Adventures in mispricing and SOB managers

Awwwwwwwww the manager was right. That's 100% obviously not $12.99. Sorry to see a CAG be in the wrong...
 
Well, if he would like to post a pic of it showing that it was marked down from $12.99 to $78.00 than it could uphold his side of the argument, but as it is, my picture showed what coulda been the mistake, even if I had made the mistake at the time myself.

Btw, I posted the pic, and am not the OP
 
[quote name='drsuper23']I'm a manager in retail and I'll tell you what. We are obligated to sell the item if it's mismaked for whatever the price is. That means that if an item is price for $9.99 and it actually costs $99.99 we have to give it for $9.99. That goes as well if we placed a promotional price on a display by mistake. It is better to lose the difference on the product than it is to loose the customer for life or get a big fine by the state. When there's a price marked, it has to be honored. Think about as well that the manager is not loosing anything personally. They're just using their "power" to demean the customer. Pretty stupid I must say. I don't know why people take it so personal and make their own personal policies as opposed to doing what's right.[/QUOTE]

Wow you are completely wrong. If you live within the United States of America you are able to refuse any sale. Flat out. A customer walks into the store under the good graces of his behavior and the store manager's tolerance. He may be asked to leave, he may be asked not to return, he may be told he cannot purchase anything. "The customer is always... at the mercy of the management."

I understand that most people would cry, "FALSE ADVERTISING," but no, they did not advertise the price. The price was certainly marked but it was not advertised. Not to mention there are laws in our great country which protect the seller. When a customer approaches the counter he is offering to make a purchase - Note: OFFERING. The management may simply refuse, or may provide reason against the customer's purchase, or may bargain with him, or may accept. UNTIL HE HAS ACCEPTED, HE IS UNDER NO LEGAL OBLIGATION TO SELL THE ITEM AT THE PRICE WITH WHICH IT IS MARKED.

Now it's not a good practice to go about pricing items one way and then selling them at a higher price, and it's a sure way to get the BBB on you, but a simple mistake like the one mentioned above is protected.

So I do apologize for the manager's sheer attitude, but the basic premise on which he argued is correct. He did not have to sell it to you at that price, nor do any store clerks have to sell an item that is mismarked for the lower price. Is that bad customer service? You be the judge.
 
Hey guys, I'm back. :)

Just to get myself up to date on the topic, the price marked was definitely $12.99. No rubbed off 9s or anything. I'm 100% confident about that. It did not look at all like the one that's been posted. Maybe what happened was that the person pricing it made a mistake, but I'm confident that it said $12.99. I will be going there tomorrow to try and take a photo to demonstrate it. I'll report back with a photo. Wish me luck. :)

EDIT: I should also point out again that the manager himself recognized it as a $12.99 tag when he said "it was marked up." I'm not trying to pull a fast one on Kmart (one hell of a fast one to claim that something that clearly says $129 is $12).
 
[quote name='The Cheapest Ass Gamer']Hey guys, I'm back. :)

Just to get myself up to date on the topic, the price marked was definitely $12.99. No rubbed off 9s or anything. I'm 100% confident about that. It did not look at all like the one that's been posted. Maybe what happened was that the person pricing it made a mistake, but I'm confident that it said $12.99. I will be going there tomorrow to try and take a photo to demonstrate it. I'll report back with a photo. Wish me luck. :)[/QUOTE]

hmmm.. looking for some redemption, eh? good luck, and I hope that they didn't fix the sticker.
 
Haha, thanks, I hope so too. If they did change it back, I'll look like one hell of an asshole (or, since that other guy posted his photo, I should say "continue looking like an asshole"). I wish I had a camera when I saw it.
 
Alright, so I visited Kmart today and fortunately, the screens are still there, all with the same tags as when I went. Except that they apparently blacked out the price with a sharpie after I argued with them about it (note that this happened after I argued the price, not before...it was completely visible beforehand). You can still see the price on the tag...I took some photos, but I doubt you can see the price through the marker (anyone good with photoshop? demomanTNA, I'm looking at you!).

http://bcg1588.tripod.com/pics/

I hope that link works for you. If anyone has a better idea for photo hosting, let me know.

EDIT: And yes, I agree with everyone here. If it was $129.94 or $129.9, it would be completely ridiculous for me to expect to get it for $12. That's obviously not what happened. Different store = different situation.
 
[quote name='demomanTNA']Sadly I can't do much as the pictures are WAY too blurry for me to work with. :([/QUOTE]

Damn, I kept the thing still...I blame my shitty camera. Ah well, thanks anyway. Perhaps I can use these photos as evidence for the district manager and then attorney general (at least they show that the staff corrected the prices).

My prediction is that the thread will now die quietly...
 
