Home depot has fake prices?

[BudAshes]

Doing some home remodeling I've had to buy a few things at the depot. Yes I try to go to local hardware stores, but sometimes I need something at night, or I need some tools the small places just don't have. Anyway I've found multiple times that things don't ring up at the right price. Not only do they not ring up at the right price but if you just tell them what price you either saw it online for or saw a sale sign for the person ringing you up will change that price for you right there without looking it up. For instance I was there a couple nights ago and purchased a driver/drill combo that was 129.99 on the website. I go to check out and the girl tells me it's 159.99. I tell her that it was on sale for 129.99 and she instantly changes the price to 129.99 and rings me up. No asking a manger, or checking the price or anything. So either they know the real price and just hope to rip people off or you can get pretty much anything for any price at home depot if you just tell them its on sale. This has also happened to me with some smaller items as well.

I'm just curious whether they purposely charge you the wrong price hoping you won't notice or whether they really just give the staff the ability to charge whatever they want to people for items. The second option seems highly unlikely.

 

[highland145]

What was the price on the shelf?

 

[Rinaun]

Uh, that isn't right. I'll ask my friend right now who recently quit Home Depot (moved to Glaziers Union) after 5 years if this is legal.

edit: here's what he said:

mj: ok so whats happening in that situation is two things:
mj: a price change and customer service
mj: if a markdown is less that 50$, then it requires no approval and 9/10 times the cashier is just going to do it unless something seems off.
mj: ie "this drill is ringing up $59.99 i swear it was $9.99"
mj: so the reason the price is wrong is because home depot rolls out price changes
mj: it changes eletronically before the signs are change
mj: so sometimes shit slips through the cracks and you dont know someone forgot to do their job until someone wants to buy it and its the wrong price
mj: so the price change people work from 5AM to like 9:30AM, but sometimes they dont finish their work or they just forget to change some tags
mj: the reason the cashier didnt "look it up" is because they dont have acess to the price changes in the computer system, so all they see is that is costs 159.99
mj: they cant see the price changed and it was on sale yesterday or anything

 

[BudAshes]

What was the price on the shelf?

None of them are labeled properly and it's really hard to tell, but it looked like there was a sale sign that said 129.99 over the regular price tag. It honestly seemed like they made the drill prices as confusing as possible. A lot of stuff didn't even have a price tag, or had one for a different product. A lot of the price tags only say stuff like "Ryobi drill combo" or "Dewalt all in one". When they have 20 different combos and 5 different all in one's for each brand. Some even had different prices at different displays. I actually sent my girlfriend first and the staff told her that what I wanted didn't exist for that price.

 

[BudAshes]

Uh, that isn't right. I'll ask my friend right now who recently quit Home Depot (moved to Glaziers Union) after 5 years if this is legal.

edit: here's what he said:

mjb: ok so whats happening in that situation is two things:
mjb: a price change and customer service
mjb: if a markdown is less that 50$, then it requires no approval and 9/10 times the cashier is just going to do it unless something seems off.
mjb: ie "this drill is ringing up $59.99 i swear it was $9.99"
mjb: so the reason the price is wrong is because home depot rolls out price changes
mjb: it changes eletronically before the signs are change
mjb: so sometimes shit slips through the cracks and you dont know someone forgot to do their job until someone wants to buy it and its the wrong price
mjb: so the price change people work from 5AM to like 9:30AM, but sometimes they dont finish their work or they just forget to change some tags
mjb: the reason the cashier didnt "look it up" is because they dont have acess to the price changes in the computer system, so all they see is that is costs 159.99
mjb: they cant see the price changed and it was on sale yesterday or anything

Well there you have it people. If you have little integrity and don't mind ripping off the man just ask for 50 bucks off everything expensive that you buy. Then you can hire one of those hardworking illegals outside to do the job for you on home depots dollar.

 

[highland145]

nvm.

 

[rcpratt]

So basically I can get $50 off everything at HD?

 

[KeithP]

I don't shop at Home Depot a lot, but I have never experienced what you seem to have been subjected to. Also, maybe I am alone on this, but it doesn't seem that odd to have a different price online than in the store.

-KeithP

 

[DCal430]

I don't shop at Home Depot a lot, but I have never experienced what you seem to have been subjected to. Also, maybe I am alone on this, but it doesn't seem that odd to have a different price online than in the store.

-KeithP

This is very common, Walmart is the same way. Hell prices at two different Walmart in the same area can be very different as well.

 

[Apple Of Sodom]

I built my home and so I made many, many trips to Home Depot and never experience the problems you refer to. Most stuff is clearly marked. for large displays where items can't fit directly under the product (like a wall of faucets, all on display, but the actual boxes on several different shelves) they have labeled the faucets with numbers that correspond to their space on the shelf.

If in doubt about a price don't assume. You can always check the UPC. In my experience the price label has a UPC on it that I can correlate with the correct box. It takes about 30 seconds.

 

[MaxPayne63]

I doubt there are any brick and mortar stores that don't have conflicts with pricing listed on a nationwide website.

It takes time to update the price tags in the store and the computers as well. IDK why; maybe one thing has to be done (locally) before the other can as a matter of policy. Also every store will have some sort of procedure for dealing with it.

 

[Puppies04]

Well there you have it people. If you have little integrity and don't mind ripping off the man just ask for 50 bucks off everything expensive that you buy. Then you can hire one of those hardworking illegals outside to do the job for you on home depots dollar.

This is basically advocating fraud, I would be careful, infractions get handed out for a lot less.

 

[BudAshes]

I built my home and so I made many, many trips to Home Depot and never experience the problems you refer to. Most stuff is clearly marked. for large displays where items can't fit directly under the product (like a wall of faucets, all on display, but the actual boxes on several different shelves) they have labeled the faucets with numbers that correspond to their space on the shelf.

If in doubt about a price don't assume. You can always check the UPC. In my experience the price label has a UPC on it that I can correlate with the correct box. It takes about 30 seconds.

Try reading the thread man, whether in doubt or out of doubt take it to the counter and ask for 50 bucks off. This thread has nothing to do with price mistakes, obviously we all know box stores make price and inventory mistakes. It has to do with them changing the prices at checkout without confirming.

 

[BudAshes]

This is basically advocating fraud, I would be careful, infractions get handed out for a lot less.

Thanks hall monitor. I'll make sure to ask you next time whether my jokes will offend the mods delicate sensibilities.

 

[DestinyKnight]

This happens all the time in the retail world. Prices are updated electronically but the price tags on the shelf don't get changed right away or someone misses removing a sales price tag after the sale is over.

 

[edro]

In other news: The sky is blue.

 

[OutHouse]

Uh, that isn't right. I'll ask my friend right now who recently quit Home Depot (moved to Glaziers Union) after 5 years if this is legal.

edit: here's what he said:

mjb: ok so whats happening in that situation is two things:
mjb: a price change and customer service
mjb: if a markdown is less that 50$, then it requires no approval and 9/10 times the cashier is just going to do it unless something seems off.
mjb: ie "this drill is ringing up $59.99 i swear it was $9.99"
mjb: so the reason the price is wrong is because home depot rolls out price changes
mjb: it changes eletronically before the signs are change
mjb: so sometimes shit slips through the cracks and you dont know someone forgot to do their job until someone wants to buy it and its the wrong price
mjb: so the price change people work from 5AM to like 9:30AM, but sometimes they dont finish their work or they just forget to change some tags
mjb: the reason the cashier didnt "look it up" is because they dont have acess to the price changes in the computer system, so all they see is that is costs 159.99
mjb: they cant see the price changed and it was on sale yesterday or anything

this is nothing new. back in high school i worked for a lumber/hardware store called payless cashway or Hugh M. Woods. this was before the laser scanners and we had to key in every single item. if the customer bitched about the price we would enter in the over ride code of 8888885 then key in the price. the worst were nuts, washers, bolts. god that sucked when a customer came up with a buggy full of that hardware.

 

[Rinaun]

I'm not sure how you guys are getting this is encouraging fraud. If you suggest a price change, it's within the cashiers prerogatives to validate if it is actually on sale or not, and how much to discount the item for. If you think you can just walk into home depot and demand a price discount on ANY or EVERY item, I think you should realize no store is going to sell multiple items at a loss and not reprimand the cashier. If it wasn't obvious in what I posted from my friend, it says "9/10 the cashier....". It's completely dependent on whom rings you out. I'm going to bet money that what my friend is describing is what the "less skilled" workers at Home Depot did. Frankly I can't see any motivation to check a sales price when some employees are getting paid less than 13 an hour after 5 years of dedicated service. You get what you pay for is I think the term for this.

