2 for a dollar?!?

looch · Jun 17, 2002

OK, so maybe I'm admitting to being pathetically gullable and all of you already knew this, but I'm swallowing my pride in hopes that this may help someone out (read "... in hopes that I'm not the only dumby out there.")

Did you know that most of the time when a store advertises "2 for a dollar," it's just a stupid math calculation?

Being systems oriented, I was curious about the cash register software. I approached the cashier. I asked if I didn't put my "2 for a dollar" cans of lemonade next to one another on the counter, how she would know to only charge me 50 cents each instead of the regular price? Did the cash register increment a counter somewhere and wait until the second can was scanned to give the special price?

Nothing that complicated, I'm afraid.

"Oh no, sir. They're scanned at 50 cents a piece. That way, if someone only wants one then they can still get it at the sale price."

The simple, matter-of-fact delivery of this explanation caused my jaw to hit the floor. How devious. Then I started thinking about how many times I've fallen prey to this type of advertising. How many times have I stood there trying to figure out if was cheaper to get the 2, 500 gram bags or the 3, 300 gram bags at the special price when all I really needed was 1 of the 300 gram bags.

I usually don't pay much attention to what's on sale and where. But when it's right in front of me on the shelf next to the product I was going to buy, well...

Not anymore.

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 17, 2002

You were quite simply confusing "buy one get one free" with "2 for a dollar." Now that you've figured them out, how about "buy one get one for 1 penny"?

SHF

gws · Jun 17, 2002

Carefull, this is not always the case at all stores. Some will scan at 50cents, but if you dont buy a second unit it will ring a single unit price instead of the 2 for X price when it subtotals all the prices.

chim · Jun 17, 2002

There is a convenience store chain around here that often sells small pies at 2 for $1. They are usually approaching the "sell by" date. In one of the stroes, the clerk charged me $.79 for one of these pies. I said "They're 2 for $1", and was told "Only if you buy 2". It worked - I went back to the shelf and got another..................chim

Gary_in_Indiana · Jun 17, 2002

One of my favorites like that involved Best Buy. They used to (and may still) advertise free accessories with some items like computers. Years ago I bought a notebook PC from them and it was advertised with a "Free" modem card.

When I went through check out the computer was rung up at the advertised price and the modem card was scanned and rung up at one cent. Not that the penny was going to change my life but being the curious sort, I asked about it. I was told that, for inventory tracking purposes, they needed to scan the cards when they left the store. They were set to scan at one cent since no item would scan at $0.00. It was only a penny so I just lived with it.

The next week they advertised the next model up the same notebook line for only $100 more with a 'Free' sound card installed. It was a much better buy so, in full accordance with their policies, I returned mine and bought the better one. You guessed it! The 'Free' sound card rang up at one cent. I didn't even ask this time. I didn't return the modem card that I'd paid my one cent to own, either. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Once in a while one of these silly things actually works out your way. Not often, but once in a while. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

jwstewar · Jun 18, 2002

Like Gary said, that isn't necessarily true at all stores. I went to AutoZone last week and got some engine degreaser and brake parts cleaner. Both were on sale. The degreaser at 2 for $2 and the brake cleaner at 2 for $3. Got 2 cans of degreaser for $2 and one can of brake cleaner at $2.59. Should have gotten the second can for another 41 cents.

drpepper · Jun 30, 2002

All sales are not! Years ago, I used to date a young lady who worked for M.E. Moses. She related this story to me. They sold small handkerchiefs for 25 cents. Every once in a while, they put them on sale at 3 for a dollar. She said people bought them up.

centex · Jun 30, 2002

What I really like is Walmart, Target, Kmart, Pep Boys, etc. where they put a price on the shelf of say $2.95 but it rings up at $6.95. On one trip to Pep Boys I was going to buy 8 items but they all rang up at much higher prices than were marked on the shelf. I don't shop at any of these stores any more. My wife used to think that Walmart was cheaper for groceries than HEB until I had her carefully check her receipt and she found that everything actually cost more than at the grocery store. I never shop at places where they are obviously just crooks and rip off artists. I am still supprised at how full the Walmart parking lot is and how gullible people really are. I guess it is good for me as it keeps the lines at the ligitimate stores shorter.

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 30, 2002

I was in Home Depot getting some stuff and decided to pick up an 8' stick of pine cove trim. They've been selling it by the foot for about $1.00 a foot, but there was a sign up on the trim rack that said all trim now sold by the stick and not the foot. The rack with the cove was labeled $7.68 and I knew I could get it cheaper, but I just wanted one stick to see if it would fit where I wanted so I grabbed it. Got to the counter to check out and before the girl was all finished, I noticed a $61.00 charge. I asked her what it was for and she told me the trim. I explained that the trim is not $61.00, but $7.68, and that it's sold by the stick, not by the foot. She said "Oh, sorry", and took it off and rang it again. The register said " $7.68 enter # of feet". Of. course, when she did it rang up at $61.00. Needless to say, the trim wound up staying at Depot and I went across the street to the regular lumber yard and bought the exact same thing for $5.60.

