Letter from Mary Anne Whelan

Where’s the Beef? How Much Is It?

Over the past week—and prior to that—I have repeatedly noticed that the Price Chopper puts up signs in their meat section that advertise “weekly specials!” with an alleged reduction in per-pound prices—for example, “80 percent ground beef,” and stacked immediately next to or against the sign will be that product, but with a significantly higher price per pound.

People naturally pick up those packages, and rarely check the price per pound, but they will be priced at the regular price and that is what the register reads. If it should happen to be noticed, the person at the register cannot reverse it. Customer service must be called, that person then finds the newspaper ad and sign, verifies that that is the case, and must reverse it herself on the register while the line backs up.