I'd love to see you go to home depot and try to ask 50$ off any item under $100. He was using an extreme example. Let me know how that works out for you, skip .

TLDR: Lazy Cashiers aren't "fraud". Sometimes they miss sale stickers, and the cashier assumes it is on sale when it isn't. I'm going to bet if you do it multiple times at any store, you are going to be flagged as a dick.

 

[rh71]

mj: ok so whats happening in that situation is two things:
mj: a price change and customer service
mj: if a markdown is less that 50$, then it requires no approval and 9/10 times the cashier is just going to do it unless something seems off.
mj: ie "this drill is ringing up $59.99 i swear it was $9.99"
mj: so the reason the price is wrong is because home depot rolls out price changes
mj: it changes eletronically before the signs are change
mj: so sometimes shit slips through the cracks and you dont know someone forgot to do their job until someone wants to buy it and its the wrong price
mj: so the price change people work from 5AM to like 9:30AM, but sometimes they dont finish their work or they just forget to change some tags
mj: the reason the cashier didnt "look it up" is because they dont have acess to the price changes in the computer system, so all they see is that is costs 159.99
mj: they cant see the price changed and it was on sale yesterday or anything

so basically these price tag changing people are potentially costing the company even more money.

 

[coldmeat]

The cashier could have just not gave a shit. I was a cashier, and if someone told me the price was wrong, more often than not I would just change it. I didn't care about the store or my job enough to go through the hassle to check the price. 4 years working at that place, giving every one of my weekends throughout high school (thurs/fri night, all day sat + sun) and I never saw a single raise (sorry, that's not true, I got a $.05 raise the week I quit). A lot of cashiers just hate their fucking life.

 

[Rinaun]

The cashier could have just not gave a shit. I was a cashier, and if someone told me the price was wrong, more often than not I would just change it. I didn't care about the store or my job enough to go through the hassle to check the price. 4 years working at that place, giving every one of my weekends throughout high school (thurs/fri night, all day sat + sun) and I never saw a single raise (sorry, that's not true, I got a $.05 raise the week I quit). A lot of cashiers just hate their fucking life.

Fucking this. I felt so bad for this guy working for 5 years, and after he told me how much he's now making (above 16$) I asked how much he was making at Home Depot for being there 5 years as a super dedicated nice employee. He said manager politics got in the way and after 5 years he was getting paid less than 14 an hour to supervise. I'm so glad he fucking quit. Retail stores have no respect for their employees; just look at places like wal-mart.

 

[Puppies04]

Thanks hall monitor. I'll make sure to ask you next time whether my jokes will offend the mods delicate sensibilities.

Oh that was a joke, sorry I didn't realise because it wasn't.


Dickhead.

 

[DrPizza]

Quite the opposite of my experience. I bought a huge pile of stuff. The next to last thing was a 3 ply piece of plywood. She rang it up as a 4 ply piece of that thickness. (But, I didn't know what buttons she was pushing.) When it came up at a price about $8 more than the price on the shelf, I pointed out the pricing error. She had someone go look, then that person came back up front and figured out that the problem was that she had entered it wrong.

 

[Ketchup]

This happens all the time in the retail world. Prices are updated electronically but the price tags on the shelf don't get changed right away or someone misses removing a sales price tag after the sale is over.

This, and I will add that web price does not equal retail price, and they probably won't match it if you ask them to (unless you ordered it on the web). This happens everywhere. Got a steal on an external hard drive last year by ordering off the web site, and picking it up at the store (they charged their retail price.) The funny part (to me) was that the item was in stock at the local store when I ordered it, so using 5 minutes of my time to order online it got me about half off.

 

[Rinaun]

Quite the opposite of my experience. I bought a huge pile of stuff. The next to last thing was a 3 ply piece of plywood. She rang it up as a 4 ply piece of that thickness. (But, I didn't know what buttons she was pushing.) When it came up at a price about $8 more than the price on the shelf, I pointed out the pricing error. She had someone go look, then that person came back up front and figured out that the problem was that she had entered it wrong.

Exactly; it's completely dependent on the cashier. She probably thought the plywood couldn't possibly be that cheap (selling at a loss) and had someone check to make sure it was right. Not everyone knows the prices on every item.

Pro Tip: My friend says if you DO want a discount and it isn't really a discount, just whine enough and they'll give you a discount. You might want to have something to back your sales argument, though. As long as they aren't selling it at a loss, it's all gravy baby.