Moral:Just because they claim to be a discount store doesn't mean they actually ARE discounting anything.

When I was all done checking out, the girl at the register looked me straight in the eye and very solemnly said "You, know, I didn't know there was any trim in this store that cost that much."

Moral: If you're going to hire idiots, at least put up a warning sign.

SHF

livincountry · Jun 30, 2002

Last week the girl was flipping burgers or working at Enron or WorldCom and doesn't know the difference between a hammer & a circle saw. It pays to look at the receipt before you head out the door.

cstocks · Jun 30, 2002

Moral: If you're going to hire idiots, at least put up a warning sign.

Most people working in low paying jobs (often times kids) don't get paid enough to know or care. Their low wages do not give them the incentive to learn or excel at their jobs. They are just trying to make a few bucks.

How many times have you gone through the drivethru at McDonald's or Burger King only to find your order is screwed up when you get home? The same applies to Home Depot and just about any other place where they hire minimum wage help. Low paid employees (for the most part) just don't take ownership of their jobs.

Idiot? Hmmm, probably not. Unknowledgeable and uncaring? Most likely.

Moral: You will probably always get better service at the local lumberyard than you will at Home Depot./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

frank_f15 · Jun 30, 2002

just proves a point i have been making for years, IF U CALL ANYTHING A SALE people will buy it.

wroughtn_harv · Jul 1, 2002

I've always believed in the addage, "pay peanuts, get elephants."

I've invented some pretty wild things in my time. Invariably the requests have come from employers wanting something idiot proof because they people working for them are idiots.

I've been involved in many discussions with these kinds of folks about not making it something any idiot can do but make it where there are skill levels attainable. That is where one can have a challenge and then appreciation for overcoming the challenge.

You see I believe that friction created in learning creates a bond between the employee and the product, the company, and the management of the company. That bond is the result of the personal investment by the employee.

Of course that is contrary to popular opinion in management. They want things made where any idiot can do it and then complain that only idiots apply for the job. Which goes along the idea that folks will rise to our expectations, sink too.

BTW I'm a firm believer in the axiom about there not being bad employees, only bad management.

I'm constantly exposed to small business owners complaining about their employees. I always point out that their employees should be viewed as tools. It's sorta funny how we don't cuss the drill for not sawing a board. But we will condemn an employee who's great with one skill for not being adept at another.

It's like they buy a hand saw from the bargain bin and then complain about it not working like a two hundred dollar worm drive. Just who made the decision to go cheap? And who is going to have to spend a lot more energy and time doing the same job with the inferior tool? And who is going to be crying? One and the same from my perspective.

When I was young and in management we took some classes. The thing that has marked me all these years was them giving us a test of sorts to take about our goals and dreams in the company. The stuff like which would like better, pay or prestige, etc? We filled it out. Then they gave us another copy of the same test and told us to fill it out from the perspective we believed of our employees.

They then pulled out the results of the tests they'd given our employees. We did a comparison. I don't believe I was the only one in the class taken aback by the fact that those money grubbing lazy heatherns working for us had filled them out exactly as we had.

My management style changed after that. Of course that meant I was popular with a certain kind of employee but extremely unpopular with my cohorts in management and another kind of employee.

Bird · Jul 1, 2002

BTW I'm a firm believer in the axiom about there not being bad employees, only bad management

Me, too. I used to tell the supervisors who worked for me that if we had an employee who was a failure on the job, that it was our failure, either in selection or in training.

BB_TX · Jul 1, 2002

It's not just the stores you mention. They had a special on overcharging on one of the news programs not long ago. They went to major retailers of all kinds including major department stores at malls and checked the marked prices with the prices rang up at the register. It was alarming the number of times a higher price came up. They approached the management in each case. The management said they would clear up the problems, but when they went back and did a similar test months later, the stores were still making the same mistakes. Check you receipts carefully.

Bird · Jul 1, 2002

SHF, in 1990 we went into a grocery store in Seward, Alaska, and bought a pretty good cart full of groceries, but I also picked up a 6 pack of beer. At the checkout counter my Dad insisted on paying, got his receipt, looked at it, and asked me, "What in the world is that you're drinking?!" I looked at the receipt and the cashier had rung up the 6 pack price 6 times./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Needless to say, I got it corrected.

StoneHeartFarm · Jul 1, 2002

Bird,

At least you got to KEEP the beer. I couldn't convince the girl that the computer was wrong. If it says so on that screen, it's written in stone. Even when they absolutely know the price of a can of beer, if it says so on that screen...

I wonder if a good Candid Camera stunt would be to have the screen say something about "give the customer your left shoe". How many cashiers would do it?

SHF

Bird · Jul 1, 2002

have the screen say something about "give the customer your left shoe". How many cashiers would do it?

Probably at least half of'em./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif