Another Gap Markup Story, Higher Price Rung Up At The Register
After seeing our story about Gap selling pants at an elevated sale price, reader Neff told us the same thing happened to him in Texas, with the higher price ringing up at checkout.
Neff writes:
I went to the Gap at the Northeast Mall in Hurst, TX on Christmas Eve to pickup a couple of their super-comfy stretch crew neck tees, as I am wont to do from time to time. The friendly clerk rang them up and the total was $38 and some change. Hmm. The last time i bought two of these tee's they were $16.50 each or 2 or more for $12 each, just like it says on the price tag - oh wait. The printed price tag has a sticker over it that says $18.00!! What the fudge? These tees have been marked up!! Well, needless to say, I would not stand for it. Being an ardent follower of Consumerist, I would not let this aggression stand, man. So I pointed the markup to the clerk and she manually changed the price to $12 each - the way it should have been. So my total was $25.98 including tax, just like the last six times I bought two of these tees. She pointed it out to a fellow behind the counter, who I assume was someone of authority, and he acknowledged that it was a mistake, and said that all of the tees had been priced that way. He didn't seem too concerned or in a great hurry to get the pricing gun. Which makes me wonder how many customers were taken by the Gap's "mistake"?
Although this story doesn't necessarily mean the earlier incident wasn't the result of a labeling error, it's a bad coincidence. Have any other readers noticed markups at Gap, Banana Republic, or Old Navy? Let us know.
(Photo: nffcnnr)
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Comments:
Why of course, these "sales" are pathetic.
I noticed it's been "70% off for some items" or "Items MARKED 60% off". Stupid companies trying to make a profit by BSing everyone with these so called "sales"
I used to work at The Gap. This would happen all the time because of computer mistakes generally. Everyone I knew was always on top of it. We knew our merchandise and even if a customer only purchased one t-shirt, we'd remind them that they could get one more and make it $12 per.
Neither of the Gap cases today were selling the items as sale items. As a general rule, merchants are free to price their wares at whatever price they want to - they are not held to the preprinted price on the tag if they were to place a sticker with the new price over it, for instance. In this case, since three different prices appeared on the product, the consumer is entitled to the lowest of the three prices, which the Gap honored. This is a non-story.
The Neff abides. The Neff abides.
@fantomesq: True it could be called a non-story but you or others who frequently make similar remarks miss the point of the consumerist which is to inform and empower consumers, not report "news worthy" stories. This story has value for anyone who wasnt informed of what they should expect when running across this type of situation.
This seems like a pretty small thing to report. Mistakes get made. The thing is, if the customer is willing to pay $18 for a shirt, then there's no problem with the price being $18 instead of $12. It's only really an issue if this was an attempt to rip people off and if they refused to honor the correct price (and it appears they did so without argument).
I'm not sure that someone not getting worked up about a pricing error means they won't correct it.
As someone who has worked for several retail companies (including the Gap), I can tell you that markups are a common occurrence in the business. Sometimes there is an error by the pricing department that doesn't get caught until the price tags are printed and the items are in the stores. Sometimes, after a couple of weeks, the company decides they have underpriced the item, and thinks they should charge more for it.
Of course, it's pretty common practice to remove the old price from the tag before re-stickering with the new one. In this case, the price tag showed both prices; the salesperson did the right thing and sold it for the lowest marked price. Retailers are certainly free to change their prices as they wish, but they are also responsible for making sure those prices are clearly communicated.
They're $18 on the website, too, so it looks to me like this is the new price point. So I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding the situation or just disagreeing with the point here--I don't see any indication that this was advertised as a markdown, and without the claim of a reduction, it seems simply to be a situation where prices went up.
Last week, I checked out Banana Republic at the Mall of America. Bought a few things. Went to the Gap store there and similar products were of equal price of marked higher. I don't get it.
I am, unfortunately, a current employee of Gap and this is not a price mistake. They have decided to raise the price of the basic tees (as if the prices aren't high enough!).
