Head's Up! Price increase and SCOP opportunities

[Haleine]

Received a negative reputation for posting about SCOP recently here :

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/57847-h...nities-canada/

The reputation said this "scop isn't there to give free stuff to people."

I agree that the intention of SCOP is to ensure that retailers are diligent about ensuring that their displayed pricing is consistent with the computerized scanning system used to sell their products.

I also believe that the intent is to reward the customer for doing the job of "staff" by bringing incorrect pricing to the attention of the cashier. By doing so, this should cause a snowball effect whereby the cashier informs the floor staff and pricing corrections should be made.

If that doesn't happen and others are able to walk into the store the next day or even days later and the same product is still incorrectly shelf priced, is it morally wrong to again bring it to the attention of staff and for those efforts receive the benefit of "SCOP"?

I have seen other postings of SCOP opportunities (in this forum) and have to wonder if the negative reputation for doing this is effective and to what end?

Finally, am I wrong in posting these opportunities for fellow SC'ers?

[bug]

People have their own opinions. If you want to post opportunities, it is up to individuals to decide for themselves if they want to participate.

I did not read about your specific example (so I'm not commenting on anybody in particular), but sometimes people do take advantage of "deals" and/or store mistakes and do not act in "good faith". This ruins it for everybody.

[cheryls]

don't worry about it .. i've never used scop and wouldn't really go into a store with the intention of using it but whatever ... to each his own

[bug]

On another note, I'm always afraid that stores will withdraw from participating in SCOP if too many people unscrupulously use it to their advantage. I think participation is voluntary, although the decision is usually made at the head office level.

For example, I think it is fair that the customer receive ONE product using SCOP. I once saw a customer try to receive 10 (identical) items using SCOP - furthermore, she was very rude and nasty which is always absolutely unacceptable.

[Nat]

I use to be the same way, than I got smart! I found the SCOP online, printed it out and stuck it in my Wallet. Now when ANY Cashier questions the policy I grab it, and point out EXACTLY how the policy works as it is clearly outlined. Should they be dumb and decide to call their Manager over even after reading it themselves, they generally scan my sheet and say "Yes, she is correct", and leave it at that and I get the product under the SCOP.

Here is a link to the page about the Scanning Code of Practice straight from the Retail Council of Canada. It is complete with each detail about the practice, and also includes a list of stores that participate in it. I encourage everyone to print a copy and carry it with you at ALL times. It will save you ALOT of irritation!

http://www.retailcouncil.org/advocac...racy02_eng.asp

Thx A LOT! I'll show the CSM that yelled @ me! Do you carry all 4pg w you or just the 2 you need?

[Nat]

Is that White Oaks Walmart? I hate that store so much. Every time I go in there the place looks like it's been ransacked and most of the associates are beyond useless. Now that they've done that huge express checkout section it takes forever to get through the regular check-outs. I wish there was another one closer than Argyle or Hyde Park, I would gladly go there instead.

Yes! Stupid WOs WM! Was quite annoyed when the CSM yelled & refused to do it felt that it was bc I was by myself (I look younger than I am).. she was SO nice when I wasn't alone&TOTALLY diff when I was! Many of the cashiers are clueless.. there's 1 that is there a lot & never does the freebies right.. always needs help&she isn't new! Have you tried SCOP there Rach? I havent tried it @ all but will.. We should go hit up that WM 2geth!

[TechW]

I have never done a SCOP (hadn't even heard of it before!), but why shouldn't the customer be rewarded for pointing out that the store in question is misleading, taking and receiving extra money from consumers that they are not entitled to for having wrongfully (knowingly or unknowingly) entered prices into their systems above their own advertised (in-store or in-flyer) prices?

And why shouldn't a consumer have the right to go back into the store and purchase the item(s) in question at that SCOP price the next day and any days following if the store has done nothing about it since it was pointed out to them?

Remember, for every consumer that obtains the correctly advertised price, there are most likely hundreds to thousands that don't (consider large metropolitan areas!). That store is making more of a profit on the unaware consumer ... they have interested those consumers with their flyer pricing and shelf pricing and then have failed to deliver... all those pricing errors can't REALLY be legitimate, unknowing mistakes... can they?

