Oct 30, 2008 11:00 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: The Price Is Not Right
Reporting
Jim Osman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
In a tough economy you are watching every penny, and so is the CBS 3 I-TEAM. CBS 3's Jim Osman investigates stores with price scanner problems that result in overcharging customers.
The I-TEAM reveals what happens when the price is not right.
When busy moms go grocery shopping, most of them are looking for money saving values based on the shelf price of items.
"I watch at the register when they're ringing it up," said Heather Swieringa of Doylestown as she pushed her child in a shopping cart through the store.
But when cashiers are scanning dozens of items at a time, you have to trust that you're getting the right price.
Consumer advocate Mary Bach agrees, "No store has the right to cheat me."
But some stores could be cheating you and you don't even know it.
The I-TEAM accompanied inspectors in Bucks County as the went to stores to conduct price check inspections. We also reviewed hundreds of public records from the last three years which show the accuracy of scanners at grocery stores, drug stores and big box stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
We uncovered some stores with so many violations they were actually hauled into court for making you pay too much.
At Genuardi's in Marlton, New Jersey inspectors in May 2006 found 15 products which overcharged the consumer. Overcharges that would have cost you an extra $27.70 if you bought those items.
Genuardi's was fined more than $4,000. The store was re-inspected and passed.
Weights and Measures inspectors also found 15 mispriced items in the food section of Target in Mt. Laurel in December 2007. The overcharges would have cost you $54. It cost Target $7,500 in court fines.
Target hasn't been re-inspected but a corporate spokesperson says it has fixed the problems.
"I think we all should be very interested because quite honestly it's our money," says Mary Bach.
Bach has sued Wal-Mart for overcharging her. As a consumer advocate, she has also successfully sued RadioShack, Sears and Kmart.
"I'm going to catch them every time," said Bach.
County inspectors want to spot problems before consumers do.
At Redners in Doylestown, the inspector working with a store employee scanned everything from cleaning products to panty hose dog food.
Redners passes the inspection with only one mispriced item which was immediately corrected.
But in September in Bucks County, 30 percent of all stores failed on the first unannounced inspection. All passed the second surprise re-inspection.
Surprise inspections are important when you consider places like ACME in Cinnaminson in South Jersey. The store had one of the highest error rates we found in this investigation.
53 of 400 products scanned incorrectly during an inspection last December. That's over 13 percent.
Inspectors found the store both undercharging and overcharging consumers from tubes of mascara to cans of tuna.
In one glaring example, the ACME charged $15.99 for sunglasses which were tagged at costing only $7.99. If consumers bought all the overcharged products, the store would have profited $213.
ACME paid $17,900 dollars in fines and court costs after violating 43 counts of New Jersey consumer law.
Store manager Nick Carides says ACME didn't overcharge consumers on purpose.
"There's nothing in there that we're doing intentionally," said Carides.
ACME says when it found out about the problems it took - quote - immediate action to rectify any pricing discrepancies.
32 of the 53 items scanned at lower prices. But it still indicates an overall problem with the scanning system, and public records don't show whether the price differences were as significant as the overcharges.
What can you do? Check your receipt. Some stores will give you the item for free if you catch their mistake.
RELATED LINKS:
Montgomery County Stores
Burlington County Stores
Stores In Delaware
Pa. Weights and Measures
N.J. Division of Consumer Affairs
Delaware - Consumer Affairs
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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