Hidden cost of markups at WalMart!

[Sally PB]

I just ask that the price on the shelf that I agree to pay is honored at the scanner when I check out.

Absolutely.

This just blows me away.

 

[BlueBaby]

Between that and empty grocery shelves, I'm not sure which is worse.
https://www.azfamily.com/news/featu...cle_6161cd70-7357-11ec-a1d0-6b750b43f49e.html

 

[gtaus]

Between that and empty grocery shelves, I'm not sure which is worse.
https://www.azfamily.com/news/featu...cle_6161cd70-7357-11ec-a1d0-6b750b43f49e.html

Yes. I only had a short list of things to pick up, but half of the list items were sold out or not in stock. Some shelves were empty, but not as bad as a year ago. Still, the empty shelves remind me of the propaganda films we used to watch years ago about Soviet Russia and people going into grocery stores with empty shelves. If it is this bad in the USA now, I wonder what it is like in other countries?

But we do have a pandemic panic closet at home filled with toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues. For years I tried to get Dear Wife to stock up on those supplies when they went on good sales, but I was always shot down on that idea. My idea was to stock on those items that do not perish and save money on the sale price. When the pandemic hit, and the toilet paper was no longer to be found on the shelves, Dear Wife immediately went into panic mode and was willing to pay almost any price for a few extra rolls of TP. We made it through the panic months and have since stocked up on those items - buying them on sale when we can find them.

When the toilet paper panic hit, I looked at our supply and we had a few packs in the closet. I'm thinking 4 rolls of toilet paper gets me through maybe 6 months. Dear Wife looks at a pack of 12 rolls and wonders if we will make it through the week! It's like we live in different worlds at times.

Anyway, we now look for sales on paper products and keep one closet full of those items all the time. It's about 6x as much as I proposed to stock in pre-pandemic years, but I guess that is where Dear Wife feels comfortable after the run on the shelves last year.

 

[BlueBaby]

Yes. I only had a short list of things to pick up, but half of the list items were sold out or not in stock. Some shelves were empty, but not as bad as a year ago. Still, the empty shelves remind me of the propaganda films we used to watch years ago about Soviet Russia and people going into grocery stores with empty shelves. If it is this bad in the USA now, I wonder what it is like in other countries?

But we do have a pandemic panic closet at home filled with toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues. For years I tried to get Dear Wife to stock up on those supplies when they went on good sales, but I was always shot down on that idea. My idea was to stock on those items that do not perish and save money on the sale price. When the pandemic hit, and the toilet paper was no longer to be found on the shelves, Dear Wife immediately went into panic mode and was willing to pay almost any price for a few extra rolls of TP. We made it through the panic months and have since stocked up on those items - buying them on sale when we can find them.

When the toilet paper panic hit, I looked at our supply and we had a few packs in the closet. I'm thinking 4 rolls of toilet paper gets me through maybe 6 months. Dear Wife looks at a pack of 12 rolls and wonders if we will make it through the week! It's like we live in different worlds at times.

Anyway, we now look for sales on paper products and keep one closet full of those items all the time. It's about 6x as much as I proposed to stock in pre-pandemic years, but I guess that is where Dear Wife feels comfortable after the run on the shelves last year.

I know what you mean. I alway's worry about it, but my DH think's that thing's will alway's be there on the shelves. Lately he has been finding that sometimes they aren't.

 

[Sally PB]

Out of a staple item is bad news for us. Some of those items are a certain brand of cheese, or chips, or produce, etc. So, yeah, I stock up on shelf stable/long term storable things.

I get the 30 roll packs of TP at Costco. When I'm down to about 12 rolls, I get another 30 pack. Then if they're out (like they were at the beginning of the mess), I have a little time to get more before I need to worry.

Back to the original issue... I shop at a local store that is part of a big chain. Since it's in a small town, most of the staff there know me by sight, or by name. I try very hard to be friendly and patient, as they are VERY short staffed these days. I am pretty sure that if I pointed out an advertised price lower than what came up on the register, they would honor it.

One woman I chat with quite often tapped me on the shoulder one day when I was at the back of a fairly long checkout line. "Come down to 19, I'm opening up." She did this to a couple more people along the way to lane 19.

I thanked her, as she had saved me about 15 minutes. She said, "I know who the nice ones are."

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

One woman I chat with quite often tapped me on the shoulder one day when I was at the back of a fairly long checkout line. "Come down to 19, I'm opening up." She did this to a couple more people along the way to lane 19.

I thanked her, as she had saved me about 15 minutes. She said, "I know who the nice ones are."

Awwww! That was kind of her ^.^

 

[Sally PB]

Awwww! That was kind of her ^.^

She's usually in the customer service area. When there isn't a line up to see her, I stop and talk. She's had a rough year.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

She's usually in the customer service area. When there isn't a line up to see her, I stop and talk. She's had a rough year.

Oh dear @ rough year. Tell her we say hi from BYC . Wishing her the best for 2022!

 

[cackleberryandco]

I feel your frustration on this. I'm 19, almost 20 and in college and I don't have very much money, what with school costs and little time to work and such. I live with my parents at home and commute the 25 minute drive to and from Chicago each day for school. Regardless, my parents try to encourage financial stability unto me and so I oftentimes find myself in grocery stores buying my own food, which I understand. I can't rely on them forever. But having to worry about that money for myself instead of just letting my parents do it for me, I have become a lot more aware of costs and what I should and shouldn't buy.

Things like that are frustrating because sometimes people can't or don't want to spend that money they were not expecting to have to spend. I've noticed it in a lot of places.. I recently bought new clothes and realized when I came home that I was promised buy one get one 50% off and they charged me full price for both of the shirts.

I've been chalking it up to inexperienced workers, people my age, I suppose. But it's inconvenient and must be unlawful to some extent, depending on the circumstance. I think you should call about that.. if they are doing it there, they must be doing it with other foods as well.

 

[NatJ]

I recently bought new clothes and realized when I came home that I was promised buy one get one 50% off and they charged me full price for both of the shirts.

If you check your receipt before you leave the store, it's easier to get them to fix it-- just walk over to customer service and complain (or return the item if they won't fix the price.)

Checking every item on the receipt, every time, feels like a real waste of my time, so I generally check only when there is a sale I care about. After all, my time is worth something too!