Usually, I know precisely how much I've spent before I hit the checkout counter. I can hit the mark within a few cents either way. I add it up as I go, and I round up to cover taxes. If the total sounds off from what I expect, I then begin looking for mistakes. I'm actually able to remember a lot of prices, especially if it was something that was on sale. I usually check over my receipt, but lately, the few times I haven't done so there have been mistakes. I just had this happen a few days ago. Chips were buy one get one free for Memorial Day weekend. I was charged for both packages, but I didn't realize it until after I got home. This is unusual for me, but since I was only grabbing a few things, I wasn't totaling up as I went.
It's not mandatory but there are times when you are left with little choice but to examine the grocery bill. These are rare occasions, though, and occur only when something you remembered picking out during the shopping process could no longer be found after you start unpacking the goods. In most cases, even though the bill proves that there is indeed a discrepancy between what you paid and the number of items that got packed - and unless the item costs more than $10 - you just end up shrugging your shoulders instead of going back to the grocery store to look for the manager and demand justice.
I rarely do that, only if I have purchased a lot of items. But most of the time, no. I have never encountered being overcharged anyway.
I can't believe that people have the luxury of going shopping, and just being able to toss things into the basket without adding them up lol. When I go shopping, I only do a small shop. But I make sure that I add up everything with the calculator on my phone, prior to arriving at check out. So yes, I would say that I thoroughly examine my grocery bill when I go shopping.
I check my receipt right after I pay because like you mentioned, sometimes you are over charged. A couple times I did get charged extra and I tell them right away to save myself the hassle from returning to the store. My mom never checks her receipt and she would come home charged for things that she didn't even purchase or on a rare ocassion, she'd come home with things that she was never charged for.
Right? I mean, seriously, it adds up so fast. Also, not making sure you get charged the correct price is like throwing money away. Who can afford to do that, and why would you even if you could afford it? Someone mentioned not going back unless it was an item over $10 dollars. First off, I don't have many items that are over $10 when I go grocery shopping, do you? Besides, even if it is only a couple bucks, it adds up. I just had it happen again too. So, last week it was close to $4 and this week it was around $3. That doesn't sound like much but say as a rough figure.. three bucks every week. In a year, that adds up to around $144. Why should I "donate" over a hundred bucks a year to the store? They get enough of my money, haha.
It is hard to remember the prices of everything that you purchased when grocery shopping; but usually I have a pretty close idea of what i am supposed to be paying, so if the listed price is much off, I will notice it. Most stores do not give you the item free like Krogers does; so then it is a good thing if you can catch the mistake as they are ringing the purchases up, and it doesn't get added on with the wrong price at all. Once I discovered that Krogers has the scan-rite guarantee; I stopped checking as they ring up items, and then look afterwards. That way, if they did it wrong, I get it free, which is worth staanding in line at the customer service desk.
It all ads up very fast. People are sort of swindled into a false sense of security with all of the deals that seem to be on offer a lot of the time, but all of it adds up, and very very fast. It's ridiculous. I make sure that the price I am paying is exactly the amount that my calculator is telling me, and if that is not the case, it is because there is an offer on the product/products, and I missed it, and thy have to take money off. I live in the UK. $10 is £6.40, so we do have many items over and at ten dollars. But £10? Nope. I love that you are only spending three to four dollars a week. That is amazing!!!
No, I wish I was only spending three to four dollars per week. That would be amazing! I meant that I am losing that amount the past couple weeks by getting overcharged for things. That's why I pay close attention to the bill, because even a few bucks every week starts to add up. I rarely put an item in my cart that is over ten bucks at the grocery store, unless it's some sort of bulk package or in some cases meat. I don't have occasion to buy many big things these days, as my family is smaller now. Most of my kids are grown and moved out.
I do the majority of my grocery shopping at the beginning of the month, and since there are many more items, I'd be less likely to notice if a price was slightly off during that trip. However, like @Jessi, I pay more attention to particular items that are on special sale, or maybe ones that could be unfamiliar to the clerk, especially if s/he is young. I bought several produce items before at Super Target and the young clerk was unfamiliar with most of them, so almost rang a few items up as something else that was a lot more expensive. I tend to know what most items I buy cost, so if it's significantly more when it scans, I usually will catch it.
I try to keep track at the checkout because I have been overcharged many times. This has happened to me before so often on a sale item. I think it is tedious but it does help to keep track at least on the more expensive items and items that are supposed to be on sale but don't always ring up that way. I usually buy a lot of the same items each week so I know what price they are. I have had to go back to the store a few times because I found when I looked at home I missed something. I call the store and they are usually good at returning your money. I find Kroger much easier to deal with than Walmart.
Today, I had a really surprising experience at Kroger when I went in for a few groceries. Since I only spent a few dollars, I paid with cash and not my debit card, and i gave the clerk a $20. He rang it all up and gav me my change and the receipt. When I looked at the receipt, to compare everything and make sure the change was right; he had NOT rang up that i gave him a $20 bill. He put it in as the exact amount that I spent , and no change back. I asked him why he had done that and he was kinf of in-between nonchalant and defensive, and said that was how they did it. He was not very agreeable; so i just took my groceries and left the cash register. I next asked for a manager, and told him exactly what had happened, and he said hat they don't usually do that, but it was policy that they could do it that way. If he had given me the wrong change, I would have had NO way to prove it, since the receipt said that i paid the exact amount and no change. I think that it should be incorrect for a store to ring up purchases and payment tendered wrong .
I don't examine my receipts, but one time, the craziest thing happened at the grocery store (Walmart) - I wasn't paying attention while the cashier was ringing up my stuff, and he literally rang up all my things twice!! And somehow I didn't notice until after i had paid! I couldn't believe that 1. he had done that and 2. I didn't notice. I normally don't check my receipts unless I have reason to believe something is off.
I run a total in my head when I am shopping so I know about how much the total should be when I great the final bill. I am not always right on the total amount but I am close, if I have a big difference in the amounts I look to see what item is not right or that I did not include in my total when I was picking items up.
That's what I do, and I tend to be on top of the total, so it's fairly simple to tell if it's off. Like Dreeklass, I'm surprised by the number of people who have the luxury of just throwing whatever they want into the grocery cart without even counting things up as they go. I'd spend way too much on groceries if I did that. I do sometimes find it amusing when I see people like this and watch their eyes go big when they hear the total. Like I said, things add up in a hurry.
I think it is important to look through it all the time. I recently checked one to find I had been charged full price for discount items! I promptly called the store and told them, they offered to refund the difference and gave me a voucher for the total bill to come off the next shop I did with them as an apology!