What is supposed to happen is the price sticker is applied like in the picture and the lower portion with the printed price is to be ripped off (its perforated). Eventually new product will have the new price with proper tags but until then its all done manually and will appear to most people as a clearance price (visually that is, obviously $18 is outrageous for a gap shirt).
Here's what happened:
The shirts were 16.50 a piece or 2 for 12. That ended and there was a mark-up. Those stores should have ripped off the perforated portions of the tag (visible in the picture) with that old price on it. Then, they should have manually priced the shirts at $18 with a gun so they would not have errors such as this.
@smallestmills: Exactly. I work for Old Navy. That is why those perforations are there in the first place, well that and for gift giving. But, we have two types of stickers. The white ones are for repricing of regular prices, and the orange ones are for items once they go on clearance.
While we hate to mark up items, sometimes we get told to do so by corporate. Policy is to tear off the old price and put on the new one.
This sounds like either a failure to properly communicate procedure to the employee or just laziness.
To comment on the person in the OP, honestly man, are you serious? You "...would not stand for it. Being an ardent follower of Consumerist, I would not let this aggression stand, man". This aggression?? You sound like GAP was trying to beat you up and take your milk money.
I love the Consumerist just as much as anyone else here. And when a real injustice occurs I will do anything and everything I can to help the customer. But costs go up. Face it. If you feel like GAP is trying to injustice the world by adjusting their prices to stay competitive, then maybe you should shop somewhere else. Do you go into the gas station and raise hell every time the gas prices change, because the station owner is trying to get one past you?
/end_rant
old navy baby.
@kes33: Jesus. I'm pretty sure anyone using the phrase "I would not let this agression stand, man" is using a form of humor. Obviously, a price mark up on a t-shirt is not a crime against humanity hence Neff's tone, which you clearly missed.
The Gap can raise their prices whenever they want, but they need to make their pricing clear to the consumer. Separately, there is the matter of customer satisfaction and retention: perhaps The Gap needs a reminder that good will and return business is not inspired by sticking a higher price tag over the clearly visible original price, particularly the day after Christmas while retailers claim amazing, earth-shattering sales are going on.
I was just discussing the other day with some friends that according to merchants, the Christmas shopping season has apparently never ever been profitable, and that subsequently every single store in the country should be bankrupt.
Okay, follow this logic:
Stores lose money every year only to be saved by 'Black Friday' the one day of the year which they begin to be profitable.
Every Christmas season I can recall, retailers have either done poorly or lost money.
Ergo, all of these stores should long be closed by now.
It seems to me that this might be like the whole issue of the shrink ray:
They might just be hoping that nobody notices the markup. Sneaky sneaky! But you underestimate us, retailers!
@loueloui: I can't speak to anything but the Black Friday part, but it turns out that Black Friday is about the fifth best shopping day for retailers, with the top days being right before Christmas. Somewhat dated info here: [www.snopes.com]
@fantomesq: your comment is normally true when a retailer is selling a product they did not produce. the manufacturer puts a suggested retail price on the tag and the retail chain is free to sell that product at a higher product if it wishes, but that is NOT the same here. When Gap produces the product, then sells this exact same product at all its stores, each store must adhere to the price on the price tag. a rogue gap store is NOT allowed to markup theor prices at their one store while the price remains lower at other gap stores. If Gap produced it, and Gap sells it in all of their stores, and all of their stores are selling it for x price then 1-2 Gap stores cannot decide to make extra profit for their store by raising the price on some items. National stores must adhere to national or region all pricing schemes depending on how the company sets up their pricing. Now if one entire region makes a decision to sell at a different price, that is ok.... this is not a non-story at all....this is a bait and switch
I went to Banana Republic last week and saw tights for $9.99 but didn't get them. I went back yesterday and they were having a sale. All sale items were 20% off. I went to get the tights and they were $11.99. It was like a fake sale.
