AMERICANS have struggled to survive as inflation and high prices run rampant across the country.
But even with prices as high as they currently are, some customers noticed that they were still being charged more for items in stores.
“Last week a cupcake was $5.99 and the box said $4.99,” one customer wrote on X.
The customer – who did not specify where he was purchasing from – also detailed how he was overcharged for noodles and chilli.
“I was charged for two cans of pasta and a noodle when it was actually two cans of pasta and a chili,” he wrote, explaining that chili is more expensive than pasta.
The customer revealed that he worked at a gourmet grocery store, saying his job was “price integrity.”
“Watch these profitable supermarkets,” he warned.
“In this economy, it’s worth checking your receipt,” he insisted.
But as customers continue to struggle and companies like Walmart achieve record profits, consumers say mistakes like these are taking a huge toll on their wallets.
Average food and beverage prices have increased 22 to 25 percent in the past four years since the pandemic.
Not to mention, most Americans are in worse financial shape now than they were before the pandemic began, according to Yahoo! Finance.
In fact, corporate profits now represent the largest share of national income over the past decade, according to the National Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Wal-Mart reported a quarterly profit of $5.1 billion in May, triple the amount they made during the same quarter just a year earlier.
WALMART PROCESS
One shopper, Yoram Kahn, is suing Walmart after he was charged $1.89 more at checkout than advertised on the shelves.
His case was initially dismissed before a federal appeals court ruled earlier this month to overturn the ruling, allowing his lawsuit against the retailer to move forward.
If Walmart is found guilty of using deceptive pricing practices on its shelves, it could have a groundbreaking impact on the future of consumer protection laws.
Kahn, a Walmart customer from Ohio, claims he paid $2.28 at the register for a jar of salsa that was advertised on the shelf for just $2.00.
This additional cost of 28 cents does not include tax.
On the same visit, Khan said he paid $1.88 for a Kit-Kat bar that was listed for just $1.64.
How to check if stores are overcharging
- Shoppers should always double-check the tag on the item they are holding with the tag on the store shelves
- If the product has been misplaced, you may be seeing an inaccurate price
- In automatic checkout, be sure to compare the advertised price with the price you saw on the sales floor
- For heavy items, it is important to check that the scale is at zero before weighing the product.
- Stores are required to display the weight on display, so managers must be notified if it is hidden
- Scales must also not touch any other part of the self-checkout
- After paying, buyers should compare what they paid to the items’ sales price
And while these discrepancies may seem small, and many customers wouldn’t notice due to the additional sales taxes, these increased costs have resulted in profit margins of 9% to 15%.
This would mean, if Walmart is found guilty, that the chain has been stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from its customers in hidden markups, according to the lawsuit.
As the case is now set to proceed in Illinois, it could have broad implications for the way retailers manage and display prices, potentially leading to stricter enforcement of consumer protection laws.
The US Sun has reached out to Walmart for comment on the ongoing litigation.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
