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.

I have called attention to this three times this past week. The first time, the customer service person came back to the meat counter, found a butcher (the “Ring Bell” is no longer there), then had to change the price at the register herself. The explanation was that the store gets butchers from several different other stores and they put on the stickers that their home store has for price per pound. The second time, the explanation was that “they have to put on what the corporation says.” The third time was—no explanation.

A register person said that he had also frequently complained, without avail. Another person noticed the same phenomenon at the Price Chopper Norwich store.

This is not a benign mistake. Buyers beware! And think about complaining to a higher level of corporation (the number is on the back of the “Advantage” card, if you have one). Or, if feasible, shopping elsewhere.

Mary Anne Whelan
Cooperstown