The San Fransisco Chronicle says:

"Customers should not have to worry about being charged the correct price," said District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua. "We believe the settlement sends a message."

Target also agreed to improve their "pricing procedures" in the future.

If you've noticed any of this sort of nonsense going on where you shop, why not report it to your local department of weights and measures?

Target to pay $1.7 million for overcharging customers at registers [SF gate]
(Photo:
Dallas Allison Krewe )

NBC Action News Investigators poured through more than 2,000 state inspections of Jackson County cash register scales conducted in 2007 finding 30 scales so far out of calibration, agents shut them down.

In addition to reviewing the state inspections, NBC Action News went undercover in 30 grocery stores testing scales all over the metro.

We used a scientifically calibrated weight certified as 2 pounds by nationally known Rice Lake Weighing Systems.

“Two pounds,” said a clerk recorded on hidden camera after accurately weighing our metal cylinder at his register.

Only 25 out of the 30 cash register scales we tested were accurate.

Wal-Mart was the worst offender. According to state inspectors, one of their scales claimed items were 5 lbs heavier than they actually were. The Department of Weights and Measures shut the register down.

There is a silver lining in this story, however. All of the registers that NBC tested itself were weighted in the consumer's favor.

Scale Inaccuracies Exposed in Stores [KSHB] (Thanks, Bladefist!)

1. Meter Jump
You go to put gas in but before you pull the nozzle switch, there's already a dollar amount on the meter. This usually happens because some part inside is worn out. When you hit the activation switch it's supposed to recharge itself with a bit of gas, but when meter jump occurs, the meter is charging you for the gas that's charging the system.

2. Meter Creep
The nozzle clicks off because it thinks the tank is full, but the machine keeps adding pennies even though no gas is flowing.

3. Short Volume
Can happen for a number of reasons, but essentially the pump is not pumping as much gas it says it is.

4. Big Sign, Little Price, But Little Sign, Bigger Price This is when the big sign facing the road shows a lower price than is on your pump or on your receipt. With gas prices fluctuating the way they do these days, this usually happens because the gas station didn't get a chance to change the sign yet.

(Thanks to Cynicor!)

"Has your department tested every parking meter in the city within the past three years?" I asked Deputy Commissioner Dominic Verdi. "No," he replied. So how many have they inspected? The Deputy Commissioner wasn't clear, saying "The exact number I don't have in front of me."

But we know, after 3 On Your Side reviewed the inspection reports ourselves. Out of 14,500 meters, only around 2,000 have been tested and certified for timing from 2005 through 2007, that is less than 15 percent!

Verdi blames lack of man power, L&I only has one inspector assigned to that job.

"There is no way possible for us to handle all of those meters," said Verdi.

But when we checked, we found some meters were being checked time and time again! A meter on South 9th Street was tested at 11 a.m. one morning and approved, then hours later it was tested again, and approved again!

When I asked Verdi if the inspector was clueless, he just shrugged.

Then there is the situation we found on Ridge Avenue, a meter was tested and approved eight times last year, and it happened in other places too!

Our town—which is full of parking ticket sticklers and has this suburban cowboy ticket inspector guy who revels in ticketing parents who dash into stores while their kids wait in the car—was caught issuing tickets that listed only the month and year of a registration's expiration, not the exact day. As a result, the town's tickets were invalid. The townspeople celebrated and the suburban cowboy cried. True story.

Anyway, if you live in Philadelphia and have an outstanding parking ticket, click on this link (PDF) to see if the meter was properly certified. If it wasn't, the ticket is not legally enforceable and will be tossed out by any law-abiding judge.

If only this applied to New York City's $150 parking tickets...

3 On Your Side: Parking Meter Investigation [CBS3]
(Photo: Getty)

I told the manager well that's to bad because I ALREADY PAID FOR IT!!! and if you don't return MY PRODUCT!!! that I PAID FOR!!! that I would call the cops because you are now stealing from me. I will call Weights and Measures. OH YEAH and my attorney.

Well I never thought I would see the day when I would buy an item in a store, I have the item in my hands with my receipt and a Home Depot employee takes the item out of my hands because they are not sure if I can have this item. Sound funny, WELL, ITS NOT!!!

