Those of us in the Eugene-Springfield community are fortunate to be able to shop at a wide selection of local and national chain grocery stores. Over time, however, my wife and I have noted that, as often as not, we’re overcharged at many of them. Our credit card receipt will register a single item twice, ignore a discount coupon or fail to reflect an advertised or clearly posted sales price. Were I a conspiracy theorist, I’d suggest this was deliberate, with an asset line for “sucker profits” featured on the stores’ monthly balance sheets. I prefer, however, to consider these “super charges” to be more innocent: the result of  either duplicate price scanning, a failure in electronic or personal communication of a sales price to check-out or simply cashier negligence. Regardless of the cause, caveat emptor.

Review your credit card receipt. You might be surprised at the refund you’re due.

Claude Offenbacher

Eugene