Have you ever noticed someone checking their receipts before leaving the grocery store? I stopped doing it a long time ago, because I trusted the clerks to scan items correctly. That’s all changed during this pandemic. Many of the clerks are new, and poorly trained. The seasoned ones are overwhelmed with the volume of food coming down the conveyor belt. Warning: scanners may be scammers.  Costly supermarket checkout  mistakes are becoming more frequent. 

It started last month.  My husband came home from the store and glanced at his receipt. It listed two cartons of ice cream. And yet, he’d only bought one. We looked in the car again, thinking maybe he actually had unwittingly picked up two cartons. But he hadn’t. It wasn’t really a big deal, but since I was going back to that same store the next day, I offered to try and get it corrected. Since we’ve been shopping there for over 30 years, they usually take my word for things.  However,  when I got to the business office , there were about 10 people waiting in line to cash checks, make returns, etc. It seemed like more trouble than it was worth for $4.00—especially with my arthritic knees. I shrugged, and chalked it up to experience.

A week later, at a different supermarket,  I bought one frozen dinner. When I got home, my receipt said I’d purchased two. I knew that was wrong, but again, it seemed like a lot of trouble to go back and make a complaint—especially since this is a newer store, where I’m not known.

It happened again this week at yet a third superstore.  All the checkout lanes had long waiting lines. Everyone’s cart was loaded. No one goes to the supermarket to pick up a few things these days. They mask up, and grimly load up for the long term. The clerk seemed confused. She didn’t know the difference between a plantain and a banana, and she had to look it up.  Maybe she was new on the job.  I didn’t look at my receipt– just wanted to get out of there, since an unmasked man in the line was talking loudly. When I got home, I saw that she had scanned a carton of Kool Whip twice, and I’d only purchased one.

Are the clerks scanning one item twice on purpose? Of course not. They’re simply rushed, nervous, and often poorly trained. But now, I know better. This pandemic has left everyone confused.   Therefore, receipts should be checked—not inside the store while close to other people, but before  leaving the  parking lot.

Warning:  grocery store checkout mistakes are happening more often  during this pandemic.  Scanners may be scammers.