A few months ago I was in a Home Depot shopping and I saw a Power tool (worm drive) on clearance for 49.95 markdown from $199.99. I really wanted this item but did not have the cash on me at the time (just my luck) so I drove home got my credit card and drove back to the store but I was to late, someone had already purchased the item.

So just the other day I was in the Home Depot again and by lucky found the worm drive on the clearance rack unmarked. I took the item to self check-out and the item came up at a penny. I thought, cool I am getting a deal of a life time here. I then PAID for the item and took my receipt. I checked the UPC on the receipt and on the box just to make sure they were a match and they were.

Then a Home Depot employee came up to me from the self check-out and took the worm drive and said I need to check something I'll be right back and walked away from me with the item that I just PAID for. So after waiting for 6 to 7 minutes a manager came up front and told me that I can not have this item because it is on clearance and once the price falls to a penny it is to be markdown and thrown away. I told the manager well that's to bad because I ALREADY PAID FOR IT!!! and if you don't return MY PRODUCT!!! that I PAID FOR!!! that I would call the cops because you are now stealing from me. I will call Weights and Measures. OH YEAH and my attorney.

So after all that, they finally wised up and gave me back the item that I PAID for. I have never had a retail store do something like to me. They made me feel like I was a thief. Like I did something wrong, when all I wanted was to buy a worm drive that I saw on Clearance. (WHAT HAPPEN TO TAKING CARE OF THE CUSTOMER) because you lost another one to LOWES.

Turns out that the state investigated Gabe's story, then sent him a follow up letter thanking him for his complaint.

"Thank you for submitting your complaint about Mian's Mobil. Citizen complaints like yours often alert us to problems in our community and serve as a valuable tool in our efforts to ensure fairness in the marketplace. In this case, a problem was found with pump #2 regular," says the letter.

"Your complaint has served a valuable function in the detection of unfair business practices. Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. Please contact me again should the need arise or if you have any questions."

Isn't that nice? We love the Wisconsin Department of Weights and Measures!

Victory For Consumer [WriteLarge]
(Photo:HeyGabe)

Tom sent us his letter to Royal Farms:

On July 8th, 2007 I pulled over at one of your Royal Farms gas stations to fill up my car.

What occurred at this Royal Farm gas station was a complete shock to me. I swiped my credit card and began to pump gas into my car. While the gas was pumping I got a very important phone call, which I needed to answer. I answered the call and took a few steps away from the gas pump.. The pump continued to pump the gas, however, at some point the pump stopped pumping. I remember hearing a loud click sound when the pump shut off. As this was a very important call, I talked on the phone for a few more minutes.

When I finally got back to the gas pump I was shocked to see that the meter was still running; eventually it slowed but still continued to run. Both the gallons number and the dollar amount continued to increase even though the gas was no longer flowing. I removed the pump handle from my car to make sure.. While holding the pump handle in my hand, I watched both the gallons number and the dollar amount still continue to increase. At this point I called the county police station to report fraud; however was informed that they wouldn't come out unless I go no cooperation from the gas attendant.

As far as I am concerned this is stealing and is no different than me getting gas without paying for it.

I called the gas station attendant to show him what was going on.

He witnessed the problem.

Unfortunately, he was unable to do anything about this and was unable to offer a refund.

I was given the name and phone number for the store manager with instructions to call her the next day. As instructed I called and spoke with the store manager. She promised to issue a refund back to my credit card which of course hasn't happened yet.

On 10/18/07, I returned to this same Royal Farms gas station and the same thing occurred again. At some point the gas stopped flowing however, the dollar amount kept on increasing.

On 10/31/07, I returned to this same Royal Farms gas station and the same thing occurred once again. At some point the gas stopped flowing however, the dollar amount kept on increasing.

On 12/6/07, I returned to this same Royal Farms gas station and the same thing occurred once again. At some point the gas stopped flowing however, the dollar amount kept on increasing.

On 12/13/07, I returned to this same Royal Farms gas station and the same thing occurred once again. At some point the gas stopped flowing however, the dollar amount kept on increasing.

(Photo: jrdnjstn)

He writes:

I ask the associate about it and he tells me that they are normally $79.99, so I ask if I can have it for $51.99 since it's an open item. (they marked it down from 79.99 to 71.99 since it was open item so I figured they just took $8.00 off which is why I asked for it at $51.99). He said they could not sell them for less than $71.99. I explained that they are on sale for $59.99 so why can't I even purchase it for that price. He said he can't change the price of an open item. I asked him for one that was not opened. Of course, they don't have any. I ask for a Manager. They're all in a meeting.

