A Three-Hundred-Dollar Mixup

I am working in Guest Services one day, and a lady comes up with a stand mixer.

Guest: “I was charged the wrong price for this!”

This usually comes down to a couple of factors. It could be an online-only item that was returned in-store, which has a 33% discount in order to clear it off the shelves faster. It could be an opened return that was inspected and in proper working order, also usually discounted at a similar rate for the same reason. Most often, however, the reason usually boils down to a clearance tag being placed on the wrong item, in which case, we might offer to grab the actual clearance item if we still have any in stock, or, with Team Lead approval, we might “make it right” for the guest.

This time, however, is not one of those times. She comes up with a very top-of-the-line stand mixer, worth well over $300, and I scan it with my device to confirm that it is, in fact, ringing up for the full retail value.

Customer: “But what about this price tag?”

The guest pointed to the “clearance” tag on the item, corners peeling away as if it had been removed from something and affixed onto the mixer in a hurry, reading, “Was: $7.99 Now $2.40”. I checked the item number on the tag to confirm what I had suspected; the clearance tag was for a pair of socks.

The discount was not honored, and she left the store without the mixer.