Your Dumbest Shopping Blooper?

1. 77

   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   Still slapping myself (and RFLMAO)on this one.
   
   Went to Target today armed with the nifty book of coupons they sent in the mail -- $14 worth!
   I purchased most of the things I had coupons for.
   Plus 6 bags of cat litter, 2 24-packs of cat food,
   a salad spinner and a bunch of other food items, a bottle of Ibuprofen, 6-pack of paper towels, etc.
   I looked around for about 20 minutes for a replacement for my lipgloss #208 (the name of the company has worn off).
   Couldn't find it so bought a tube of another lip gloss.
   As I piled my bazillion items on the conveyor I said to the checkout clerk, "Wow! This is like COSTCO!"
   
   I should also mention that during the excursion I started to feel sick -- lightheaded, headache, nausea and sweaty. I really wanted to get the heck out into the fresh air.
   
   So the checkout guy finishes ringing up my order and the little screen says, $745.64.
   I looked at him and said, "REALLY? Hmph."
   It did seem rather high.
   But I didn't take the time to look at the receipt in the store.
   
   Got home and pulled out the receipt.
   The darned lip gloss -- not even the one I WANTED -- was the culprit.
   The clerk at rung up 99 @ $4.94 for a total of  $489.06!!!
   
   The Customer Service people got a good laugh when I went back to the store to get it straightened out.
   I held up my little tube of lipgloss and said, "Take a good look. This could well be the most expensive lip gloss in the world."
   
   What about you? What's your shopping "DOH!" moment?

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      Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      Sorry, none to report.

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      Nicole Winterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      OMG, Mighty Mom, that is *insane* ...
      
      Here's mine... when my daughter was born a well-meaning relative gave us a Gift Card for the now defunct Marshall Fields... (It's now Macy's.)
      
      This was my first shopping excursion post-baby and sans baby... the grandparents were taking her for the first time... The gift card was for fifty bucks.
      
      I wanted to get something for the boodler, (baby,) and found these fantastically adorable wooden building blocks... (They were lovely...)
      
      The total came out to forty-six dollars and ninety eight cents.
      
      I was too embarrassed to return them.
      
      Yes.  They were fifty dollar building blocks.

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      ssaulposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That happen to me all the time, I don't really have time to check receipts, so when I reach home and checking through there it is. Damn I got screw!

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      Heart of a Lionposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I went grocery shopping once, starving before I walked into the store, my first mistake, and overflowed a shopping cart with all the essentials plus every delicious looking snack I walked by because I was hungry. At checkout I was joking with the clerk about buying out the store because I had so many groceries. It's a bag-your-own store so I bagged up most of it and the clerk told me my total, over 250 dollars. That's when I realized my debit card was safely tucked away at home in the pocket of the jeans I wore the day before! How embarrassing to have them wheel my two baskets of bagged groceries back to cold storage so I could drive all the way back home. Worst of all when I returned the same checker was nowhere to be found, they couldn't find the receipt of my suspended transaction and wanted to have me unbag everything so they could ring it all up again! Oh my I could have killed someone!

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2. 77

   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   LOL, Nicole!
   I have heard of Marshall Fields. My mother-in-law used to work there as a bookkeeper (Chicago store).
   $50 blockes, eh?
   I hope your daughter built you a nice HOUSE!

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   ryankettposted 13 years ago

   I once bought some "white size 10 pumps" from Amazon.co.uk, I thought that at 10 pounds (circa $15) they were a snip. At least, I did until they arrived....they were kids size 10 and could fit into the palm of my hand. My gf was in hysterics, I wasn't too amused but saw the funny side eventually.

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4. 77

   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   That's a good one!
   Caveat emptor, eh?

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5. 77

   brimancandyposted 13 years ago

   I had a little fight with my partner over a stupid coupon. It seems if you buy 5 various items of a certain product, you get a gallon of milk free. Who falls for this crap?! Apparently him.
   
   I explained to him that he could probably save around $15.00 by just buying the gallon of milk. But, he was determined to buy all this stuff that we don't need, to get a free gallon of milk. The funny thing is, when I got there I must have passed 20 different people with the same coupon, looking for the match items. Good grief, are people really that stupid? It's a marketing gimmick to get you to buy more than you need.
   
   I was a cashier at a supermarket for 15 years, so I pretty much know all the coupons, and all the stuff that the stores do to get your business. My partner worked for the same company, yet he always falls for those stupid so-called deals.
   
   I think the only thing I am guilty of, is forgetting to pay for something. the other day I walked out of a store without paying for a couple items in my cart. I was at one of those self checkouts, and I must not have seen them while I was bagging my own stuff. So, I basically got it for free.
   
