A distinction has to be drawn between the two different kinds of cases being conflated into one here:

1) Store labels or advertises a product at $5, but dispenser, cash register, cashier error leads to charge of $3.50. In this case the customer knows what the cost of the product is, and is not paying the full cost.

2) Store advertises or labels a product at $5 when they meant to label it $15. Tough luck, store. That is what you said it costs, so that is what it costs. Take responsibility, suck it up, and don't let it happen again.

So...you'd also like to be treated according to the "tough luck/suck it up" principle?

To clarify, I generally do not complain that a business is "taking advantage" of me if the business's behavior is within the limits of our business-customer agreement. This agreement can be explicit, like a cellular provider contract, or implicit, like at a department store (I will not steal or break things and will pay the label price for each item minus coupons & discounts). It is not the business's job to look out for my best interest in the setting of terms of such agreements (except perhaps insofar as they want to please a customer), and it is not my job to look out for their best interest. If they accidentally agree (via an advertising mistake) to terms that are unprofitable to them, tough shit and not my problem or fault. I am not "taking advantage" of them by seeing that agreement as a good deal for me and signing up for it. Likewise, if I am careless and agree to something unfavorable to me, not their problem or fault.

The reason my case #1 is different, is that I violate the terms of the implicit agreement by not paying the full specified price.

I was typing my comment as you were putting up yours so did not see your question.

Would I like for a business to treat me "according to the "tough luck/suck it up" principle"? No, I suppose I would not "like" it since I do not like unprofitable transactions, but I would not accuse them of "taking advantage" or being unfair, and I would pay up. Afterward, I might choose to switch to a business that will cut me more slack (which is my prerogative as a customer). Many businesses choose not to "enforce" collection on every customer mistake precisely because they want to keep that customer more than they want that $5 late fee or whatever. That is their prerogative as a business.

Similar thing happened to me not too long ago. I pulled up to the pump, got out of the car and started pumping gas. (At this particular station, I could pump gas in my sleep, as I am a frequent customer here.) The sign said $3.49/gal. I was a little miffed, but okay, I needed the gas. Done pumping, looked at the pump itself where the price is, it said $3.39. So I checked my receipt (I have a credit card with this particular gas company) and sure enough, it charged me the lesser price. I went in and told the clerk. He came outside with me to look at the pump, noticed I put it on my card, and thanked me for telling him. He said something along the lines of since I put it on my card, he wouldn't charge me the 10 cents per gallon, because the company makes money off the interest they charge me for using the card. But he did appreciate that I told him about the pump.

Last year I bought a television. Within thirty days, the store advertised a lower price. While collecting on the price-match guarantee, the store refunded more than I was supposed to get. I immediately brought it to their attention, but they refused to believe me. I explained it several times, pointing to the television in the ad, but they refused to believe me because the register produced a different price. I don't know why they wouldn't believe me. I finally stopped caring and left with my extra, undeserved refund.

Its one thing for a business to make a buck, its quite another for it to "take" a buck, i.e. with deceptive practices like not programing their sale prices into the register, or giving incorrect change.

By that same token it is well and good to save a buck buying on the cheap, it is quite another to take a buck back by not correcting an error giving back to much change.

We ought to remember that even if you THINK you're just ripping off "the corporate machine" the fact of the matter is you're not. Those costs get passed on to everyone in the form of higher prices.

Or, to the cashier making minimum wage, when the till comes up short, she may have to pull extra hours at cost to her or have the difference docked from her pay. You may think its the store that comes up short, but it may be a toy from her child's hands, or food from her mouth instead.

Its not that hard to live an honorable life most of the time, and the choice to be honest even at our own expense, is an easy one. We just have to ask which choice, if made by our children, would make US feel pride as parents, and then act accordingly.

Amazing how many answers can come from that question.

Believe it or not, the price tag does not tell you the price-it is a "solicitation of an offer to pay." Basically, the store is asking you to make them an offer to buy it; they are not making an offer to sell. This is to protect the store. So, if the store has a $500.00 suit marked for $5.00, do not expect to get it for $5.00. The store can correct its mistakes. However, the store does not have to. I was buying something at Best Buy and they left a promotional sticker up after expiration (unbeknownst to me); the regular price popped up at the register; I objected; we checked the sign; saw that the sale price was expired; and they gave it to me for that price anyway (even though they were not required to).

Americans do not really understand this principle-unless we are in Mexico, bartering for over-priced wool blankets (or buying a car, when we know we are getting hosed anyway). Usually, we just look at the price and agree to pay. Lord knows the cashier at Wal-Mart is not going to be in any position to negotiate price, much less be versed in the finer points of consumer law. (Not a dig at Wal-Mart cashiers, by the way.)

As for the gas, though, that does not fit in this scenario. With self-serve, pay at the pump, a mistake at the pump is different. If you do not notice you are paying too little, I do not believe that is stealing; these days, I usually just pick the octane, start the pump and close my eyes-because it is going to cost too much anyway. Unless there was a huge disparity (say $2.00 per gallon), I would not notice. With this convenience, the company is responsible for making sure the price on the pump is accurate.

It's funny, how situational it is. If I feel like I've been treated fairly, there's no way I'd try to cheat in any way. If I feel I've been treated unfairly, then I may feel differently.

