maxine in ri wrote:
> On Apr 11, 6:36 pm, "jmcquown" > wrote:
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> > James Silverton wrote:
> > > Hello, All!
>
> > > Today, I was in a supermarket that claims to be a discount one
> > > (in fact its prices *are* usually lower.) I saw some large navel
> > > oranges marked "10 for....." That looked interesting until I saw
> > > it was "10 for $10" or a dollar each. Don't people do the simple
> > > arithmetic. They also sometimes price melons per pound that
> > > makes them look cheap until you weigh one and find it will cost
> > > $5!
>
> > > James Silverton
> > > Potomac, Maryland
>
> > Happens all the time. �I don't generally need or want 10 of (or 5 of)
> > whatever they're trying to rope the consumer into buying. �Fact is they're
> > counting on people not calculating the unit price. �I don't buy into 2-fer
> > deals unless the per-unit price is significantly less with the 2-fer deal
> > *and* it's something on my list or at least something I know I'll use.
>
> > I've noticed scales seem to be disappearing from a lot of produce
> > departments. �They don't want people to figure out it isn't a "deal" until
> > it's rung up at the checkout. �Most people are too timid to say take that
> > off, I'm not paying $5 for a cantaloupe!
>
> > Jill
>
> The reason scales are disappearing is more likely related to their
> grossly inaccurate rendering of the approximate weight that they
> display. �I'm rude when it comes to that, taking my produce purchase
> over to the deli and reaching over to weigh them on their scales for a
> more accurate reading.
>
> That was, btw the way I found out that the scales at the registers
> were not accurate. �Made the people in line behind me angry, but I
> raised a ruckus, insisted the manager do the same math I had, and got
> that register closed down until the weights and measures people had
> come in to retest that scale.
>
> My one moment of glory.<G>

That's very rare... those electronic scales at the register cost many
thousands of dollars each and are extremely accurate and sensitive...
and also have built-in warning devices that disable a scale if there's
any malfunction (it will even flash the particular malfunction, like
if there's too much liquid on the scale, or some item falls
underneath). And the weights and measures inspectors come around to
test and recalibrate if needed very often, with many stores on a daily
basis. No store is going to purposely mess with those scales... there
are very stiff fines and serious prison time. In fact most stores buy
a service contract from the scale manufacturer which includes an
insurance portion protecting from error liability, so the manufactures
come around very often to check their products too.

Now the spring scales at the produce section are not intended for
precise weight, normal brained folks don't care if the grapes they
weigh are off a half ounce... those are guestimate scales, those
grapes will still get weighed at the register... and better than 50
pct of shoppers will have eaten a goodly amount before ever getting to
the register.