A Quick Lesson from Mary Bach

Lately, we Canadians have been somewhat guilty of holding our noses up to our friendly neighbours across the border. Yes, the States’ economy is in a little bit of trouble, and yes, ours is doing much better for the time being. But it turns out that even with bad decisions and a tumbling housing market, there are a few Americans that we can take a lesson from – or at least one of them at least. While it may not be breaking mortgage news, Mary Bach has recently given all Canadians a very important lesson in the value of a dollar. Or rather, the value of two cents.
Mary Bach recently marched into an American Wal-Mart store, flyer in hand, ready to buy sausages that were advertised for only 98 cents. Great deal, except that Mary was charged $1 for the package. Is two cents really a big deal? Maybe not to you, but to Mary it was. And she proved why it should be to you too. Mary took her case to the courts, and sued Wal-Mart for overcharging her. And guess what? She won! Not only did Mary receive $100 in damages and $80 in court fees, she also taught many Canadians and Americans alike, a much-needed lesson.
We shouldn’t be paying more than we have to! And even more than that, we need to hold stores accountable for their advertising and check-out practices! How many times do we get overcharged? Then we get home and look over our receipt and we see it was just 2 cents, or 5 cents, or a dollar. So we forget about it. But do you think that you make more money than Wal-Mart, or any store, in a year? Doubtful, so don’t be paying their bills for them when you don’t need to! The next time you buy something from a store, check your receipt before you leave. And if there’s a discrepancy, ask the store if they practice the Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code.
This code is what protects consumers in Canada from being overcharged and ultimately paying too much for items. The code states many things. One of them is that should there be a difference between an item’s price in advertising (or on the shelf) and what the register says when that item is rung through, the consumer will be given the advertised price, or the lowest price of the two. But it gets even better than that! If the item in question is less than $10 to begin with, and it’s rung up at the wrong price, the store is then obligated to give that item to the customer – for free!!! And, if the item costs more than $10 and is rung up incorrectly, the store must then give the customer $10 off that product! So if something costs $11.50 and it’s rung up as $11.51, you could get that item for only $1.50!
Not only does the Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code protect you from being overcharged, it actually rewards you for it! Be forewarned. Not every store adheres to the code, and not every store has to. It’s a voluntary code and stores can decide whether or not they’re going to participate. But – that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. Whenever you’re overcharged, ask the store if they practice the code (you’ll probably have to spit out the whole long name of the code.) If they do, you now know what your course of action is. If they don’t, tell them that’s too bad. Then tell them that you’ll leave, after you return the item in question, and that you’ll spread the word that not only does the store overcharge, but it also doesn’t believe in practicing codes that protect their customer.
Any store knows how valuable word of mouth is, and they’re going to want to make sure that your word is a good one, and you don’t go around giving them a lot of bad press. Just make sure you’re speaking to the General Manager when you have this conversation. Someone who’s just taking a couple of shifts in between school courses likely won’t care what you go around saying about their store.
Thanks, Mary Bach, for the valuable lesson you’ve taught all of us Canadians about being a conscious consumer!