Lowes Foods overcharges shoppers on sale items for second time – refuses to give refund and customer screams ‘beware’

A LOWES Foods shopper is warning others to check their receipts after being overcharged.

The disgruntled shopper revealed that Lowes Foods not only failed to honor its sale prices at checkout but also refused to offer her a refund despite the overcharge.

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“A word of advice if you shop at Lowes food store,” Francine Mistretta shared on Facebook .

“Make sure you check your receipt. They put things on sale and it does not come off your receipt,” she wrote.

“I was overcharged $12 yesterday. This is not the first time. A dollar or two I wouldn’t go back but $12,” Francine revealed.

Overcharges are becoming frequently more common at retailers nationwide.

These tend to occur when a customer sees one price on the shelf label or sign, but a different one when they scan their item at checkout.

While stores will occasionally blame outdated signage, the overcharges tend to be a result of a computer error.

This happens when an item’s price – usually a sale price or discount – isn’t updated in a store’s computer system.

For instance, a store could discount a $10 item as being 30% off, but if they don’t update the discount on the store’s computer system, the item would still ring up as $10, not $7, at the register.

“Not shopping there anymore. My Lowes card was on the receipt but it didn’t take sale items off,” Francine continued.

Many grocery chains like Lowes use a reward card, allowing shoppers to save money on groceries without having to individually ring up discounts or coupons.

Typically, when scanned, the card should automatically identify any discounted or sale items the shopper purchased, and subtract the customer’s savings from their original total.

“Too bad. It is a really nice and clean store. People are nice,” Francine wrote, before issuing a grave warning to fellow shoppers.

“Buyer beware,” she warned.

Many Lowes Foods shoppers shared their thoughts in the comments of Francine’s posts, revealing they’ve encountered similar issues.

How to check whether stores are overcharging

• Shoppers should always double-check the label of the item they are holding with the label on a store’s shelves
• If the product was placed in the wrong spot, you could be looking at an inaccurate price
• At self-checkout make sure to compare the price that is ringed up with the price you saw on the salesfloor
• For weighted items, it’s important to check whether the scale is set to zero before weighing produce
• Stores are required to show the weight on the display, so managers should be notified if it’s hidden
• Scales also shouldn’t be touching any other part of the self-checkout
• After paying, shoppers should compare what they paid with the salesfloor price of the items

“Happened to me multiple times. They always blame their IT people not putting in the sales,” one user wrote.

“They probably do it on purpose hoping people don’t pay any attention,” another user shared.

However, most shoppers also claimed that despite being overcharged for items, the store was usually willing to promptly offer them a refund.

“They had to refund me close to $30 the other day. They’re having a computer glitch and they can’t seem to get it repaired,” one shopper commented.

“I always have that issue there. They are great about refunding it but it’s frustrating bc it’s almost every time,” another customer posted.

“I’ve had multiple issues but they have always refunded me. Still hate having to check every receipt,” another shopper wrote.

According to Lowes Foods’ website FAQ , the store doesn’t mention offering refunds for incorrectly scanned items, but they do offer a “Scan Right Guarantee.”

What to do if you're overcharged

If you are overcharged at a retailer, there are a few ways to get your money back.

If you noticed you were charged more than the advertised or posted price, report it to an employee or manager.

Make sure to keep your receipt to show the price difference.

As a shopper, you are entitled to the lowest advertised, posted or quoted price offered by the store.

If you are charged more than the advertised, posted or quoted a price, report it to the sales clerk right away. If the sales clerk can’t help, speak to the manager.

Stores must honor a posted price, even if the price has expired.

You are also able to dispute charges with your bank if you notice something suspicious on your statement.

According to Los Angeles County Consumer& Business Affairs

The Scan Right Guarantee claims that if “an item scans for a higher price than the one shown on the shelf tag,” a customer will not only “receive one like item FREE,” but also “any additional items at the reduced price.”

The only exclusions to the Scan Right Guarantee are “beer, wine, and cigarettes.”

LOWES GROWS

Lowes Foods is a supermarket chain headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina .

The store was founded in 1954 in Wilkesboro by Jim Lowe, the former co-owner of what eventually became known as Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse .

Today, the supermarket chain operates nearly 150 stores across four states, including North Carolina, South Carolina , Georgia , and Virginia .

The chain’s parent company, Alex Lee Inc., also owns and operates Just $ave, KJ’s Market, and IGA Southeast stores, along with fuel centers at select locations.

OVER IT

Lowes Foods isn’t the only retailer to be hit with overcharge complaints .

Customers at convenience stores, grocery stores, and major retailers across the US have started to notice an alarming number of overages on their receipts.

Last month, Kroger apologized for overcharging a customer by $110 but failed to find a record of their transaction to issue a refund.

In September, a customer shared a Safeway receipt with her Facebook friends and followers, explaining that the convenience store charged her $14 more than they should have.

Even Amazon has come under fire after a shopper reported that he was overcharged by $18 after a recent visit to an Amazon Go brick-and-mortar store.