• About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Family Travels on a Budget

Travel with kids: theme park family deals, cruise ships for kids and best cruise lines for teens and other cool places to visit, including adult getaways

  • Home
  • Travel guides
  • Cruising
  • Destinations
    • USA
      • Alabama
      • Florida
      • Georgia
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Louisiana
      • Maryland
      • New York
      • North Carolina
      • Ohio
      • Oklahoma
      • Oregon
      • Pennsylvania
      • South Carolina
      • Texas
      • Utah
      • Virginia
      • Washington, DC
    • World
      • Bahamas/Caribbean
      • Canada
      • China
      • France
      • Mexico
      • Spain
  • Interests
    • Adventure
    • Arts/Culture
    • Beaches
    • Fitness
    • Food
    • Girlfriend Getaways
    • History
    • Kid Fun
    • Romantic Escapes
    • Teens and Tweens
    • Theme Parks and Zoos
      • Disney
      • Universal Studios
      • Other Theme Parks
      • Zoos
  • Reviews
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Products
    • Tech
    • Books
  • Travel Tips
    • Air Travel
    • Budget
    • Packing
    • Planning
    • Roadtrips
  • At home
    • Recipes
    • Shopping
    • Staycations

Home » Uncategorized » Buyer Beware

Buyer Beware

October 10, 2012 by Karen Dawkins 13 Comments

As an Amazon affiliate, and affiliate with other businesses, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Pin
Share
Tweet

On a road trip recently, we stopped at a gas station/mini-mart to fill the tank and get drinks. We were obviously traveling — everyone scurried to the restroom before we made our drink selections. At the checkout counter, we chatted away. The clerk told me the total and I handed him my credit card. Suddenly, the readout on the register jumped by $1.05 as the cashier mumbled, “That’s six drinks.”

I put my hand on the counter and got quite serious, stating, “That’s five drinks.” 

He glared at me a moment then said, “Fine. I’ll take a dollar off.”

My response, “…And the tax.” Dead silence. Even the kids stopped jabbering.

He shoved the credit receipt across the counter. I signed. I crossed my arms. I waited. He gave me my nickel.

The remainder of our trip was quite lovely.

I share this little story with you not to bash the mini-mart cashier. I know that is a thankless job, standing in one place a whole shift dealing with grumpy people, screaming kids and the like. Most, I am sure, are decent, honest employees.

However, distracted patrons are easy prey for the less honest. We multitask: restroom, snacks, gas, and map checks (or at least mentally thinking to the next step), clerks can easily take advantage.

Vacationers, generally, are easy prey. It’s not just the distractions. Traveling in foreign countries and unfamiliar with the currency, clerks can adjust the total and we might not notice.

What can we do?

  • Pay attention at the register. At the mini-mart, even though I was talking with the kids, I watched the cash register out of the corner of my eye and saw the change. I might easily have missed what the clerk said, but I didn’t miss the change in the total!
  • Ask questions kindly if you don’t understand the total. In Paris, we needed a couple days to get comfortable with euros. I questioned a couple of charges (playing a little dumb, perhaps). While the charges in Paris were correct, the language barrier got me. The clerks were quite nice about it.
  • Check your receipt before you leave the store. At the very least, count the total number of items charged to make sure it matches the number of items purchased. If it’s incorrect, you can get it fixed.

Buyer beware! Pay attention at the cash register to make sure you pay for your purchases, but not extra.

Of course, this advice works at home too. Accidental overcharges happen all the time and we pay, unaware. The holiday shopping frenzy is about to begin. Pay attention whenever you shop and pay for what you purchase and not a penny (or a nickel) more!

 

 

Pin
Share
Tweet

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Filed Under: Blog, Uncategorized

Please keep in touch. Our FACEBOOK community is active, and a great place to ask questions. On TWITTER, I share great content from destinations around the world. Follow our adventures on INSTAGRAM — we love to answer questions during trips. And, we’re on PINTEREST saving all sorts of great content from around the web.

