Comments
refadmin wrote:
Shopping at Meijer today, I purchased bread via an automatic scanner and was overcharged. I went to customer service and told them I had been overcharged about $6.00 and the scanner law should apply. They refused to pay me according to the scanner law indicating that the sale price was not "stamped" or "affixed" on the product and therefore the law did not apply. In this case, the sale price was identified on the rack above the bread. They did however provide me with a $2.50 coupon for my trouble.
I have not researched the legislature's intent in enacting the scanner law. It seems logical that the intent was to protect consumers from being charged by an automatic scanner more than the price offered for sale. The retailer has found a loophole.
I have not researched the legislature's intent in enacting the scanner law. It seems logical that the intent was to protect consumers from being charged by an automatic scanner more than the price offered for sale. The retailer has found a loophole.
22/06 22:10:57
Your comment
Comments must be approved before being published. Thank you!
17/06: Michigan's Scanner Law - Retail Pricing and Automatic Checkout
Michigan's scanner law is codified at MCL 445.360a, Public Act 344, effective Mar. 29, 1985. It is popularly called the Item Pricing Act and applies toretail sales of consumer goods purchased using an automatic checkout system. In order for the law to apply three requirements must be met. There must be a retail sale, the price must be stamped or affixed to the item, the sale must be recorded automatically, and a receipt showing the price charged must have been provided. If a store owner denies that he/she is responsible under the law, ask them to explain why and to point to the law in support of their position. Tell them that you will confirm the conversation in writing so you want them to be as clear as possible. In this economy every penny counts and furthermore, it isn't just the money in your pocket that is unlawfully taken, but those of an entire class of other unknowing customers.
MCL 445.360a provides:
Sec. 10a.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (3), this section applies to a sale at retail which meets all of the following conditions:
(a) There is a price stamped on or affixed to the item.
(b) The sale is recorded by an automatic checkout system.
(c) The buyer is given a receipt which describes the item and states the price charged for the item.
(2) Before bringing or joining in an action as provided in section 10(2), within 30 days after purchasing an item, a buyer who suffers loss because the price charged for the item is more than the price stamped on or affixed to the item shall notify the seller in person or in writing that the price charged is more than the price stamped or affixed. The notice shall include evidence of the loss suffered by the buyer. If, within 2 days after the notification, the seller tenders to the buyer an amount equal to the difference between the price stamped or affixed and the price charged, plus an amount equal to 10 times that difference but which is not less than $1.00 or more than $5.00, the buyer is barred from any further recovery for that loss. If the loss is suffered by 1 buyer within 1 transaction on 2 or more identical items, the amount to be tendered by the seller shall be the difference on each item, plus an amount equal to 10 times the difference on a single item but which is not less than $1.00 and not more than $5.00. If the seller does not tender this amount, the buyer may bring or join in an action as provided in section 10(2).
(3) This section does not apply to a sale at retail in which the seller intentionally charges more for an item than the price stamped on or affixed to the item.