   It's a long story, but it was part of a 10 hour driving trip, and going back to return the stuff wasn't going to happen. Not much just a couple cans of Tuna and some pop that was under my cart, that I just forgot about. I had my brother with me, and he talks non stop....yak yak yak.  When the People behind us are waiting. I hate that!

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6. 77

   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   Well Target sure conned me with their coupon book, LOL!
   But honestly, the other stuff I bought really is stuff we need.
   Oh, and I also did get a $5 gift card. Which will no doubt cost me $100 during my next shopping trip!

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   PrettyPantherposted 13 years ago

   Your story reminds me of a debate that occurred on an ivillage forum that I used to belong to many years ago.  A woman posted about her husband who had gone to Home Depot with kids in tow, bought a bunch of stuff including a saw of some kind, came home and discovered that the clerk had failed to charge him for the saw, which was worth over $400.  He chose not to return to the store to pay for it, reasoning that it was their mistake so they had to live with it.
   
   A HUGE debate ensued resulting with many piling on the woman, calling her and her husband thieves and many other choice names.  A few people who had been forum regulars for years left in a huff, never to return.  It was thereafter referred to, sometimes in awe, sometimes jeeringly, as "The Great Saw Debate."
   
   Internet forums never change, do they? 

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8. 77

   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   I can definitely see that debate raging here in the HP forums, can't you, PP?
   Everyone has their own moral compass.
   I'm sure we've all had our own "cash register honesty tests" -- although not (for me) $400 worth!

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      PrettyPantherposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Yep.  I wouldn't hesitate to go back if I were undercharged $400, but I haven't bothered when it was as much as $3-4, and I'm sure some people here would call me a thief for that.

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9. 77

   Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

   Well naturally. After all, we know you are a LIBERAL and we all know that LIBERALS have only one goal, which is to take down capitalism and replace with the the uber government!
   Every $3-4 "we" can steal from the hard-working, honest capitalists is one step closer to "our" goal.
   Mwwwwhhhhaaaahhhaaaa

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10. 61

    Ellarose92posted 13 years ago

    haha wow i dont have any stores but your 400 dallor lip gloss story made my day haha!

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11. 77

    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    Ha ha is right -- with tax, it was over $500!!

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    brimancandyposted 13 years ago

    Here is something you should know about theft at major stores these days. Not many people would get away with something as big as a table saw, but some stores would rather tolerate petty theft than actually make an arrest of a thief. It is mainly because the loss of that small item, at stock replacement cost, is the less expensive outcome of the possibility of prosecution and hiring competent security.
    
    However, most stores have major theft monitoring devices in places where you wouldn't think to look. You may get away with theft, but, for someone who is dumb enough to steal repeatedly is just leaving a trail of video evidence. So, they may not get you the first time, but, they will circulate your picture and watch for you if it happens enough. Stupid criminals get caught all the time.
    
    In my case, it was an honest mistake. My brother told me that the items had just fallen out of the bag after I bagged them.
    I didn't find out that I hadn't paid for them until hours after leaving the store, and over two hundred miles later. I have never stolen anything in my life.

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13. 77

    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    Brimancandy,
    Thanks for the heads-up on store surveillance. I am like you. I've never stolen anything in my life either!

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    Tom Koeckeposted 13 years ago

    My granddaughter started school this year, and I wanted to help out by taking her shopping for some school clothes. I spent about $400 by the time we left Old Navy and Target! She had so many clothes that she could have gone two months without wearing the same thing twice!
    
    I took the six or seven bags to my daughter with the receipts and told her to return some of the stuff if she needed other things.
    
    A few days later my daughter called to thank me. It turned out she needed uniforms for school! She was able to get what she needed by returning some of the clothes, and kept the rest for weekend outfits for her!
    
    I guess it isn't so much a blooper as it was a realization that my granddaughter has me wrapped around her finger! In the end, though, I wouldn't have it any other way!

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15. 77

    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    It does pay to check your receipts right there in the store or at least as soon as you leave (so you don'th hold up the line).
    I HATE being screwed (by stores:-).

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       Home Girlposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I usually check my receipts right  at the moment I see the price popped up on a teller screen. I usually just watch that screen, as soon as I see that teller pressed something wrong, I tell her. This fall I was buying much needed boots. I did not have a lot to spend so I bought the cheapest probably pair of boots.  I put on and tried on a lot of them, I checked everything. When I came home I  put them into my closet for a month, as weather was still warm. When finally I took them out and tried to wear, I noticed that I had one size 8 and one size 7! How did I do that???
       I had to go back to the store and beg for replacement.