So this is Best Buy's "great" customer service in action once again...

Markdowns taken from regular prices. Excludes special order, clearance, demo and open-box items. Selection varies by store. Rainchecks on insert items only.

RELATED: Best Buy: Open Box Items Cost $30 More Because Of "Policy"
Best Buy: We Charge More For An Open Item
Best Buy Charges $10 More For Opened Hard Drive

Because many firewood dealers sell wood on an informal basis, they may not be aware of their responsibilities. Likewise, homeowners may not be aware that the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Law regulates firewood sales. I urge both buyers and sellers to be aware of the regulations to avoid problems after the sale."

Judy Cardin, section chief for weights and measures with the state, said that in the case of bulk coffee, the weight of the packaging materials was included when the price of the product was determined. The state had tested one-pound bags of Cameron brand coffee beans, which were found to be 3/100ths of a pound over the actual bagged content.

While that doesn't seem like much, it translated to an overcharge of 21 cents per pound, Cardin said.

"This is something that's difficult for the consumer to know it's even going on," she said. "How would someone know they were being overcharged? This is why weights and measures checks products to make sure consumers are getting what they paid for."

Cardin said Wal-Mart was fined $25,000 in January 2006 for overcharging for bulk coffee.

Wal-Mart hit with $89,705 state fine [Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter]
(AP Photo/April L. Brown)

I was in Best Buy yesterday, purchasing an external hard drive at Best Buy, and caught this little pricing glitch. Nothing like paying an extra $10 and not even getting the original packaging or the "new out of the box" feeling.

The Sun-Sentinel analyzed state inspection reports from 2004 to 2006. The analysis found 580 of more than 2,500 stations in South Florida had at least one pump dispensing more gas than customers paid to purchase, while 477 provided less fuel than they should.

"If you go to the grocery store and buy a gallon of milk, you expect a gallon of milk," said Jason Toews, co-founder of Gasbuddy.com, a consumer advocacy site that tracks gas prices. "The same goes for gasoline."

It's unclear if Florida's pump failure rate is higher or lower than in other states. In 2003, a national survey by the National Conference on Weights and Measures, found a 6 percent failure rate on gas dispensers tested in 2002. South Florida's failure rate in recent years mirrors the nation.

34 percent of area gas stations fail pump tests in last three years [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Steve Meissner of the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures wrote us, "...baggage scales are often inaccurate. They take a 24-hour beating, with people heaving bags onto them, and jumping up, down and across them on a constant basis...we don't believe the airlines are deliberately ripping people off. In fact they're usually quick to make repairs when we show up. But we almost never fail to find scales that are out of tolerance when we visit the airport. The scales in the pickup area are usually the least accurate, probably because they get the most use."

His best advice, "make sure it's set at zero before you put anything on it. You'd be surprised how often that isn't the case."

Or, you could always pack lighter...

Airports-Baggage Policies:

US AIRWAYS: 51-70 lbs. $50, 71-100 lbs. $80
SOUTHWEST: 51-70 lbs. $25, 71-100 lbs. $50
UNITED: Over 50 lbs. $50
AMERICAN: 50-70 lbs. $25, 71-100 lbs. $50
DELTA: 50-70 lbs. $25, 71-100 lbs. $100

Tipping the Scales [KNVX]
(Photo: AmericanDigest)

A group of 4th graders in Arizona learned this as part of National Weights and Measures Week (save the date: March 5-9), and now you do too. — BEN POPKEN

ADWM Alert June 2007 (PDF) [Arizona Department of Weights & Measures]
Tare Weight [Wikipedia]

— BEN POPKEN

Survey finds 67 percent compliance rate with state pricing laws [azdwm.gov] [PDF]

We took 50 products and wrote down their shelf price. Then we scanned the item at the "check your price" scanners located at the ends of various aisles.

49 out of the 50 were correct, as seen in the list inside. Goldfish Colors scanned for two cents in the customer's favor.

Not terribly exciting, but even if we had seen a number of items scanning incorrectly, we would have to repeat the test at other Walmarts to draw any conclusions. — BEN POPKEN