We're in the midst of a real, live example: we are replacing the windows in our house. The builder pointed out that a number of our existing windows are cracked. They've been that way for decades - longer than we've owned the house. A little crack in a corner, or a chip from a rock. He suggested that we report these to our insurance before they are replaced - he gets paid for "fixing" them and deducts it from our bill.

Our insurance company has always treated us very well - paying valid claims promptly and with no fuss. I can't imagine cheating them in this way.

On the other hand, there is a local government program (paid by a special tax) that is supposed to help homeowners do exactly this sort of energy-saving renovation. The program is there, and the money is collecting in piles because the rules are interpreted by bloody-minded bureaucrats. We've been going back and forth with them for 18 months. Even though they admit that our renovation is exactly what they are set up for, we still haven't got official approval.

If shading the truth would get them off dead-center, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

So - even as a painfully honest type, there are situations where I see "cheating" as acceptable.

I see stories like this one from the pump and my heart fills with joy and song and pretty flowers and soars with the eagles at the prospect of human kindness and good will toward each other. Then I see stuff like this...

"A Kirksville man faces a felony indictment after trying to purchase a LCD television for less than $3 by allegedly replacing its UPC code with that of a water bottle."

...and I wake up from my reverie, shake off the sappy stupor of fantasy-based sociology, realize there are plenty of rat bastards in the world, go pour myself another cup of extra strong coffee and scheme of legal ways to help the stupid people happily and willingly transfer their money to my account.

I am going to have to disagree here, to a certain extent.

I pay close attention to what I am charged for things. I expect the price I am paying to reflect the advertised price. Having discovered that I payed more than was advertised for something in the past, I am careful these days. I expect the places I do business to do the same. If they put up a price that is lower than they intended, I expect to get that price for the item in question. I also habitually inform places I do business if I see prices on something that are obviously lower than they should be.

The problem I have with just sucking it in and paying the actual price rather than the advertised price, is that there are stores that purposely post a price lower than the advertised price. They depend on people not paying close enough attention. I realize that this also happens due to mistakes, but it doesn't change the fact that people make the decision to buy something based on the advertised price.

Two examples. The first happened a few months ago at our corner seven eleven. I went to get then pregnant momma some icecream, they had ben and jerry's with a tag that said $3.50, reflecting the same price advertised on the door to the cooler. I took some to the counter and when it was rung up it came to $4.29. I explained the situation and the clerk apologized but said he had to charge me the $4.29. I was a bit annoyed but momma wanted the icecream and nearly nine months pregnant momma got most everything she wanted. I did make an issue out of it though. When I went in a couple days later, I noticed that the $3.50 was still on the cooler and tagged on the shelf. So I mentioned it to the guy manning the register at that point, one of the brothers who own that particular store. He apologized and said he would take care of it. Two weeks later I went in and they still hadn't changed the tag. I finally called seven eleven's complaints hotline before it finally was addressed.

Conversely, I went to buy cat litter a few weeks ago at petsmart. I always go for the cheapest option and did so that day. The cheapest happened to be one that is normally one of the "premium" litters, I initially assumed it was a mistake. But upon reading the tag, it gave the low price and indicated it was for that litter. So I snatched up three bags, assuming that they must be clearing that particular kind of litter. When I got to the counter it rang up at the actual price for the item, so I explained that the tag had given a much lower price for it and that I had assumed they were just discontinuing it. She apologized and pulled the tag off the shelf and scanned it for me, then threw it in the trash.

The first was an example of store owners deliberately trying to rip off customers. When I talked to the women from seven eleven's hotline, she said that this was all too common of a problem. She thanked me for informing them of the problem and even sent me a ten dollar certificate for their stores. The second was likely a case of a store employee scamming petsmart. It's doubtful it was an accident, because the prices are in the computer and the tag should reflect that unless someone deliberately changes it.

Most people make their purchasing decisions based (at least partly) on the price a product is advertised at. Honestly, if a person doesn't pay enough attention, I don't hold the store responsible for noticing the mistake. Likewise, if the store makes a mistake in favor of the customer, I don't expect the customer to be responsible for noticing the mistake.

In the case of the gas price being so low, I don't expect the consumer to be responsible for correcting the station's error. If I notice, which I usually do, I would be happy to inform them of the issue. But it really isn't my problem when a store hires employees who don't notice they're ringing up gas at half price. Employee mistakes or management mistakes are a part of the cost of doing business.

When I was working for the roofing company, I occasionally made mistakes that cost my company money. On one occasion, it was a nearly six thousand dollar mistake - my bad. Boss didn't even flinch when I brought it to his attention. In his mind, even that mistake was quite minor. One of his own mistakes came at a cost of nearly seventy thousand dollars, putting the wrong shingles on a church roof, due to a purchasing/allocation mistake when he ordered the shingles for that job, as well as three others. He didn't really sweat that one too much, as he covers himself by adding funds into every bid to help defray such losses. Why? Because fuck-ups are a part of the cost of doing business.

Heres the rub. My boss hasn't had that kind of profit loss in years. He did a major reorganization with the help of a CPA and then computerized everything which just made it that much tighter. His average annual losses dropped by more than seventy percent in ten years. OTOH, his cover my ass fund has not been lowered, because while he runs a tighter ship now, the industry standard has gone up rather than down. He stayed the same, because he definitely didn't need to go up, but he didn't feel particularly compelled to lower them.