How many do as I did...do

[Dave Hounddriver]

On 4/19/2017 at 3:10 PM, RBM said:

sorry Sir we must follow register

That is BS but here is why:  I had it happen to me at Rustans in Ayala Cebu and stood my ground.  The young man responsible for changing the price tags on the shelf had such a sad look on his face as he explained that he would have the difference deducted from his paycheck if I insisted on the price shown on the shelf.  I thought he may have been BSing me but the same thing happened at Handyman in Robinson's Dumaguete and the young man there told me exactly the same story.

I remember paying the lower price and feeling a little guilty as the young gent gave me a look that suggested I was being a total jerk because I knew he would have to pay for the money I was saving. So I am a jerk who saved about 100 pesos in one instance and about 300 in another and I still feel a bit guilty about it as this is Philippines, it does not matter what the law says ... its how they do it here.

[AlwaysRt]

2 hours ago, RBM said:

As OP it's rather interesting the main topic of this thread was, what does one do when one purchases a product, displayed as p120 and cashier says no sir it's p150.

The ant issue was secondary issue which has attracted the most if not all the interest.

It would be most heartening to the OP to read some comments relating to the title of the thread.....

Your title is "How many do as I did...do" I had forgotten what your original post was and like many, I am sure, having no clue from the title what the topic was just followed the last post. 

For the title "Marked price vs Checkout price", I just had that happen (as luck would have it, funny enough buying bug spray) at Handyman in the Mall. The difference was only p30 so after a 20 second delay by the cashier double checking the price and verifying with a coworker, I just paid it as it wasn't worth more of my time. If it was Dave's p300 difference I would have put up more of a fight.

[RBM]

1 hour ago, AlwaysRt said:

Your title is "How many do as I did...do" I had forgotten what your original post was and like many, I am sure, having no clue from the title what the topic was just followed the last post. 

For the title "Marked price vs Checkout price", I just had that happen (as luck would have it, funny enough buying bug spray) at Handyman in the Mall. The difference was only p30 so after a 20 second delay by the cashier double checking the price and verifying with a coworker, I just paid it as it wasn't worth more of my time. If it was Dave's p300 difference I would have put up more of a fight.

Yes same same, also was only p30 .

Wonder if our reaction is typical and if this happens on a regular basis. As an example my SO often buys in bulk to save the hassle of shopping regularly, the bill is often around P5K so could be many what ifs in there. 

[Mike J]

5 hours ago, RBM said:

It would be most heartening to the OP to read some comments relating to the title of the thread.....

Clerks in the Philippines have no discretion when it comes to prices, what the till rings up is what they have to charge if they want to keep their job.  So - If it is a relatively small amount and/or a small percentage of the total I just pay it.  The time and possible frustration involved are just not worth the hassle.  If it is not a small amount I just tell them in a polite/friendly manner that I have decided not to buy it at the higher price.  

[jpbago]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

Clerks in the Philippines have no discretion when it comes to prices, what the till rings up is what they have to charge if they want to keep their job.

This is one of the many things that has to change if the Philippines is to move up in the world. A minor one, but one of many. They should not just keep on saying "That is how we do it in the Philippines."

[Mike J]

5 minutes ago, jpbago said:

This is one of the many things that has to change if the Philippines is to move up in the world. A minor one, but one of many. They should not just keep on saying "That is how we do it in the Philippines."

I hear what you are saying and used to think the same, but I changed my mind after being here awhile.  I am now convinced that the stores are doing this to protect themselves from the customer.  If the clerk is allowed to charge what the sticker says instead of what the computer says, how long until you would be able to buy your own price stickers on every street corner?  I am convinced that you would have a flood of people putting their own stickers on products and demanding the lower sticker price.  I used to get frustrated when I would buy a light bulb, a flashlight, mixer, television, whatever - and out of the box it came.  "See sir, it works."  I was thinking "Well hell yes it works, it is brand new in the package.  Why are you wasting my time, and how are you going to get all that crap back in the box?"  I now realize they do this as a protection against the customer coming back the next day with the old burned out bulb and claiming the one they bought was defective.  Another example - in the USA if your restaurant order comes out not to your liking and you speak with the waiter, you will almost certainly get some type of consideration on your bill, or the food replaced.  One time I asked the server to come to my table and showed her a "lip print" on my wine glass.  She took it away, brought back a new glass of wine, and explained that there would be no wine charge on my bill. Again if you did this in the Philippines, people would start to carry their own lipstick so they could get free wine, soft drinks, etc.  The USA model of customer service, designed to create repeat business with the customer, would simply not work here in the Philippines at this point in time.  There would be way too many people who would want to "game the system" and take the business for ride.

Please understand that I AM NOT bashing the Philippine people or Philippine business.  I absolutely love it here and have no desire to leave.  The retail system here "is what it is" and it (sort of) works for both retailer and customer.  I just don't expect it to change any time soon.   

[Dave Hounddriver]

18 minutes ago, Mike J said:

If the clerk is allowed to charge what the sticker says instead of what the computer says, how long until you would be able to buy your own price stickers on every street corner?

I did look it up on the 'Net when I had my little spats as mentioned before and the customer DOES have the right to pay the lower of the ticketed price, or the advertised price on the shelf, or the amount that the cash register charges.  That is the legal right, which is why I was able to pay the lower price.  So the clerk IS allowed and expected to charge the sticker price, but it comes out of his/her pocket.

Here is an interesting article about the same thing.  The actual law is here if you want to go through it all.

http://www.rappler.com/technology/social-media/156474-cotton-on-viral-wrong-price-tag-consumer-rights

[Jack Peterson]

23 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

 So the clerk IS allowed and expected to charge the sticker price, but it comes out of his/her pocket.

 As I stated before they can Do a PLU enter and change the price, who Loses? well does it matter, as long as it it is not US

Edited April 26, 2017 by Jack Peterson
a little punctuation if you don't mind

[Mike J]

20 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

That is the legal right, which is why I was able to pay the lower price.  So the clerk IS allowed and expected to charge the sticker price, but it comes out of his/her pocket.

I would respectfully disagree.  The STORE is required and expected to charge the lower of sticker, advertised, or scanned price by law.  The clerk IS NOT allowed to, nor expected to, change the price by his employer.  The clerk who, when acting as a agent of the employer, fails to follow the law, it is the employer and not the employee who is at fault.  That is why I say the system "sort of works", because you have to get management involved to get the lower price.

[sonjack2847]

27 minutes ago, Jack Peterson said:

 As I stated before they can Do a PLU enter and change the price, who Loses? well does it matter, as long as it it is not US

That is my first thought but sometimes I can be soft and if a person was going to lose 100 or 300 peso from their paycheck I would think twice.If like you too many prices were out of line I would not buy any of it.I feel sorry for a person who could lose a big chunk of their daily wage.

Edited April 26, 2017 by sonjack2847
Never wrote anything haha no milk in my tea.