Funny thing is, the tag reads

129 in huge numbers usually meaning dollars, and in tiny numbers above it, a 9, a something missing, obviously, another 9, do you really think 3 big numbers, 129!, and a random small 9 make sense? i highly doubt it, its a matter of using common sense, its obvious a number is missing, and what the true price is. i have those monitors at the k mart over here in daygo, no one is touching them, and they are like 78 $ as of now. marked down from, DUNNA DUN DUN 129.99.

this is a dispute i doubt you will win.
 
[quote name='dios']Funny thing is, the tag reads

129 in huge numbers usually meaning dollars, and in tiny numbers above it, a 9, a something missing, obviously, another 9, do you really think 3 big numbers, 129!, and a random small 9 make sense? i highly doubt it, its a matter of using common sense, its obvious a number is missing, and what the true price is. i have those monitors at the k mart over here in daygo, no one is touching them, and they are like 78 $ as of now. marked down from, DUNNA DUN DUN 129.99.

this is a dispute i doubt you will win.[/QUOTE]

Funny thing is, the picture where

you can read the tag DUNNA DUN DUN wasn't from the OP. His is the one where the price has been Sharpie'd over, and it looks as if it's only 2 digits long from the blurry photos he posted.
 
[quote name='The Cheapest Ass Gamer']Alright, so I visited Kmart today and fortunately, the screens are still there, all with the same tags as when I went. Except that they apparently blacked out the price with a sharpie after I argued with them about it (note that this happened after I argued the price, not before...it was completely visible beforehand). You can still see the price on the tag...I took some photos, but I doubt you can see the price through the marker (anyone good with photoshop? demomanTNA, I'm looking at you!).

http://bcg1588.tripod.com/pics/

I hope that link works for you. If anyone has a better idea for photo hosting, let me know.

EDIT: And yes, I agree with everyone here. If it was $129.94 or $129.9, it would be completely ridiculous for me to expect to get it for $12. That's obviously not what happened. Different store = different situation.[/QUOTE]

Man just admit you are wrong. I had the same thing happening to me back in the day with Die Hard Arcade on Sega Saturn. The 3 in 39.99 was barely visible and I thought it was 9.99.
 
Okay, ngamer007 and dios have no business posting if you can't read the previous posts. The $129 one is not my fucking picture. I'm being chastised for someone else's completely separate situation.

[quote name='O.D.D']Man just admit you are wrong. I had the same thing happening to me back in the day with Die Hard Arcade on Sega Saturn. The 3 in 39.99 was barely visible and I thought it was 9.99.[/QUOTE]

Maybe you're right, but there are a few differences between the situation. First, in my situation, there's a dollar sign behind the price and, given the raised 99 and big 12, the tag clearly states $12.99. Furthermore, the exact same tag the mistaken $12.99 tag) is on every single PS1 screen they have. No chance of a visibility problem, just the stupid error of one of the employees not realizing it was $129.99 before. IMO the situation changes a lot when you can be 100% sure that the price visible is the price marked, whether right or wrong. Picture a scenario where the Die Hards were marked "$9.99 REDUCED $39.99" and it was on every copy, you try to buy it, and you're told it has to be $39.99 because $9.99 is the "was" price (the tag doesn't specify).

Another thing is that the PSone LCD screen is at a point now where $78 is an outrageous price. Some stores have had these down to a penny to clear them out. They can't possibly expect to move them for nearly 80 bucks. I'm not saying that this makes me right (that alone certainly doesn't mean it should be $12), it just illustrates the reasonableness of expecting to purchase one for $12 when it's marked $12. After all, it's not like I found a new PS2 marked at $14.99 and expected it at that price.

As the argument went back on the 2nd page, and drsuper23 pointed out, in many states, state law dictates that stores are obligated to honor the lowest price marked. Pennsylvania is one such state. Like I said, I worked for hours in retail scraping price tags off of Pepsi bottles (great gig, huh?) just because it was illegal for them to keep the lower tag on and cover it up with a higher one.

So yeah, you're probably right. They made a mistake, I should let them go. But that asshole manager seriously pissed me off when he gave me 1 to 2 word answers and walked away without apologizing. His ignorance of PA law and lousy attitude made me more upset than I had been. It would be a lot easier to let it go had he discussed it with me and explained that he couldn't sell them for that price. The good way to handle the situation? If they can't sell it for that price, what's wrong with apologizing and offering the customer like 5 bucks in credit? Just one possibility of treating the customer without leaving them with a bad taste in their mouth.

EDIT: After this post, woohoo, I'm a veteran now!
 
