When a mother and her two children recently visited a fast food restaurant to order reasonably priced meals for her family, she ended up with an outrageous bill fit for a king. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
The transaction proceeded like any other, at least initially. The woman ordered sandwiches, fries, and drinks. The clerk taking the order dutifully punched in the appropriate items on the computer screen and asked the customer to swipe her card to pay for her purchase. After she did so, the clerk told her that her bank declined the transaction. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
The woman knew she had a large enough balance in her account to handle the cost of the purchase. Without knowing why the card was declined, however, she decided to use cash instead. Rather than accept the new form of payment for the current transaction, the clerk cleared the order and re-entered the requested items into the terminal. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
When the new transaction completed without further difficulty, the clerk crumpled the old receipt and prepared to throw it away. Before he could do so, the woman requested the receipt to help her figure out what went wrong with the original transaction. The clerk refused at first, but when the woman insisted, he gave in to her demand. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
After the mother of two returned home, she reviewed the receipt. That’s when she found the glaring issue with the transaction – the clerk had erroneously charged her more than $13,000 for the $13.00 food order. She contacted her bank afterward and confirmed that it had declined the transaction due to its unusually high cost that far exceeded her typical spending pattern.
Though this event didn’t harm the woman financially this time because of the significant dollar amount involved, what if the clerk had entered $23 instead of $13,000? Would she have noticed?
Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, no matter how hard anyone tries to be flawless in everything they do. Don’t let an innocent mistake by another cost you more than you need to pay for a purchase. Wise to Check Prices on Receipts
Whenever you shop at a brick and mortar store, or even online, always review the final price of a transaction before making payment. It will help you avoid unexpectedly inflated prices, and prevent a casual dining experience from costing a royal sum.
