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Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

theguardian.com

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Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#401

Post by limagnolia »

nrhrjrjrjtntbt wrote: post #265
cs702 wrote: post #258

> Red Baron frozen pizzas, listed on the shelf at $5, rang up at $7.65. Bounty paper towels, shelf price $10.99, rang up at $15.50. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Stouffer’s frozen meatloaf, Sprite and Pepsi, ibuprofen, Klondike Minis – shoppers were overpaying for all of them. Pedigree puppy food, listed at $12.25, rang up at $14.75. Surely, now that this made the news, there will be an investigation into the fraudulent…

It was investigated. They got fined $5k. 4 times. Is there another law that can get them for repeat abuse.

Their attorney general could also sue them, as was done in several states mentioned- resulting in much larger settlements. Only the fines by the dept of weights and measures are limited.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#402

Post by garbagewoman »

epsteingpt wrote: post #394

While most comments will be negative toward Dollar General, in many areas Dollar General or Family Dollar or Dollar Tree are the only places you can get access and distribution to a wide range of products and brands in areas which are otherwise underserved. You can dislike it, but they've evolved and expanded in part because they are very good at serving these areas profitably, where other businesses aren't. People w…

Did you ever consider that they might have caused this situation?

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#403

Post by limagnolia »

tzs wrote: post #365
cs702 wrote: post #258

> Red Baron frozen pizzas, listed on the shelf at $5, rang up at $7.65. Bounty paper towels, shelf price $10.99, rang up at $15.50. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Stouffer’s frozen meatloaf, Sprite and Pepsi, ibuprofen, Klondike Minis – shoppers were overpaying for all of them. Pedigree puppy food, listed at $12.25, rang up at $14.75. Surely, now that this made the news, there will be an investigation into the fraudulent…

>> Red Baron frozen pizzas, listed on the shelf at $5, rang up at $7.65. The crazy thing is that even if it did ring up at the correct price it isn't a good deal. It's around $4.80-4.90 at Walmart and Target and others.

Paying 10 to 20 cents more for an item can still be a better deal than traveling further away to a larger store. The mis-pricing is completely unacceptable, though.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#404

Post by ryan_lane »

ssl-3 wrote: post #361
cs702 wrote: post #258

> Red Baron frozen pizzas, listed on the shelf at $5, rang up at $7.65. Bounty paper towels, shelf price $10.99, rang up at $15.50. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Stouffer’s frozen meatloaf, Sprite and Pepsi, ibuprofen, Klondike Minis – shoppers were overpaying for all of them. Pedigree puppy food, listed at $12.25, rang up at $14.75. Surely, now that this made the news, there will be an investigation into the fraudulent…

Some people say it's trickery, but when I apply the razor I find pricing errors more likely to be the result of stupidity than of malice. Having worked in retail myself, I understand that some days there just isn't time to get it all done. A debt of unfinished tasks can accumulate. It happens. Sometimes old prices get left up. (I think the stupidity is on the part of management more than it is the employees, but it's…

You're applying that razor incorrectly. These dollar stores are run with a skeleton crew, where it's impossible for the workers to keep the store in order, or to update the prices on the shelves. The prices of items at the register is managed centrally. They ensure resources exist to increase prices at the register and not on the shelves, and that's misleading and fraudulent.

This isn't a pricing error. They should change their practices to require prices be updated on the shelves, and for that to be verified, prior to the prices at the register applying (and this should be required by law).

It's funny that it's criminal when someone shoplifts from a dollar store, but knowingly showing one price and charging a higher price isn't a crime. We need to start treating corporate theft as crimes, rather than as a cost of business.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#405

Post by ssl-3 »

hamdingers wrote: post #56
adrr wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever been to a dollar store? Its much cheaper for the same items than a regular grocery store. Also not everyone needs a Costco sized tub of mayo. You test it yourself go by a standard sized candy bar at safeway/alberstons and then at a dollar store. Bottle of coke. Birthday card. Better yet compare the cost spices. Try to buy bay leaves at regular grocery store for under $5.

Candy bars and soda sure whatever. Look at essentials. The dollar store near me charges $1.99 for 8oz of Tide, the Albertsons a single block further charges $9.99 for 84oz, the dollar store is over double the cost. It's the same story with soap, cleaning products, etc. A tiny container for cheap feels like a deal if you can't do the math, but it's not. Feel free to "test it yourself." I'm lucky in that I have a real…

There's variations in dollar stores, and in packaging, and deals, and everything else.

Let's play with Tide, and with Kroger and Dollar General just because those are the two retailers that are near to me. We'll do biggest and smallest, and start with the smallest.

---

The smallest bottle of original Tide that the Dollar General near me has is 34 ounces for $6.00: $0.1765 per ounce.

