Have you bought any apples lately?

Dick, I have been in the food industry for over 44 years. You would be amazed at what happens at the store level. Your story. even as odd as it may seem , is nothing realy new. The retail food business is no different than any other retail store. It is only as good as the people running it.

-- Guy Kroll

I’d have probably thought something more sinister than a simple error.

-- Maplewood, MN

I’m not sure if this was real , or not.

I knew an old grocer who paid for his retirement by selling the same broom over, & over again.

He had it leaning against the counter, & would ring it up. if the customer noticed, he’d say I’m sorry, I thought it was for you.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

just another reason I don’t go to Wal-Mart. But I do understand in some parts of the country there really (sadly) isn’t another option.

This week, Trader Joe’s has bananas for 19 cents, 29 cents each for organic – three (or five) snacks for the price of an apple!

This year I’ve started getting serious about buying local… just trying to keep the price of fuel from affecting the price of my food (which is hard to ignore when all that gorgeous produce south of the Equator is coming into season! This is becoming just as, if not more important than Organic produce to some people.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

I didn’t know Walmart sold apples, they don’t here.

Someone from my church that works there is looking for another job due to stress created by computer related issues. It isn’t with errors though it is that they are expected to keep to an impossible schedule that the computer sets for them for taking brakes.

Diane

-- http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/DMarcella/

Great thing about MI is the price protection for consumers. If they tried that $.98/each crap here, they’d be owing you 3x their mistake. Not a huge deal for something like apples, but imagine if they did it on a nice bandsaw?

-- Living on the square...

I absolutely LOVE busting folks trying to overcharge. I was at Sears a few years ago and came across a workbench/hood marked for $129 for both peices. I told the clerk that I wanted one and he said that was the price for just the bench. I said Oh no, according to federal consumer protection laws that they have to sell it at the advertised price….$129. Well, we argued back and forth for app 20 min, got manager involved, AND I WALKED OUT OF THERE WITH A BENCH AND HOOD FOR $129.

I also have got a Palm Zire 72 ($300 value) for $150 due to being miss marked. LOL. I am the king at finding the miss mark.

-- Adrian ..... The 11th Commandment...."Thou Shalt Not Buy A Wobble Dado"

Hello Dick;
—-and I was just thinking that each apple weighed ‘one pound’....LOL!
GODSPEED,
Frank

-- --frank, NH, http://frank.wordpress.com/

There have been several cases where grocers have paid huge fines for this kind of fraud. They hope that you don’t notice and they make a tiny windfall on each sale that adds up to quite a bit more. you have to watch the scan closely at the register to catch these things.

-- making sawdust....

Now if we could only find some stacks of walnut/maple/cherry like that!

“Yep. Those 8’ walnut boards are .98 cents each.” “Oh no sir, we never mismark anything!” “Our Chief Price Fixer graduated top in his class at Walmart U!”

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Every incident isn’t an accident. It always amazes and distresses me at how often I hear businesses and people claim they can’t afford to make mistakes. I make them. Something about being human I suppose.
What is the Latin phrase – Caveat Emptor – Buyer beware!
Hard to prove intent but when there’s a mistake honest companies will make it right.
Its not a bad idea when something happens to talk with the local Better Business Bureau. They keep records and even though they can’t prove intent – when the same company gets multiple complaints about similar issues they can let consumers know – but only if we let THEM know.
Don’t be afraid of talking with your local BBB. They are trained in helping and protecting us the consumers.
Caveat venditor = seller beware – and they are wary of informed cunsumers.

-- CaptnA - "When someone hurts you, write it in the sand so the winds of forgiveness will scatter the memory... "

Mmmmmm, Fuji apples….mmmmmmmmmm.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

I don’t think this was a local event. One of the employees told me, all of the pricing is done from Arkansas.

So this could be Millions of dollars.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

as is often the case, companies change when the founder is gone, whether the company stays in the family or not… we can assume honest mistakes when the company is happy to take care of the problem right away (and without fighting about it.

I just ordered a LOT of hard candy from an online vendor (like a years supply – seriously). My local source stopped selling it a few years back, and I was very happy to find it again. Unfortunately I either mis-ordered, or they mis-shipped the wrong product. Now what was I to do with a TON of hard candies that I didn’t want?! They aren’t bad, they just aren’t what I wanted… and I wasn’t about to reorder and be out all that money.
I e-mailed the company back, politely informing them of the mix up, inquiring about an exchange. The next morning, they wrote right back “We’re sorry you didn’t get what you want. I just sent off the correct order, keep what you have – share it with your friends and family”
They are now out double the cost of my order – which is surely less wholesale than retail. But they sure gave great customer service and now have a loyal customer – and a good mouthpiece for the company. www.fusiongourmet.com – coffee flavored hard candies and other goodies
Too bad everyone didn’t realize the power of empowering their employees to provide proper customer service.
Honey people. Not vinegar!

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/

Scottb, I can see your dentist now, Smiling all the way to the bank. LOL

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

years ago (I don’t know about current policy) training for McDonald’s employees included empowering each employee to make decisions to keep the customer happy. If they guy sweeping the floor was told that the burger was cold (or whatever) he/she had the power to handle the situation right there, right then and make it right. No “let me get the manager” and more delays.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

One of the reasons I avoid, (not completely boycott), I hate to admit, WalMart. One of our presidential candidates was on the board of directors there, about the time they abandoned Sam Walton’s precepts and abandoned their “buy American” motto. BTW, they are looking at China, their largest supplier, as their largest potential market! Buy Beiging! Not me, if I can buy from a local.

-- North Texas

my neighbor found huge packages of RIBS on sale last summer…for 19 CENTS a pound (or 1.9???) anyways…he filled up his cart…and went through the auto checker…his total for a CART full of ribs was like $20…

The next week the SAME thing happened…he felt guilty…so he only bought a few at the wrong price…

crazy…

-- Matt, Napa, CA...142 days to sanity...

We have two supermarket chains that go for the “image look” here in the St. louis area . Soft designer lights, beautiful wood floors with inlays, elaborate displays, and they have the prices to match. They always have “finer quality” apples that cost around $1 or more each. And yes, they do quite well.

It is a status thing. I mentioned to some neighbors that I shop at Aldi and Shop and Save instead of these supermarkets and they were appalled that I would even mention it. Someone in their neighborhood goes there?

Yes, even produce shopping has its level of status. We are getting yet another Whole Foods. Talking about outrageous prices targeting the Status Conscious Middle Class.

And there is not enough food for all in America?

-- WaywardHoosier - Behind schedule and over budget, but who's counting?

Come out to Southern CA, the local super sells apples for $2.99 # not on sale and even in season!!
Lemon trees on every corner out here, yesterday $1.00 each!!!!!!
Makes $6.50 BF seem like a deal.

-- MARK IN BOB, So. CAL

I’m gonna start selling apples for 97 cents each. I can compete with Walmart!

-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com

we’ve genetically altered most of our food so that they don’t even have nutritional value any more—but they look good!!! Big juicy red strawberries.. yummm.. but no nutrients.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Tomatoes are the worst genetically engineered travesty. A tomato from my garden, compared to a “store-boughten” aren’t even the same genus and species.

-- Maplewood, MN

I don’t see the products and customer service has gone down so much as customer expectations have gone up.

When we reach a saturation point with lawyers telling us what our customer “rights” are against the evil corporations, we’ll all be growing our own apples for $2.00 a piece and wondering what the heck we were thinking.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""