[quote name='The Cheapest Ass Gamer']Another thing is that the PSone LCD screen is at a point now where $78 is an outrageous price. They can't possibly expect to move them for that price. I'm not saying that this makes me right (that alone certainly doesn't mean it should be $12), it just illustrates the reasonableness of me expecting to purchase one for $12 when it's marked $12. It's not like I found a new PS2 marked at $14.99 and expected it at that price.

So yeah, you're probably right. They made a mistake, I should let them go. But that asshole manager seriously pissed me off when he gave me 1 to 2 word answers and walked away without apologizing. He made me more upset than I had been. It would be a lot easier to let it go had he discussed it with me and explained that he couldn't sell them for that price. The good way to handle the situation? If they can't sell it for that price, what's wrong with apologizing and offering the customer like 5 bucks in credit? Just one possibility of treating the customer without leaving them with a bad taste in their mouth.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, I think the manager was right in this situation. While he wasn't the most accomodating with his one-word answers, I think that he was aware that the price for an LCD screen couldn't possibly be marked down as low as $12.99 and still be stored behind glass.

But honestly, did you REALLY think it was priced at $12.99? Or did you notice the discrepency with the price tag and hoped that you could have turned the deal into something better than it really was?

Based on your name "Cheapest Ass Gamer" and you being a member of these forums, I think that you are upset because you knew that the price really wasn't really $12.99 and was hoping to dishonestly argue a significantly lower price, making the assumption that a Kmart employee wouldn't be as alert to the drastic price difference than somebody at an EBGames or Best Buy would.
 
[quote name='retrovertigo']Unfortunately, I think the manager was right in this situation. While he wasn't the most accomodating with his one-word answers, I think that he was aware that the price for an LCD screen couldn't possibly be marked down as low as $12.99 and still be stored behind glass.

But honestly, did you REALLY think it was priced at $12.99? Or did you notice the discrepency with the price tag and hoped that you could have turned the deal into something better than it really was?

Based on your name "Cheapest Ass Gamer" and you being a member of these forums, I think that you are upset because you knew that the price really wasn't really $12.99 and was hoping to dishonestly argue a significantly lower price, making the assumption that a Kmart employee wouldn't be as alert to the drastic price difference than somebody at an EBGames or Best Buy would.[/QUOTE]

LOL, don't read too much into my name. It was just a really stupid thing I put in 2 years ago when I registered to try and be clever. Now it seems so stupid that I wish I could change it without becoming a noob. :) I seriously doubt that I'm the cheapest guy on these forums when some people are willing to do things like price match on receipt scans and return broken things in new boxes.

Yes, I honestly thought it was $12.99 when I asked to buy it. My first reaction was I said to my brother, "Look, PS1 LCD screens are 12 bucks! How many do you want?" hehe. We were going to each buy one. He asked me "are you sure it's not a mistake?" and I said I didn't think so. Then after we asked someone to come unlock the case, I realized that it might have been meant to say $129.99, so we decided to just try to buy one in case they have a problem. I started to expect the worst, and then she rang it up, and my brother's fears were right. But yes, I legitimately thought it would be $12 until right before the clerk came, particularly since every time I go to a store, I check the prices of PS1 screens to see if they're clearing them out yet. As for the manager knowing it wouldn't be in the glass case, keep in mind that they also have $6 copies of Okage locked up. :)
 
[quote name='The Cheapest Ass Gamer']Yes, I honestly thought it was $12.99 when I asked to buy it. My first reaction was I said to my brother, "Look, PS1 LCD screens are 12 bucks! How many do you want?" hehe. We were going to each buy one. He asked me "are you sure it's not a mistake?" and I said I didn't think so. Then after we asked someone to come unlock the case, I realized that it might have been meant to say $129.99, so we decided to just try to buy one in case they have a problem. I started to expect the worst, and then she rang it up, and my brother's fears were right. But yes, I legitimately thought it would be $12 until right before the clerk came, particularly since every time I go to a store, I check the prices of PS1 screens to see if they're clearing them out yet. As for the manager knowing it wouldn't be in the glass case, keep in mind that they also have $6 copies of Okage locked up. :)[/QUOTE]

If you believed you were right, you probably should have stated your side of the case to the manager/store coach - explaining why it could have been 12.99. Explaining that the screen was for a much older PSOne system that isn't even a very popular medium for gaming anymore, especially with the PS2 backwards compatibility, and that even the PS2 is slowly on it's way out with the PS3 coming out next year. I think if you debated him a bit more than just letting it be, you may have been able to talk him into why it could be 12.99.

He may have been short with his comments, but from your description of the conversation, it seems like you pretty much let it go after he said no. Next time give 'em hell, if you think you have a good case. Can't feel too sorry for yourself, if you don't provide a convincing argument, ya know? :)
 
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