The Vigilant Consumer

I am a vigilant consumer and I'm proud about it.

Last Sunday, we did our grocery shopping at SM Hypermart in Tunasan, Muntinlupa. While wifey and the kids were lining up to the cashier, I went to the comfort room to jingle. When I went back, I noticed that the cashier had stopped punching in the items. Wifey told me that our eldest daughter had noticed the discrepancy between the barcode price and the one that registered on the point of sale (POS) machine. Naturally, wifey questioned the cashier about the discrepancy so the cashier had to summon the promodizer to explain about it. I told the cashier that the price indicated on the item should prevail and there's no way I would pay for the higher price.

Came the promodizer and explained that he was just newly hired and disowned the mistake of barcoding done by the one he replaced. He told me that I should pay for the price on the screen because they had really marked up the price recently. No way, Jose! I told him in all diplomacy that I could not accept his alibi. It was not my concern whether he was new or whether he was not the one who did the barcoding.  I insisted that in cases of discrepancy, the tag price should prevail without mentioning that I work for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Even if I am not a DTI employee, I would still fight for what I believe is right.

It seemed that the promodizer would not budge. Okay fine with me. I told him that I would pay the price on the POS but would use it as evidence when I make my formal complaint to DTI-National Capital Region. That was the time when the promodizer told me that he would just look for a barcode price that would reflect the amount indicated on the item I would buy.

It took us more than 20 minutes before everything was settled because aside from waiting for the right barcode, the cashier also waited for her supervisor to do the line void procedure. The funny thing, the two of them could not agree if the item was finally line voided or not so they had to seek the help of another supervisor and it took them quite some time before the three of them agreed that they did it right. I should congratulate myself for keeping my cool that long. Had my blood sugar level been wayward that particular moment, I could have called the store manager to complain the four of them - the promodizer, the cashier, and the two supervisors. Imagine the inconvenience they had caused us?

Anyway, all's well that ends well. I left the store feeling triumphant because I was able to fight for my right as a consumer. My eldest daughter almost regretted the fact that she saw the discrepancy and told her mom about it because she knew how I would react had I been the one who discovered it (She thought that the problem would be over before I even go back). She knew that I always fight for my right as a consumer because she has been a witness to it in many instances. And that's one thing I want my children to do as well. If I have to sound like a broken record, I will do it so that they will learn to become vigilant and at the same time responsible consumers. And they have nothing to be ashamed about it.