This happens a lot to me and everyone else so let me explain: I go to a grocery store to buy Jif peanut butter. There are 20 jars of Jif peanut butter on the shelf and the price tag underneath says Jif pb: 2 for $4 or $2.68 each. I get two and when they are rung up they are $3.01 each. I tell the cash register lady what the price tag reads and the guy in the back says “oh I forgot to change the tag but that promotion is over. There is no 2 for $4 anymore” some people are saying it would be wrong to ask for the 2 for 4 price but some people say that’s what it was marked as and that’s what you should pay. What do you think?
Anonymous2020-08-16T02:10:39Z
It is an inconvenience when that happens. The tag should also have a sale end date on it, or you get the sale price.
I'd give the store a break--they may not have enough personnel to make sure that every single promo price is removed once the promo is over. You can TRY to get the two jars at the promo price, since they WERE still listed on the shelf that way--but the store doesn't have to give them to you at that cost. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask. But JUST ASK. Don't 'demand.'
The store has the legal right to correct the price tag.
They are not obligated to sell you the peanut butter for an incorrect price just like an auto dealership is not obligated to sell you a $30,000 car for $3000 if the ad was printed incorrectly.
That being said, when the price difference would not create a hardship for the merchant, it's generally considered an investment in customer trust to honor the peanut butter price that was posted.
On the flip side, it's generally considered impolite for a customer to hold up the line bickering about thirty-three cents.
If you are shopping at a store where the prices routinely ring up higher than the posted prices and it seems like an intentional ploy, that's illegal and should be reported to your state attorney general's office. Convenience stores are notorious for this because they don't have the same kinds of registers that show the item name and price as it rings up and they won't offer you a receipt unless you ask for one.