Supermarket responds after Reddit user’s warning about self-checkout overcharge — ‘Was annoyed that the total amount due on my supermarket purchase did not equate to the individual items I purchased.’::‘Was annoyed that the amount due on my Woolies purchase did not equate to the individual items I purchased.’

  • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
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    10 months ago

    So it was resolved instore to their even better benefit, AND the person still went and posted a false story to shame and blame them?

    People are fucking weird.

    • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Even if it was a one-time glitch that was resolved in-store, it implies that the prices shown on-screen aren’t necessarily the same prices used internally to compute the total.

      That could merit a heads-up post for people to double-check their totals, though not the suggestion of anything more nefarious.

      • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
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        10 months ago

        Things misscan all the time, they are using a hot topic to make an agenda.

        They could have spun it as a good story with the ending they got, but they choose to focus on a technical glitch that occurs with human cashiers as well.

        • Pheonixdown@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          Nah, this wasn’t an issue with the scanner, it’s an issue with the core design of the software. For whatever reason, it uses different value fields when determining the price to display for an item and the price used in the total, that means this problem can occur for any number of items and the only way to detect it is to manually total the receipt. It’s a fundamental problem with the software and their pricing change control process and a good PSA, the negative headline draws better attention than the positive, which is that anyone could be charged incorrectly. That the store was able to fix it is also good to include, but it is an expected responsibility of the store to do so, not some positive spin.

        • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          10 months ago

          How is this an mis-scan? Everything was scanned into the system, all recognized, all properly entered. The problem came with the display of that information. There was nothing wrong with the scan.

      • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        Not major if it only impacts the price shown on the itemized price screen of clearance mangos in one store and the total price charged is correct.

      • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
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        10 months ago

        In-store is, and language is fluid. If you understood what I meant we succeeded in communicating, anything else is you just trying to be better than someone else.

          • abbotsbury@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Except language is demonstrably fluid, meanwhile it seems like your grasping of prescriptive pedantry is coincidentally just a lazy reason to try and be correct when everyone knew what “instore” meant.

            Do you say “God be with you” when departing, or just goodbye?

            • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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              10 months ago

              Of course it is. That doesn’t mean every missing or grammatical mistake is an example of language evolving. Usually it’s just carelessness or ignorance.

              • abbotsbury@lemmy.world
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                10 months ago

                Carelessness or ignorance, believe it or not, evolve language. Have you heard of compound words?

              • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
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                10 months ago

                So where do we draw the line on when new words can’t be created anymore? Shakespeare? Wassup? Crunk? Your username even has LOL in it, I don’t think we should be taking language lessons from someone who parades that around….

                An online forum lacking in content and engagement isn’t the place to make a stand against minor mistakes that don’t detract from the conversation.

                • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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                  10 months ago

                  What I’m making a stand against is the position that there’s no such thing as bad grammar because it’s all just language evolution.

          • Kachilde@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Thefact thatyour commentcan stillbe understood kindof disprovesyour point.

            Beingpedantic aboutspaces andhyphens in anonline comment-section doesn’t makeyou a better-person.

  • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    “We’ve looked into this transaction and can confirm that the total of $17.90 was correct, however the mango price of 80 cents each that appeared on the screen was incorrect due to a technical error — they were on clearance for $1.90 each,” the Woolworths spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.

    “We understand why this customer was concerned and we apologise for the confusion caused. Our team resolved this with the customer in-store, providing the mangoes free of charge.

    Seems pretty straightforward and had a good resolution.

    • r00ty@kbin.life
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      10 months ago

      But, what kind of software do they have that uses one price source for the unit pricing display and another source for calculating the total? It seems that it is destined to create more problems like this one.

      • Enk1@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        POS software is right up there with vehicle infotainment systems when it comes to reliability and usability. They get the dregs of the programming world because decent coders have a way better selection of companies to work for.

          • Enk1@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Unless you’re talking about Android Auto or CarPlay, I’d have to disagree. Even in high end luxury cars the OEM infotainment systems are a joke.

            And before someone chimes in and says “But Tesla,” please understand that a clean and stylish user interface does not make for a good user experience. Tesla put simple but important functions behind an interface that often requires multiple clicks to find what, in any other car, is a single button, knob, or stalk away. Buttons and knobs make for a better user experience and safer driving because they don’t require you to take your eyes off the road to navigate a menu.

      • poweruser@lemmy.sdf.org
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        10 months ago

        I imagine there’s code to do something like currency conversion or maybe rewards points calculation so the displayed amount is not actually the number used for the final total

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      10 months ago

      Seems pretty straightforward and had a good resolution.

      Well, except for when the Redditor went home and spread lies technically factual statements presented in a misleading manner and omitting key details with the apparent goal of damaging the reputation of the store despite being treated with kindness and fairness by the manager.

      • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        10 months ago

        Lies? What lies? They went home and said “I found this situation annoying.” How is that a lie?…

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    10 months ago

    I’ve come to realise at least half of the stuff posted on Reddit these days, especially more so on the popular subs, are all designed to make you angry.

    It’s things like posting incorrect info in the title, posting a comic / image that’s been deliberately designed to get you angry, someone really wanting their 5 minutes of fame like this guy, or some post from some bigot.

    It’s so tiring. Have started to notice it on Lemmy too.

    • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Ragebait had become the new tactic to generate engagement for a while now.

      Hopefully people will soon catch on and become fed up with it because I am sure this tactic has been one of the biggest contributing factors in polarizing people against each other and making politics so toxic.

      • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Facebook has started to do that and… it’s fucking annoying that it works. Lots of bullshit demonising trans people pushed to me 10+ times a day.

    • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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      10 months ago

      The news aggregator communities tend to post the clickbait titles verbatim because it’s generally frowned upon to editorialize them. However a few users do put a proper heading or a short summary in the post body which I appreciate.

      We have our share of drama llamas here as you know, but we also have pictures of !crows@lemmy.ml, !cat@lemmy.world, !superbowl@lemmy.world.

      If you follow !toronto@lemmy.ca and !vancouver@lemmy.ca you will see my picture posts of various cityscapes.

      Lastly, beehaw.org is a bit closed off from some instances but their server is a bit more chill outside of their politics community.

  • BargsimBoyz@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    What a garbage article. I assume this is a bit reporting, otherwise please don’t post crap like this from bad news sources.

  • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    Tempest in a teapot.

    Did they call someone over when they saw the discrepancy? Because, you know, mistakes happen.

    I frequently have something not scan, or not come up right. There’s a button for help, there’s always someone right there anyway, hell, had a clerk walk up and help when he noticed I hit the wrong button. They pay attention.

    “I was annoyed”… That a system misreported something? If I was annoyed every time that happened I’d never not be annoyed.

    What’s with this sudden “self checkout rage bait” this week? Who’s pushing what agenda?

      • arctickako@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Or it might be that Coles and Woolies are already under investigation for price gouging all while unsurprisingly posting record profits. Most Australians have felt the really quick rise of the cost of living, and are rightly skeptical of both supermarkets which basically hold a duopoly over Australian shops. They already do a bunch of sketchy shit, what’s to stop them from doing more?

          • arctickako@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            Aight bud, that was to show why there’s already distrust towards both corporations. It’s not hard to see why people would be inclined to believe that Coles/Woolies are trying to fuck them over yet again.

      • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
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        10 months ago

        Funnily enough humans have been scamming them at checkouts for decades. Adding stuff to the the scales for example, wrong fruit codes, lots of options.

    • mwguy
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      10 months ago

      Did they call someone over when they saw the discrepancy? Because, you know, mistakes happen.

      Not in software. The software is doing exactly what it was programmed to do.

      • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
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        10 months ago

        So no software has ever glitched before and output a wrong result? What world do you live in?

        • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          Or a HUMAN forgot to update the pricing. 😱

          Fact is, I see this all the time with stuff that’s labelled for sale. More than half the time I need a clerk to correct things that have a sale sticker and price on them at the grocery store, because that stuff changes daily.

        • mwguy
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          10 months ago

          If there’re two different items calculations one “real” one and “display” that’s an intentional choice made because they know there can be discrepancies.

          • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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            10 months ago

            Most likely an oversight.

            The real question would be how did the clerk/store handle it when pointed out?

            I’ve never once had a grocery store quibble over a discrepancy - they’ve always just overrode the price, right then, and went on with their day. At most taking a minute.

            Compare that to before there were barcodes, and just price stickers on things (yes, I’m that old). This was a LOT more hassle.

            Ever see a sitcom where the clerk is calling for a price check over the intercom? Yep, that’s what they used to do. Most of the time we’d tell them nevermind, don’t bother, because it took too damn long and there was a line of 3+ filled, large carts behind us…because checkout took forever as the clerk rang in, manually, every item. Pulled out their sheets to verify prices, code, etc.

            • mwguy
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              10 months ago

              Can’t be just an oversight. This has to be an intentional design decision. The “simple” (and economical) way to build this system is to build it so that the scan reads the price from a database and that price is then displayed and used to sum the total.

              Keeping two prices, a display and a real one, is a design decision that adds a complexity to the system, makes it more difficult to administer and is an intentional design decision, especially if the numbers are allowed to differ.

              A coupon not being applied correctly could be a mistake with that coupon. A sale not being taken into account, a problem with that sale or that UPC entry in the database. Those could be issues with data entry and data management.

              This is different. This is intentional. And I’d bet, we’ve just found someone either cheating the tax man or embezzling funds.

          • Schmidtster@lemmynsfw.com
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            10 months ago

            Yep rounding errors occur, manual changes need to be inputted sometimes, display errors, sales mistakes. Nothing weird about that. In fact their policy probably has specific points to deal with discrepancies between list, scanned and total prices.

  • Oaksey@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    The last 4 scanned items listed on screen but “5” items scanned. I’d dare say the fifth items that isn’t shown on screen accounts for the difference?

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      According to the article the mangos were on sale for a higher price than what showed up on the screen, it totaled them correct but there was a mistake with it saying .80 cents per mango. They gave them the mangos for free apparently and apologized. Same thing would have happened whether or not it was a self checkout or a person, the item was entered incorrectly into the system.

      Always verify what you are buying.

  • ZMonster@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Got to give it to the Somali Pirates… That’s some next level marketing:

    “This appears to be an isolated incident at our MacArthur Metro store, involving the clearance price of a batch of our Calypso Mangoes.”