Undercharged $100 for a bottle of Armagnac. WWJS do?

Our local liquor outlet, thank god, has started to bring in a few better Armagnacs. Good Armagnac is hard to find in our state (Washington), so this is a big deal, as far as I’m concerned. Usually they just have a couple VSOP’s, but recently the Boingneres Reserve Speciale, and the Baron de Lustrac 25 Ans d’age XO have appeared. (not sure if it was random dumb luck that they chose good bottlings, or if they planned it this way). Way overpriced from my standpoint, but it’s basically our only choice, unless you are someone who travels a lot.

So today I went by to pick up a bottle of the baron de Lustrac, $119.99 (this is before our 10% sales tax and an additional liquor tax has been added). The kid who checked me out stared at the bottle for quite a while, no doubt wondering why anyone in their right mind would spend that for a bottle of brown stuff, or perhaps what the stuff was in the first place. Once out of the store, I checked the receipt and noticed that he had charged me $11.99.

So I stood there for a bit wondering WWJS do? What would you do? In fact, what do you generally do when rung up incorrectly in your favor, or when bottles are clearly mis-priced on the shelf (on the low side)?

#1. How much did you spend that, at the time of payment, you didn’t notice your bill was $100+ short ?! [wow.gif]

  1. I would turn around and point out the mistake, especially because it’s an egregious one.

Sounds like you frequent the place. Ethics aside, it seems worth it to point out the error just for the future goodwill.

Definitely give them a call, explain what happened and ask them to take a $100 payment from your card to correct the mistake, or drop the cash off in person if passing.

There are grey areas, and situations where the amount is trivial so not worth the effort, but this one feels like there is only *one right answer

Regards
Ian

I can confirm that slipping the kid $20 and saying “Good work! Keep ringing them in low, and there will be more where that came from” does not qualify as a correct answer. [wink.gif]

For me, and this is just a fundamental to what I believe: you mention it to the person and then let them sort it out. I am with Brian…there are no shortcuts to having integrity.

I point out overcharges and undercharges.

I only explain the undercharge once, at most twice. If they still don’t get it, I accept the error in my favor.

+1

And – although I don’t think it’s going to happen here because this is so obviously a (money losing) mistake – more often than not, when I’ve pointed-out an undercharge, I’ve been allowed to have the item at the price charged.

I had something similar happen recently when I was buying a bottle of Heitz Martha’s at a higher-end grocery in town. I paid for everything with my cc like I normally would (had other groceries as well) and didnt notice the total. As I was walking out I happened to glance at my receipt before tossing it out and realized it was pretty light, and that the Heitz didnt ring up. Without hesitation i turned around, went back to the same line I was in and told them what happened. Took literally 15 minutes for them to get the wine guy over to manually ring it up, but there’s no chance I was going to walk away without paying for it.

#BeAGoodPerson
#DoTheRightThing
#Karma

This is even a question?

I only got about 20ft outside of the shop before checking the slip and heading back in. I think most of us are honest folk, and also realize that for the most part it’s a partnership with our good retailers. Plus, I want these folks to want to continue to bring in good Armagnac and other similar things. (It’s actually a QFC, now part of Krogers, so part of a huge chain, but obviously local manger has discretion to bring in what will sell).

Actually, more than anything I didn’t want the kid to get into trouble.

With regard to items that are miss-priced on the shelf, I generally ask once–“is this correct?”. If they say fine, then I’M ok, even if I’m pretty sure it’s wrong. If it’s my friend’s shop, I might persist a little more.

^^ This ^^

Btw I just finished a second bottle of that Armagnac last night. It is really amazing. $80 at K&L. Probably not available anymore after the Vinous review though :frowning:

It cost me between $130-140 here in washington state (with all of the added taxes). I think that was the main reason I paused a bit before heading back in. One can get the feeling that you’re getting screwed on prices, so was this pay back? But it’s not the retailer screwing me, and they were making this bottle available which I can’t find elsewhere.

I always ask them to check the price when I think there is a perceived mistake. I don’t think it makes sense to insist on a price adjustment when they argue that it’s right…but if you like this store, and it’s a small business…I’d really try to reach out to the owner.

They still have 8 at kl

In a situation like this, I would ask - what if you owned the store - what would you want a good customer to do?

The answer seems obvious - but in this day and age, nothing is ‘obvious’ anymore . . .

Cheers.

I had a similar encounter with a just released 2015 Chateau Beychevelle when visiting a store. This bottle was priced at $55 and with 15% store discount (it was their annual sale event), I could have bought a case for $47 a bottle that could be a heck of a deal. (Otherwise, this Bordeaux would cost $150+) But I asked one staff and said I suggested the price was not right. He went to the back and return 10 minutes after and admitted the price was wrong. He immediately ripped off the price tag from the shelf and said “I can sell you other wines at the store and give you 15% discount”. Then I smiled and left. (All prices are in Canadian dollars)

It sounds like you did the right thing, and for a variety of the right reasons. I would also go back, given the large discrepancy. I would hope to at least create some goodwill if not get a free bottle of something out of it.

I had a different situation recently where I took a paper bag at the local QFC but forgot to pay for it (I was using self-checkout). I realized as I was walking out and did not want to go back in to figure out how to pay 5 cents. So, since I got there at least once a week, the next time I went in with my own bag, I just paid for a bad and did not take one.

On the not noticing the discrepancy because of the use of a credit card. About ten years ago I bought three suits from Nordstrom for a job I was just taking. They were having a bit sale and the sales person told me all of the suits I bought were on sale – so they were roughly $500 a piece if I remember correctly. I went to the shoe department to get shoes and probably because I was bored waiting for the shoes, looked at the receipt. I noticed one of the suits was about $1200. After buying the shoes I went back to the suit place, and found the woman who had been helping me. I showed her the receipt and said that I thought the suits were on sale. She left to check; came back and apologized as she had misspoken to me (that suit was not in fact on sale). I was going to be fine if they took it back and I would just get another one. Instead she gave me the discount price for the suit. That and other similar experiences means I will always shop to Nordstroms for nice clothes – though usually during their sale. :slight_smile:

PS. John, where is this QFC? If nearby I might stop in and give them some business.

You asked this question here but you already knew the answer.
That speaks well of your upbringing.
Best, jim