[Terelda]

I only just learned of SCOP recently when at NoFrills I noticed the pita breads I was buying rang in at $1.59 instead of $1.33. I informed the cashier and she informed me of SCOP and gave me the first bag for free and the second at the corrected price. I did wonder if I had been overcharged every week as I always buy 2 bags of pitas...
Well sure enough the next week they came up overpriced again. I informed the (different) cashier and told her what the previous one did, so another free bag! We will see what happens this week, ..but if it's wrong again, I've already tried to help them correct it twice so I will most def. take advantage of the SCOP policy!!!

[Colsgirl]

I have sucessfully used scop twice. They are things that I would have bought for the price that was displayed. I don't go out of my way to hunt out scop items as I really don't have the time. Searching out the coupon deals takes up enough of my time.

[rabbitjade]

what's scop mean?

[puddin57]

SCOP is there to educate the consumer, not for us to take advantage of. Because it applies to only the first item, I think it's a fair policy. I don't think we should shop based on SCOP, one or two items at most should be all we ever buy. As we all know, it only takes a few to spoil it for all of us. However, I also don't think Halein did anything wrong by reminding us of the policy

[danni]

I agree that people should be allowed one item free(or 10 off) when scanned incorrectly, and i believe it is the stores responsibilty to have the correct price of every item entered into the computer and it should not be the cashiers responsibilty to catch wrong prices, however i see week after week the same items scanning wrong, and many people do not catch it until they have driven all the way home, then have to waste gas to go back. I think if all stores were forced to participate in scop then stores would be more diligent about making sure prices are entered correctly. And yes if given the opportunity i will use scop( i have not as of yet). I know Zellers does not participate and if they did they would be giving almost every thing for free, because the stuff there scans wrong all the time, and if you do not catch right away then you stand at customer service forever.

[jenna321]

My question is this- How can a consumer "take advantage" of a store policy? If the store did their job correctly than it the store's fault @ any level of the command chain.
The pricing is printed off for the weekly flyers for the price changes and thruout the week- it is the personnel job to do these changes to the shelf usually before the store opens for business. I have no idea how many times I've had stuff issued to me free due to their error well into the current week's flyers- so imagine how many people unknowingly paid higher price & to go back to store IF they discovered the error. I check while stuff being scanned and recheck my receipt before I leave the store- it's frustrating on my time, gas to go back to store due to an error. If the cashier is on the ball he/she is suppose to let either the manager of the dept know and the changes are to be done ASAP. Some stores even employee persons just as "price checkers"
All those pennies, and dimes overcharged add up I have no problem with pointing out the $ discrepancy & I work @ a MAJOR grocery chain.

[TechW]

To follow up Jenna321's points, here's another way to look it: retail stores spend thousands to millions of dollars to employ security and mystery shoppers to ensure that their goods (and, ultimately, their profits) are not stolen. The store wants its profits. If they were really losing money and their profits on SCOP, do you not think that they would actually hire more people (or BETTER, more detail-oriented employees!!) to ensure that the correct price is entered into their systems so they did not incur these profit losses?

Although I have no proof, I am quite confident that the retail stores make more of a profit on these "mis-priced" products. They are counting on (obviously quite successfully) the average consumer to:

(i) not be paying attention when an item scans through
(ii) not have done their pricing due diligence
(iii) be too embarrassed to say anything when an item scans through at a higher price
(iv) not want to take the extra time to correct the price
(v) think that it's only a few cents or less than a dollar, etc.

[zoro]

It *should* only be possible for them to be out one "scop" per store per item...if they did what they were supposed to and fixed the price right away. If it wasn't a case of the local store leaving a sign up, but of a centralized input into the system, they shouldn't even be losing one per store. The rule that its only the first item the customer buys that gets the discount protects them form any significant loss...IF they do what they are supposed to.

OF course some customers do abuse things, occasionally see someone argue about an obviously misplaced item another customer has dropped somewhere. Used to see that at the Bay all the time, something like a table of sweaters with 50% or whatever off, and one pair of gloves...with the customer going nuts that they got the gloves from that table so the sign should apply. Bay doesn't scop but they always gave in to honour the sign, despite it being quite obvious what had happened.


But in a clear case of overcharged product, nothing wrong with the scop. they "volunteer" to prevent what happens in many states - government inspectors testing them an issuing fines into 7 figures if the error rate is too high. They are a lot better off giving away the odd item, paying for their own industry annual mystery shop test with their own methodology (error rate reported up last year), and operating their own 1-800 then having a government dept doing it, or being force back to individual price tags.