain price, they are required by law to sell the item at that price. If they don't, that's bait and switch, which *IS* a crime, and one stores get away with a lot.

You are absolutely right! Although I must say many stores just ignore it and people usually do not fight for few $$.

 

[Burnedout]

Actually individual states have their own laws regarding mismarked prices.

 

[Fueledbycoffee]

Stealing??? You are accusing the OP of stealing??? She didn't add meat to the package to get more for her dollar! It was mis marked & an honest mistake by the store. In MI the store would be required to honor the price. I doubt this will put the store out of business, there is plenty of markup on food.

 

[kwelch10377]

I only scanned down to the bottom of this because I *KNEW* someone would try to say that. You are incorrect. If a store marks a price on an item or advertises it on sale a certain price, they are required by law to sell the item at that price. If they don't, that's bait and switch, which *IS* a crime, and one stores get away with a lot.

While the store is required to sell the product at the price marked, this isn't Bait and Switch. Bait and Switch is when a store intentionally advertises an item and then the advertised goods are not available to the consumer and the store tries to sell the consumer a costlier product. This situation is just a mismarked item.

Actually individual states have their own laws regarding mismarked prices.

Most states have the same laws,but there are a few exceptions. For example MI has the Bounty Law. If an item rings up more expensive then the price marked on the shelf them the customer is entitled to the that price plus a $5"Bounty".

 

[Burnedout]

Stealing??? You are accusing the OP of stealing??? She didn't add meat to the package to get more for her dollar! It was mis marked & an honest mistake by the store. In MI the store would be required to honor the price. I doubt this will put the store out of business, there is plenty of markup on food.

So the store shouldn't make a profit? Of it is ok to take advantage of big business, but I bet you wouldn't want someone going the same to you.

People have no problem taking advantage of whatever system they can. Probably the same people who steal the condiments from restaurants.

 

[rflorek]

I used to love this particular message board, but in the past few weeks I've noticed postings such as this (which IMO is morally wrong - you did take knowingly take advantage of a mistake - if everyone did this, ALL of our grocery prices would go up) and others where people are taking advantage of coupon discounts targeted at specific comsumers (Home Depot ring a bell?)

It's one thing to find a great deal & share. These are not examples of that. I think it's time I take a step back from this board - and other budget type boards like it - because people's dishonesty is sickening me (as well as ruining perfectly honest deals for the rest of us)

Happy holidays to everyone!

And just remember: karma is a b*tch

 

[Fueledbycoffee]

Honestly, I think stealing is a strong word...

As a business owner, I honor the price that was quoted even if cost of materials go up or labor takes longer than expected. Ultimately this affects my bottem line but my clients are not stealing from me.

As a supervisor in a large retail chain, I have honored: expired sale signs, mismarked products, expired coupons, coupons that have already been used and given guests discounts because they were not getting the service/product they expected (whether I agreed with them or not).

In business & life you win some & you loose some. I don't think OP was out to get anyone...She happened to "win one" today and the store happened to "loose one" today.

Moving on to find pixie dust... Have a good night!

 

[Jex]

Stealing??? You are accusing the OP of stealing??? She didn't add meat to the package to get more for her dollar! It was mis marked & an honest mistake by the store. In MI the store would be required to honor the price. I doubt this will put the store out of business, there is plenty of markup on food.

Actually only about a 3% markup on average.

I agree, it may not be the page of stealing,but it is in the same book.

 

[Mariep26]

I used to love this particular message board, but in the past few weeks I've noticed postings such as this (which IMO is morally wrong - you did take knowingly take advantage of a mistake - if everyone did this, ALL of our grocery prices would go up) and others where people are taking advantage of coupon discounts targeted at specific comsumers (Home Depot ring a bell?)

It's one thing to find a great deal & share. These are not examples of that. I think it's time I take a step back from this board - and other budget type boards like it - because people's dishonesty is sickening me (as well as ruining perfectly honest deals for the rest of us)

Happy holidays to everyone!

And just remember: karma is a b*tch

I hear you. I used to run a couponing site and between people wanting something for nothing, the gloating about ethically wrong choices that only served to line their own pockets and the berating that I took almost everyday because freebies were gone or the deal wasn't available in their local store, I had to throw in the towel and give it up. People are nuts when it comes to saving a few bucks.

 

[kimblebee]

I see nothing wrong with what the OP did. She paid the price that was on the package. It should be up to the store to make sure all printed prices are accurate. This is no more stealing than people who use double and triple coupons to get items for pennies or no charge.

 

[Jex]

I see nothing wrong with what the OP did. She paid the price that was on the package. It should be up to the store to make sure all printed prices are accurate. This is no more stealing than people who use double and triple coupons to get items for pennies or no charge.

Using coupons is not taking advantage of an honest mistake.

A lot of people on this boardhave yard sales, if you had meant to price something $5, but accidently priced it at 5 cents would you honor it when someone wanted to purchase it?

 

[kimblebee]

Yes, I would let them have it for the price marked. It was my mistake and I should have been more careful. Plus, maybe they will now use the leftover money to buy more stuff than they would have. If you're lucky, it may add up to more than the original $5 they were going to spend.

ETA how is a machine weighing a product wrong an honest mistake?

 

[KellyNY]

I hear you. I used to run a couponing site and between people wanting something for nothing, the gloating about ethically wrong choices that only served to line their own pockets and the berating that I took almost everyday because freebies were gone or the deal wasn't available in their local store, I had to throw in the towel and give it up. People are nuts when it comes to saving a few bucks.

Hm, I wonder what choices are ethically wrong when using coupons? I coupon and I cannot think of a single example.

 

[Jex]

Yes, I would let them have it for the price marked. It was my mistake and I should have been more careful. Plus, maybe they will now use the leftover money to buy more stuff than they would have. If you're lucky, it may add up to more than the original $5 they were going to spend.

ETA how is a machine weighing a product wrong an honest mistake?

Depending on the machine it could be out of whack, but what probably happened is the.machine weighs it but the person still has to enter the price.

 

[Jex]

Hm, I wonder what choices are ethically wrong when using coupons? I coupon and I cannot think of a single example.

You should just start switching price tags, apparently its pretty much the same thing.

 

[KellyNY]

You should just start switching price tags, apparently its pretty much the same thing.

Nah, no fun, I like idea of getting deal even so here in Brooklyn we cannot get really amazing deals, no doubling.

 

[tink2dw]

the kniving I have seen on these boards to save a few dollar on a disney trip...And the weird things you all will do to save those dollars, let no one cast the first stone here people!! this is the budget board, not the church board. If you need church it is down the road on the corner. And Karma to all you moralizers!! Judge not! Now Look you made go all churchy on here...

 

[cmwade77]

Actually only about a 3% markup on average.

I agree, it may not be the page of stealing,but it is in the same book.

I disagree, out here in California they would be obligated to sell for the lowest posted price under the law, which means that the OP was well within their rights to take it for the price posted. And, yes that applies even if the price was posted in error. You can thank K-Mart for those laws, they were taking and purposely marking items one price, then charging higher prices saying the low price was just a mistake. We didn't take too kindly to that tactic out here, so I can see where the OP was well within their rights to insist on the lowest posted price.

It's also possible that the store discounted it because the meat was expiring soon (still good to freeze for up to about a year though), so it may not have even been a mistake. Most stores will mark the package as such, but not all and sometimes a package gets missed with the label.

Switching price tags as one poster suggested doing on the other hand is intending to commit fraud and is illegal.