How often do you check your receipt? It’s pretty typical to always check when you purchase a big ticket item, but what about when you are at the grocery store and have purchased dozens of items? I don’t know about you, but I do my best to keep track of the total as I put items in my cart. Only often, I find the total slightly different when I hit the register.
While it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the register as items are being rung up, distractions are very likely to happen. Even distractions aside, it’s still very difficult to watch the register at some stores because of how they are programmed. Take Vons (Safeway) for example. Often, an item’s advertised price (after club card savings) will not be adjusted until the very end when the cashier hits “total”. It’s for that very reason that I make it a point to always check my receipts before I leave the store.
Last week, I decided to keep track of how much money I would have lost had I been careless and just went about my merry way after handing the cashier my money. The total in incorrect charges for 4 different transactions at 3 separate stores totaled well over $15! If that happened each week to me I could potentially lose out on $780 in a year!
So why does this happen? As savvy shoppers, we look for bargains. We utilize manufacturer coupons, store coupons, e-coupons & rain checks to hunt for store sales & clearanced items to match them all with. We do it all and when it comes time to pay at the register… the stars don’t always align. All of these different scenarios combined require both computer & human accounting to be spot on, which let’s face it, doesn’t always happen.
Most of the time the fault lies on simple computer error. Whether it be a price not discounted in the system, advertised products in a promotion not being entered on the computer side, you name it, it happens & it happens frequently. Other times the fault lies on human error. An item can scan twice, or an incorrect price might not be entered correctly on a Buy 1 Get 1 Free coupon etc.
It pays to check!
Many stores have a Scan Accuracy Policy that will offer you the item for free if it scans incorrectly. Vons (Safeway) is a perfect example of this. Vons will give you the item for free if the item on your detailed receipt does not match the advertisement or shelf tag. If you purchase two items for an advertised Buy 1, Get 1 Free sale and both ring up full price, you will get both free.
Count your coupons.
One of the things I always do, and it has made checkout & receipt auditing so much easier, is to count the total number of coupons I am using and their value before I check out. When I am handed my receipt I step to the side and tally them up. This alerts me right away to any missing coupons.
Remaining alert to what you are being charged is an important step in saving money. You spend hours searching for deals on blogs like this, so if you aren’t going to be charged correctly at the register than what is the point? Taking a few minutes to step aside and audit your receipt could save you thousand of dollars in incorrect charges each year.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
thank you, these are great tips! I especially appreciate the tip to know how many coupons and what their total should be… i am often shopping with two little ones, and so some action steps to check the reciept while slightly distracted are super helpful!
Thanks, Lindsay! I often get distracted at the register and I don't have little ones with me
Even if you just keep track of how many coupons you have handed over – that's still going to save you money!