@kes33: i seriously doubt the price has gone up on these plain color tshirts. gap has sold them at the same price for probably 10 years or more, i cannot imagine that the cost of producing the same item in whatever country they make it in has really risen, if anything the cost to produce the item has probably dropped. the equipment is paid for, gas is cheap, their labor is cheap, i highly doubt their cost has risen, instead they need to raise their bottom line for their investors...
Ironically, Old Navy had a heck of a huge amount of stuff on sale in their stores. (old navy is owned by gap)
And please, if you need plain t-shirts, give up on the gap and just go to american apparel. $15 gets you a reasonable t-shirt there, its made in the US to boot.
@kalikidtx: Actually, the price does seem to have gone up. The Gap website shows them at $18 (or two for $28).
If your assertion that Gap has been selling them for the same price for over 10 years is true, then I don't think it's all that hard to believe that over those same years, the cost to produce and market the shirts has gone up roughly 9%.
I agree that the lowest tagged price needs to be honored at the register, and I'm glad that was done. I'm also glad that Consumerist is pointing these situations out to us, so we can all be more educated shoppers.
Still, I'm not convinced that a retailer raising the price of an item is a ripoff (even if the new price tags are sometimes applied sloppily)... unless the item is advertised as being on sale.
@dieman: Yeah man, and you get to support sexism and unsafe working conditions for women! WHAT A GREAT IDEA!
Well it's a breach of contract and I believe you entitled to the item for free up to around $24, something around there.
These people, managers, and businesses rely on your ignorance because they are to spineless, and as such brownosers to do what is right on their own.
I have seen other stores doing things like this. You have to point out or ask for the right (or lower) price, otherwise you get charged a higher price. I think it is in the hopes that people not paying attention don't notice.
I did a bunch of shopping on Xmas eve and I can say that nobody was trying very hard to divest themselves of merchandise at the last minute. There were actually fewer sales on items than during other sales days after Thanksgiving. Just about everything I bought was on sale, but those items had been "on sale" at that price for the last month.
@kes33: ""...would not stand for it. Being an ardent follower of Consumerist, I would not let this aggression stand, man". This aggression?? You sound like GAP was trying to beat you up and take your milk money."
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he's paraphrasing something from "The Big Lebowski" for laffs. In which case you are not unlike the Walter to his Dude, which isn't meant as an insult.
@dieman:
I totally disagree with you, dieman. Every time I went into American Apparel stores, I was aghast at the prices. They have some nerve. And I must be too old to appreciate their ad campaign because I think it's creepy and smarmy.
I was eating out the other day and our bill was higher than it should have been. I noticed that everything was listed at $1-$2 more than the menu price. I told our server and he brough the manager over. He told us the menu had changed but the new copies hadn't arrived from the printer yet. Uh, then maybe he shouldn't have been charging people. I didn't see him at another table the entire night, so I'm guessing they were ripping off other people. At least at the Gap they saw the price they would be rung up at.
@kalikidtx: Stores can (and do) mark up their store-branded product all the time, company-wide. There's nothing illegal about this, it's not a bait and switch, and this is a non-story. I'm sorry if you believe otherwise, but that's the facts of the matter.
@WBrink: Eh. A handful of sexual harassment suits at the executive level, while certainly unacceptable, isn't enough for me to boycott American Apparel. Unlike Gap and pretty much every other "mall store," they pay their factory workers a living wage and treat them like human beings. That's a huge plus for me.
@pollyannacowgirl: The prices are higher than most stores because, as I said above, they don't use sweatshop labor. The quality is much better, too. I'd rather spend $20 on an American Apparel shirt that will last for years, than $10 on an equivalent item from Old Navy that will last three washes before it starts to fray.
The ad campaign is, well ... I can't defend it. It's gross and skeezy. But my feeling is that the company has its heart in the right place where it counts, and that trumps its gnarly ads.
Is it now a crime for a retailer to raise prices? As long as they clearly mark the new price, I don't see anything wrong.
@tundey: I agree. I think the issue here should be not so much that a retailer is raising prices, but that they didn't take the appropriate steps to do so. Whomever put the pricetag on the item raising the price should have done so in such a way as to negate the old price, either by covering it or (preferably) physically removing the old price or inking it out.