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       1. 77

          brimancandyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I was just at Walmart yesterday, and I had a bunch of bottles of Pepsi, and the cashier charged me for 2 more than I actually had. I guess she was so busy talking to the girl on the next lane about her break, that she must not have been paying attention. I pointed it out to her, but, instead of asking for a refund, I just went back an got two more.
          
          One reason why the tell cashiers not to crosstalk with eachother, because it distracts them from doing their job. Can also be a great opertunity for a quick change artist to nail her, because she's paying more attention to the girl on the other lane, then her register. I could have told her I gave her $100.00 and she would have never known.
          
          I used to be a cashier, so I know she could have got in big trouble for that. But, being the nice guy that I am, I just pointed out her mistake, and corrected my order and went on my way.

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    mistyhorizon2003posted 13 years ago

    We went to our local supermarket and bought a number of items, only realising once we got home that we had left our cheese on the checkout and not placed it in the shopping bags. My Hubby phones up the store and speaks to this guy on the phone explaining what we had done. The guy says "Can you remember who served you", and my Husband says "Yes, it was this really big fat guy", "oh that would be me" the guy answered. LOL, we never did go back to collect the cheese, just way too embarrassing!

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       camloposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I've often forgotten an item at the check-out, and I've never bothered going back to collect: I mean, is it really worth all the hassle?
       Otherwise, I'm really good at shopping. I know more or less how much I'll have to pay before my purchases go through the scanner, and I watch that nothing is run through more than once, and that the prices are correct, whilst packing up my goods ... Hmmm - that could be the reason I tend to miss packing one every now and again. Am I as good at multi-tasking as I think I am?

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          mistyhorizon2003posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I agree it isn't really worth going back much of the time, but being on a small island here the shop is only about a mile up the road so we could have collected it the next day as we pass there all the time. I wouldn't bother if it was miles away as the petrol would cost more than the item.

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    2uesdayposted 13 years ago

    Once when I was shopping I left my shopping trolley, to go back a couple of aisles to collect something I had forgotten. I came back and started to push the trolley and wondered why this couple started to follow me. Finally the wife came up and said
    
    'Excuse me that is my shopping trolley you are pushing.'
    
    Sure enough it was not mine just one or two items on the top of the trolley matched my shopping.
    
    I apologised and handed back the shopping but as I walked back to find my own shopping the man said to me
    
    " I had hoped she would n't notice because I preferred your shopping to ours, as she has put me on a diet this week."

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       sagebrush_mamaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       That's funny!

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    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    Ha ha! Great stories!
    Misty -- hello friend! That story is hilarious. But, living on that small island, you do have to go and face that "big fat guy" on occasion, yes? Hopefully he will not remember it was your hubby
    camlo -- you have just proven the reason I do not do self-checkout!
    
    I must say, tho. I get very annoyed sometimes at my local grocery store. When I buy cat food at 10 for $6 I make sure I buy in multiples of 10. I stack the cans in stacks of 5. All you have to do is count the stacks and figure out the total. You know, like 40 @ 10/$6 = $24.
    Instead -- and this happens a LOT -- the checker takes out the cans one by one by one. All 40 of them. So not only do they go down the conveyor singly, then then must be restacked by the bagger.
    Perhaps this is how checkers justify their existence in a bar code world.

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       mistyhorizon2003posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, we do have to see him occasionally, but on the plus side as we never returned for the cheese hopefully he can't remember who actually left it behind in the first place!

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    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    MM, I can't believe you thought you spent that much $. That's very funny. I'm pretty sure I would have asked him to double check that one.
    
    I've walked out of the store without the bags, even drove home once years ago without the groceries! It was during a stressful period of my life. can you imagine? Why didn't someone come running out after me?  I was so embarrassed when I went back to pick them up..

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    Mighty Momposted 13 years ago

    Walking out of the store minus a bag is common, I think. Especially if you have a big order!
    Leaving the store totally empty-handed -- now THAT's a story!
    But see how easy it is when you are distracted?
    I was really distracted, too.
    I wanted to get out of the store before I either fainted or threw up!
    (Not that that's any excuse for overpaying by $500!!!)

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       rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       now I remember more about that situation, I had no money with me, no cards..!
       that's why I left them and had to drive home, get the $, and go back to pick them up! and it was a major shopping trip. 
       I had even driven further than usual because I wanted to shop at a new store..

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    sagebrush_mamaposted 13 years ago

    My worst shopping moment was probably the day I took all of the kids Christmas shopping, and 4yo son at the time had a meltdown.  I was checking out, holding the cranky kid, and discovered I didn't have my wallet.  Made my apologies to the clerk, red-faced, and made a quick exit from the store.  I'm sure some cranky customers who had their own opinions were shaking their heads in disgust.

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