Deceptive Marketing

Amazed by the latest attempts to deceive the public and separate them from their dollars,  I want to offer a forum for pointing out these tactics.

I find I must always check my receipts on the way out of stores. Probably 80% of the time I find mistakes, especially having to do with sales and specials.

For example, I went to a large grocery store on Dec. 31. There was a tall pyramid of two-liter ginger ales and other sodas, with a big sign at the top saying "2 for $2". Strangely enough, at the checkout, my two bottles rang up at $1.69 each! I told the clerk, and we went back to the display. In small print under the "2 for $2", we read, "five-day sale, Dec. 26-30".

If I wanted to practice deceptive marketing, that's the kind of trick I might think up. Most people who run out to the store for extra ginger ale on New Year's Eve, don't read the fine print, and don't check their prices. If the store conveniently forgets to take down the sign, they can use that as an excuse.

I almost made a return trip to the store to take a photo of the display. I did ask for a refund on the ginger ales, and I talked to the manager. I said, I don't like to see gimmicks like that in my neighborhood store. He said, We just forgot to take the sign down, we were so busy. (This was at 9:30 p.m.)