The SAME EXACT THING happened to me with the same exact product. I filed a complaint with Gap corporate, but got a snotty non-apathetic email back from them. Very dissatisfied. Will definitely shop elsewhere in the future.
A little info about pricing at the Gap. If it ends in a .00 or .50 it is an original price. If it ends in a .99 it is on sale. If it ends in a .97 it is the kill price, the lowest price you can expect to find that item.
I don't think it is a crime to increase the price, but as a sales person it's common knowledge to remove the perforated price marking, especially if raising the price, so people won't get upset about it.
I am wondering if they mis-priced the item when they printed original sales tag or realized that there is more demand for the product than they anticipated.
I currently work for the Gap. The new prices are not a mistake. The shirts went up. We even have new signage that states the new prices. The tags are the mistake. Doesn't make it right, but Gap is going broke anyway.
@kes33: And I didn't mean to rant. I was frustrated. While I completely agree sometimes things slip. And I'm sure there are companies out there who do indeed try to "pull one over" on the customer, but it really goes both ways. I can't tell you how many times I have watched a customer literally MOVE sale signs and then try to claim the item they want to buy is marked at some huge discount, etc. Or rip security tags out of clothes and put them right in their purse, bag, etc. I just read this as a customer trying to make corporate America look like an animal out to prey on the little man.
Maybe working for a retail corporation has just made me cynical. But if you want to compare who pulls one over on who, it's the customer big time.
And I'm sorry if I pissed anyone off, that wasn't my intent in my OP.
Thanks
I think overestimate how much people care when they work retail. I don't know about the Gap, but I was a manager at an even more popular mall clothing chain, and I couldn't threaten my kids with enough violence to mark things properly. They love to re-sticker, but apparently hate to rip (which is the most important part). I've followed through, but if I missed 2 shirts to make sure the rest of the markups were correct, then so be it. I'm not trying to swindle you. I'm trying to be efficient.
@Telekinesis123: I think overestimate how much people care when they work retail. I don't know about the Gap, but I was a manager at an even more popular mall clothing chain, and I couldn't threaten my kids with enough violence to mark things properly. They love to re-sticker, but apparently hate to rip (which is the most important part). I've followed through, but if I missed 2 shirts to make sure the rest of the markups were correct, then so be it. I'm not trying to swindle you. I'm trying to be efficient.
@midgrade: yup, i was about to say the same thing. should remove the old price. some would get buy there i worked, and we gave that person the original price. the way i see if, basic demand and supply...if you want the item that bad, then there is a reason for the price increase of $1 or $2....because alot more people than predicted wanted that same product.
The Old Navy sores around my house seem to have an issue with chrging you several times for one garment. I'm not sure why this happens, but I think they must have turned the sensitivity on their scanners to 11 or something. I went in about 6 weeks ago and bought 3 t-shirts. I thought it seemed high when the clerk told me my total, so I checked my receipt before I left. Sure enough, I was charged for 5 shirts. Then my roommate's step mom took her there to buy her a coat. Roommate got home and happened to look at the receipt in the bag and noticed that her step mom got charged for 2 coats. And, yes, we were both wondering how she couldn't have noticed a $100 overcharge.... Then I went to a different ON and same thing happened again. I bought some stuff for my friends babies. Again, it seemed high. This time said something before she swiped my card, and they had 2 extra items on the receipt.
Obviously, they didn't give me any problems with removing the charges. It does make me wonder how many people haven't noticed when they've been overcharged. Or decide that the $5-10 the were over charged isn't worth the hassle?
As I said before, kinda flies in the face of all those BS news reports about retailers SLASHING prices to make up for the poor season, huh. Nice when the retailer assn. can pester the news media to keep publishing these phony sales reports to incite excitement in shoppers, and lobby for tax free holidays so they can continue to try and rack up sales on the backs of uneducated easily lead shoppers. Again, it's why I don't mind seeing the clowns go under