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8.1 MORE SUPERMARKET AND GROCERY STORE SCAMS

== Watch out for packages that look the same size and weight as the competition but aren't. Always check the amount of the contents. Also beware of downsizing; some companies are putting less into a box but keeping the box and price the same.

== Avoid displays designed to get you to buy impulsively. A sale on hamburger might have a small expensive catsup squeeze bottle close by. Stores want you to grab these associated products without thinking.

== You know that national brands are placed at eye level so you'll buy them, but did you know that heavily advertised children's products can be placed at children's eye level (!), so that children will find them and then nag you to death? Several stores even do this at some checkout counters where candy is placed at the child's eye level. Avoid these lanes when you're with your children.

== Scanners often make mistakes. The errors are rarely in your favor. As no products are marked with prices, it's very hard to catch a mistake.

Since most scanning errors are on sales items, where the price has changed, I suggest you separate those items and run them through last. Check them as they go through. Sales prices may be fresher in your mind or clearly marked on a sales flier that you can show to the checkout person.

== Produce not rung up properly. While everything else in the world seems to have a bar code on it, fruit and vegetables do not. In this case the check out person must make a decision and that decision is often wrong. My wife found that twice she was mischarged. Broccoli was confused with broccoli crowns; lettuce was supposed to sold at a price per head but instead she was charged by the pound.

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