Fake Price Tags: These Stores May Be Lying To You On Purpose
With the volatile state of the economy, everyone is pinching pennies to make every dollar go as far as possible, but there is an advertising phenomenon happening in a range of stores.
When you are in the grocery store picking up dinner, you select one item that is labeled a specific price. Then you proceed to the checkout; it is shown that the marked price was a fake price and the correct price is higher. This scenario is something that is happening more frequently to buyers throughout the country.
One Twitter user explained his experience at Wholefoods. He selected two items advertised to be priced at $1.69 and $3.99 consecutively; when he approached the till he found out that the prices had increased for both items to $1.99 and $4.39. He is of the opinion that Whole foods should expect to be sued for breaching consumer rights because of this fake price anomaly.
Another Twitter user also echoed the frustration coming from the Whole Food consumer. This consumer found the same issue at Kroger. The items he selected were not placed in the correct area, so consumers would automatically think they were at a fake price than they actually were. If a staff member is confronted, they can apologize and explain that the item was in the wrong space. Most likely, this item will still be bought as the consumer is already at the checkout. This consumer is asking customers of Kroger to boycott the shop in favor of another grocery store.
This issue is not just limited to grocery stores; consumers have found the same problem at Home Depot. One consumer explained their story on the social media site Reddit. He stated that he found a lawnmower in Home Depot with a labeled price of $999, but when he was at the checkout, and the lawnmower was scanned, the price jumped to $1099. This consumer was not accepting this fake price and showed the staff that it was indeed priced at $999. When the staff tried to honor the orginal price, they couldn’t.
From hearing these stories from different consumers about a range of stores, one could come to the conclusion that deceptive pricing tactics are becoming rampant in the retail sector. But there may be another reason.
It seems like labor shortages and inflation are creating the perfect storm for retailers. Due to the rapid increase of inflation, prices of items in retail stores need to be changed a lot more often than usual, creating pricing errors. On top of this, most stores need more resources and staff to keep up with the increased pricing changes, which is resulting in a nightmare for owners, staff, and consumers.
No official law requires businesses to honor the price when the item is displayed, but most companies would do it as good practice. It has been incredibly hard for all businesses and consumers this year. Hopefully, next year will bring some financial relief for everyone so people can enjoy spending their hard-earned money and not have it eaten up by essential bills.
