Robbed at the Countdown

[ScottNZ]

Trader Joe's, please come to NZ!! I am sick of having my groceries ring up on a computerized bar code scanner for more than the price displayed on the shelf. Happens every week, and can only be due to intentionally stealing from the customer as this is all automated via programming code.

Watch your items being scanned like a hawk. Also the produce, meat, diary is all fresher and in most cases less expensive at the locally owned mom and pop shops.

[indo_americano]

We stopped buying veggies and fruits from super markets.. Always buying veggies from farmers market and fruits and milk from nearby veggie shop these days, after being continuosly robbed by super markets.

. Also the produce, meat, diary is all fresher and in most cases less expensive at the locally owned mom and pop shops.

[Dell]

I check my cash register tape religiously from Safeway in the U.S. for the same reason. I am always catching mistakes.

[Beachcombers]

It's the same at our local Countdown, things that are on "special" are charged at the normal price. Its a hassel to get them to correct it and they often carry the "mistake" over to the next day. Have to wonder if this is a deliberate policy.

[dede]

The one thing I will really miss is Trader Joe's. We have saved thousands and thousands of dollars with their fabulous fare.

[bulu]

What's Trader Joe?

I love going to Countdown. But over time, we are finding ourselves going to the vege shop (ie. Chinese Vege shop) more and more. It is significant cheaper especially those that are close to being overriped. These go in the bags at $1 or two.

And recently, instead of buying my meat from Countdown, we are begining to like the meats from the butchers (ie. Mad Butcher) better.

[kiwieagle]

It's the same at our local Countdown, things that are on "special" are charged at the normal price. Its a hassel to get them to correct it and they often carry the "mistake" over to the next day. Have to wonder if this is a deliberate policy.

I asked someone at Countdown to explain this to me and was told that stores have the right to vary prices. I find that suspicious.

Yes, the registers are automated and the daily price changes come through a computer but a human being still has to physically put the new tag on the shelf. Often the person charged with this task is also doing 20 other things and might set down the tags. The employee might not know where the item is and instead of asking for help will biff tags. Sometimes the printer skips a tag. A lot of stores have a different system for their registers and for their corporate inventory. Something might get changed in the register system but not in the inventory system. Human beings input the changes. If it happens a lot at your specific Countdown it might not be deliberate but a store culture of inaccuracy. The person who rings up your purchase and gets it corrected might forget to inform their supervisor of the error. Because it happens at so many different Countdowns, it seems to be a corporate issue. Either way, the customer suffers.

I agree about produce and meat in the supermarket. It's much better and cheaper to buy it from the local farm stall or a butcher. That is a great thing about NZ; buying locally is actually cheaper. Get to know a farmer or someone who goes hunting and you can find a way to trade for venison sausages, hoggett, or wild boar.

[sks]

Note that it's perfectly fine for your recreational hunter friends to gift you with meat, but they can't legally sell it or trade it for anything else of value -- they're risking a hefty fine if they do. Same rules for recreational fishermen, BTW.

That said -- I hunt and fish, and have limited freezer capacity. None of the meat or fish gets wasted.

[ralf-nz]

That said -- I hunt and fish, and have limited freezer capacity. None of the meat or fish gets wasted.

So you turn it into biltong?!

[kiwieagle]

Note that it's perfectly fine for your recreational hunter friends to gift you with meat, but they can't legally sell it or trade it for anything else of value -- they're risking a hefty fine if they do. Same rules for recreational fishermen, BTW.

Does that mean I should take my whitebait ad off of trade me or remove the venison stand from my driveway?

I don't know any farmers that would dob you in for bartering.