Comments

  1. Cynthia says

    October 10, 2012 at 7:49 pm

    Gasp.. I’ve been that distracted traveler! I will take you advice and be more mindful, that can really add up!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 11, 2012 at 9:51 pm

      🙂 How was San Diego?

      Reply
  2. Mom Photographer says

    October 10, 2012 at 3:43 pm

    I suck so bad in doing all those things!!! that’s why my husband always is the one who takes care of it. He’ll ask the heck out of the cashier if he sees something that it’s not right or he doesn’t understand.
    It is great to have a person like that around, but sometimes I feel so embarrassed. I know I shouldn’t because it is our right to ask questions but still… I think I am too shy for those things!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 10, 2012 at 4:58 pm

      Awww, that’s okay. When I’m in a rush, I don’t complain. I just deal with it. The incident I wrote about was an extreme that I could not ignore!

      Reply
  3. Rosey says

    October 10, 2012 at 12:25 pm

    I think it’s hard when you’re out of the country sometimes to keep up. Czech was hard for me, but thankfully hubby caught on to the system very quickly. If he hadn’t have been along, I easily could have been cheated (though thankfully everyone we ran across on that trip was fantastic!).

    Your pointers are good ones, for sure!!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 10, 2012 at 3:42 pm

      Rosey, When we travel out of the country together (with the kids, especially), one of us watches the kids/life and the other watches the register. And we extend grace when we mess up — that’s part of the learning process! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Mommys Juice says

    October 10, 2012 at 11:51 am

    I seriously need to check receipts more often. It seems like every time I actually take a minute to review one from the grocery store I notice a mistake. Thanks for the advice!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 10, 2012 at 11:58 am

      At the grocery store, I take photos of prices on items unclearly marked to show the cashier. I also group items likely to be rung up incorrectly (sale items) at the back of the belt so that I’m done unloading before the prices run through.

      It is perfectly acceptable to review your receipt — even if customers stand behind you complaining — if you feel there’s been a mistake! (Though I tend to move to the customer service desk for those clerical issues)

      Reply
      • Mom Photographer says

        October 10, 2012 at 3:43 pm

        ha! my husband take photos, too!

        Reply
        • Karen says

          October 10, 2012 at 4:56 pm

          smart man! 🙂

          I don’t do it often, but when the price is unclear, I sure do.

          Reply
  5. Pamela R says

    October 10, 2012 at 10:40 am

    wonderful tip–being so busy sometimes things slip by–This weekend we had a great visit with my brother and his family—went to a arcade center–my nephew won a jackpot 500 tickets–we took the loooooooong strip right over to the ticket muncher right away–475 tickets! Its a little different then ca$h, but for kids the tickets are $$$—BUSY BUSY places always best to keep a watchful eye. =)

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 10, 2012 at 10:44 am

      You are absolutely right! Keep that watchful eye. 🙂

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Motorbike Accident Claim Solicitors says:
    October 23, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Online Article…

    Every so often in a while we choose blogs that we read. Listed below are the latest sites that we choose…

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meet Karen Dawkins

An avid traveler, I enjoy discovering new places: history, culture, and adventure. I love it all! Well, not bugs. I don’t like bugs very much, so I probably won’t visit a bug museum.

Read More

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

**This site may contain affiliate links and sponsored posts for which I earn a small commission to help cover the costs of running a blog.**

We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme Theme URI: http://my.studiopress.com/themes/news/ Description: A mobile responsive and HTML5 theme built for the Genesis Framework. Author: StudioPress Author URI: http://www.studiopress.com/ Version: 3.0.2 Tags: black, red, white, one-column, two-columns, three-columns, responsive-layout, custom-menu, full-width-template, sticky-post, theme-options, threaded-comments, translation-ready, premise-landing-page Template: genesis Template Version: 2.0.1 License: GPL-2.0+ License URI: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in