The Kroger near me has a similar, but lesser, bottle as their smallest offering: 32 ounce bottles for $5.99: $0.1872 per ounce.

Dollar General wins on smallest.

---

The biggest bottle of Tide at Dollar General is 115 ounces; regularly, $16.95 ($0.147 per ounce). On sale for $15.95 ($0.139 per ounce). With a $4-off digital coupon, $11.95 ($0.104 per ounce).

At Kroger: 132 ounces for $19.99 ($0.151 per ounce). (With a $5-off-of-$25 digital coupon if I feel like giving Proctor & Gamble even more of my money in one transaction.)

Dollar General also wins at biggest. They win at regular price, and today they also win at sale price.

shrug

---

Convenience also has a cost. For instance: I ran out of cat food on Christmas Day. Everything nearby was closed except for a Circle K, so I walked over there to see what they had. And they had cat food (of course they did). I bought the smallest container of Purina dry cat food I've ever seen for ~$9.

That was a lot of money for such a small amount of cat food, but I was happy to pay it. They had the right product in the right place at the right time. (And most importantly, the cat was happy.)

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#406

Post by limagnolia »

epsteingpt wrote: post #394

While most comments will be negative toward Dollar General, in many areas Dollar General or Family Dollar or Dollar Tree are the only places you can get access and distribution to a wide range of products and brands in areas which are otherwise underserved. You can dislike it, but they've evolved and expanded in part because they are very good at serving these areas profitably, where other businesses aren't. People w…

I have overall had good experiences with Dollar General, but mis-pricing items like this is completely unacceptable. This article is very damaging to their brand to me. Even though I haven't experienced it myself.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#407

Post by seizethecheese »

venturecruelty wrote: post #164
seizethecheese wrote: post #140

This comment section is full of allegations that dollar stores are predatory, yet when I look up their operating margins they are super low (4% for Dollar General, for example).

Just because your margins are low doesn't mean you still aren't screwing over poor people.

Wait, why? I get the emotional resonance of this, but unless their marketing spend is egregious I just don’t know how you can argue their whole business model is predatory.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#408

Post by qeternity »

garbagewoman wrote: post #402
epsteingpt wrote: post #394

While most comments will be negative toward Dollar General, in many areas Dollar General or Family Dollar or Dollar Tree are the only places you can get access and distribution to a wide range of products and brands in areas which are otherwise underserved. You can dislike it, but they've evolved and expanded in part because they are very good at serving these areas profitably, where other businesses aren't. People w…

Did you ever consider that they might have caused this situation?

It would help people to consider your point if you made even a modest attempt to explain and justify what you mean.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#409

Post by rtp4me »

faidit wrote: post #395
rtp4me wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Resources to read the receipt? Are you saying poor people can't do math? Honestly, how much effort does it take to look at your receipt and look for errors? If you are really on a tight budget, I guarantee you will be looking over your receipt. I have watched countless people shop with a calculator or pen/pad to make sure they stay on budget. It is not hard.

The hard part is talking to the cashier and waiting for a manager, potentially having to argue with both, and looking like a cheapskate. If you've ever shopped at dollar stores they are often understaffed with a long line, no self-checkout, and a single cashier on duty if at all. If you argue about pricing you will hold everyone up in line, maybe get dirty looks and possibly wait an hour for someone with the authorit…

I have been to the Dollar Store (and similar) many times and have never witnessed anyone getting yelled at for saying, "Hey, I think this was a mistake. Can you correct it, please?" (or any other place I shop - especially the grocery stores). We tend to have very positive experiences when pointing out pricing errors. My mother-in-law made it a point to review the receipts ever time we went to the grocery store. No big deal. As other have said, sometimes you get +10% of your money back and other times you get it for free.

Yes, mistakes happen; yes, people get over charged. But to imply people are shamed for asking to correct the error just seems...odd.

Re: Dollar-stores overcharge customers while promising low prices

#410

Post by ssl-3 »

shepherdjerred wrote: post #389
ssl-3 wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people say it's trickery, but when I apply the razor I find pricing errors more likely to be the result of stupidity than of malice. Having worked in retail myself, I understand that some days there just isn't time to get it all done. A debt of unfinished tasks can accumulate. It happens. Sometimes old prices get left up. (I think the stupidity is on the part of management more than it is the employees, but it's…

As a company seeking to maximize profit, why would you fix this problem? It seems optimal to say "it's out of our control" -- you get to overcharge customers, and you have a reasonable explanation if a lawsuit comes. I would be curious to see how often it's the other way around, e.g. they undercharge a customer.

I prefer to think that people (including those who run corporations at the level of -- you know -- price tags) are broadly more incompetent than they are malicious, dishonest, replete scumbags who would sooner stab a person in the back and take their wallet than give them the time of day.

It is possible that I am wrong about this.

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