Check your receipts

Ever gone shopping and thought you got a great deal, only to find out when you got home that you were overcharged? It can, unfortunately, happen to the best of us.

A few weeks ago, I did some grocery shopping at a store that will remain unnamed. Later after getting home, I reviewed my receipt and, to my dismay, saw that the cashier had rung up an item one too many times. I had bought two bags of Birds Eye Voila!, but ended up paying for three. It was only a few dollars, but it was something I had not purchased. The solution was as easy as going to the store's customer service, pointing out the error, and getting my money back. Case closed, right?

Unfortunately, no. Today I went to another grocery store--completely different company--and was thrilled, literally thrilled, to find meat that had been marked down! (Melissa, you would have been so proud of me!) I NEVER see marked down meat, excluding what is in the sales flyer. Usually, they're snatched up before I have a chance to get to the store. But I had this afternoon off and took the kids with me to run a few errands. So I was the lucky one to beat the other 5pm shoppers to the store, I suppose. One deal I snagged that I am super pleased with is I found a package of Butterball ground turkey, regular price $4.49, marked down to $2.25; I used a $1 off coupon and got it for $1.25!!

I also got two packages of store-brand chicken breast tenderloins that had been marked down. One package was originally $5.29 m.d. to $2.11; the other package was $5.54 m.d. to $2.21. Unfortunately, even though I presented my store card to the cashier and all the other mark-downs and sales went through, the reduced prices for the tenderloins did not. And of course, I didn't realize it until I got home. So I will be making a trip to this particular store within the next day or two so I can get a refund for the overcharge.

I know that I was only overcharged a few dollars with both occurrences at these stores. But I wonder how often I am overcharged. If it's a few dollars here and there, multiplied over the course of the entire year, those few dollars quickly add up. And with today's rocky economy, and especially with my family's finances being stretched to the limit right now, I cannot afford to lose a few dollars here and there.

So ladies, make sure you check your receipts! There are many other ways that you could be overcharged, or even undercharged for that matter (ever noticed an item on your receipt that had one price on the shelf and another price on your receipt?) If you're overcharged, even if it means taking another trip to the store after you notice the error, get a refund from Customer Service. And if you're undercharged, still take the time to go to Customer Service, own up to the error, and pay what is owed to the store. Either way, they'll appreciate your honesty.