So, after posting my weekly Publix Photo Show and Tell on Monday, I quickly realized that I needed to learn something from the mistake that occurred. (To read about the error that occurred, go Here.)
It is so easy for the cashier to make an error when he/she rings up your items and coupons. Especially when you use printable coupons. Printable coupons often stick together easily making it easy for the cashier to overlook coupon. Or, in my situation, the cashier just seemed to decide she was done using my coupons and filed them away in her drawer and despite my questioning her, she still said she had scanned every coupon.
I tried to figure out a way to prevent this from happening to other people and to myself again. If you are only buying a few items and using a few coupons, it’s easy to catch an error. But, if you are buying multiple items and using 20, 30, 40 or more coupons, it’s tough to catch the mistake as it’s happening.
One of the best ways I can think of to catch a mistake is to know ahead of time how many coupons you are giving the cashier. So, as you place your grocery items in your cart, you can either keep track mentally of how many coupons you are using or keep track on a piece of paper. I have to write everything down at the store because I get distracted easily. If I had written down exactly how many coupons I was going to give the cashier, I would have known what to look for once my receipt printed out.
The second way to catch a mistake is to know ahead of time exactly how much money you should be spending at the register. Use the calculator on your phone and calculate how much you will owe as you add items into your grocery cart. I always use a grocery list and write down how much each item costs. But, as you know, things change! So, keep track of the changes (i.e. buying less than you expected, buying more than you expected, etc) so you know mentally what to expect!
Third, if all else fails, go to customer service and they will pull the coupons from the cashier’s desk and go through them to see if there is a mistake. This is not a tactic I have tried. And, truthfully, if it was a $1.00 mistake, I might not do anything about it. But, in hindsight, I wish I had done this at my last Publix trip because the mistake cost me over $5.00.
Do you have any good tips? Would love to hear them!
**To see previous Tuesday’s Tips, go Here!
Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..
This has happened to me too. So before I ever go check out I know the dollar amount of the Q savings I am going to have. Like for example, I have $30 in Q’s. Before I pay the cashier I have them look up the receipt and ask them how much in total they have for vendor and store Q and it should total the $30 or whatever dollar amount of Q’s I had for the day. When the receipt prints up, I always double check it. Because I also have had it happen when the cashier told me it was a certain amt and they did the math wrong. HTH!
Ohh Quyen I really like this tip. Instead of counting the number of coupons you are using, add up the total dollar amount of the coupons you are using. Great tip!
this happened to me at walmart yesterday…had $5 worth of coupons that weren’t accounted for. i got all the groceries loaded into the van, and sat down and looked at the receipt. i realized that i had been overcharged, so i went to the customer service desk. they acted like i wasn’t telling the truth…went and pulled the coupons from the register where i had checked out, and after waiting close to 20 minutes, they finally gave me my money.
I give the cashier each coupon individually so that I can make sure they don’t make the mistake. I caught them 2 times before and decided that was best for me.
I like Nicole’s tip, as it has happened to me quite a few times. I check the receipt before I leave the store and if it’s wrong I go to customer service and they give me back my money. Publix is very good about correcting the errors.