One time we bought some kitty litter at a NJ Shop Rite and noticed the price at checkout was higher than on the in-store label. Standard store policy says this means we get it for free. We brought bag up to customer service. They sent a stock boy to check the aisle. He returned and said we were wrong. We went back to the shelves ourselves, grabbed the label, and presented it to the desk. Customer service people sheepishly gave us the litter on the house.

Good thing we didn’t make a habit out doing so or we might have ended up like Alana Lipkin, banned from three MA supermarkets.

Lipkin is extremely adept at spotting price discrepancies. On a typical trip, the 45-year-old single mother of two scores over $200 in free goods. Her car and garage are filled with goods she’s snagged.

Spokespeople for the supermarkets, Stop n’ Shop, Shaw’s and Star Market, call her a “disruptive influence.”

Lipkin goes to stores just to find mispriced goods and get them for free. Consumer crusader or manipulator of store policy?

“Her mission: Find price errors, get free stuff” [Boston Globe]
[login: tips@consumerist.com, pw: kr0n0s] (Thanks to Joe!)

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