Lakeside Fishing and Tackle

[Wolf_fisherman]

Hay all I just wanted to let everyone know about a problem I had here @ Lakeside Tackle on 10 mile and Jefferson last week. I was going to buy a couple Magnum Long A Bombers there that I had a problem finding, the price tag said $5.99 so I said cool thats a good price. But when I got up to the register they scanned $7.99 the gentleman didn't even offer to give them to me the price they were scanned but instead went back to the shelf where they were and preceeded to tell me they were mismarked and couldnt sell them for what they were tagged for. And took all the price tags off all that were mismarked. I walked out of there without them and fuming with anger. I then called back to talk to the owner and he told me since the sale was not final and no cash was taken it was legal for them to do this. Anyone have any input or suggestions short of never giving them my business again?

[djkimmel]

Mistakes do happen. Disappointing to not get the better price, but I don't think I'd get too worked up about it.  Would have been nice if they honored the mistake in your case, but I don't blame him for fixing the mistake. Not a lot of profit in selling lures.

I don't recall the exact regulation so I'm not sure if you have to actually be charged and pay the wrong amount for the law to apply or not? It always seemed like a law to me that was more trouble than it was worth.

[Bender]

I don't know what the law is, but it sounds like they handled the situation poorly. Small businesses need to provide extra service and go the extra mile for customers to survive when competing against all of the online and big box stores. They should have taken care of you whether they lost $4 or $40, bad experiences are very damaging long term. For a small loss they could have had you on here posting "These guys made a mistake but took care of everything, go there and buy stuff!".
There was a tackle shop out near me that I only went to three times. Most of the employees were not helpful and sometimes even rude. They went out of business. 

[motocross269]

I am glad they are around to handle my licenses....
The customer is alway right, they should have let you buy a few at the reduced price....

[Langer]

Here is the law:

Item Pricing Bill of Rights
Our State law requires that most items on store shelves be clearly marked with a price tag.  If an automatic checkout system (scanner) charges you more than the marked price of an item, and:

            1)  the transaction has been completed, and

            2)  you have a receipt indicating the item purchased and the price charged for it.

Then:
            You must notify the seller that you were overcharged, within 30 days of the transaction, either in person or in writing.  Within two days of receiving your notice, the seller may choose to refund you the difference between the amount charged and the price marked plus a "bonus" of ten times the difference, with a minimum of $1.00 and a maximum of $5.00.  If the seller refuses to give you both the refund and the bonus, you may bring a lawsuit to recover your actual damages or $250.00, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney fees up to $300.00. 



If I am charged more than the marked price for several duplicate items, do I get the bonus for each duplicate item?
No.  When you purchase multiple identical items you are only entitled to one bonus payment of ten times the difference between the marked price and the price you were charged, but not less than $1.00 or more than $5.00.  However, you get the difference between the marked price and the price you were charged for each item you purchased.

If I notify the clerk that I was overcharged for an item before I pay and the clerk corrects the overcharge, am I still entitled to the bonus? 
No.  The transaction must be complete, and you must have a receipt evidencing the overcharge before you can request the bonus. 

[cameraguy]

I like Lakeside.  It's a good store, but that was the wrong way to handle the situation.  I also think that it was a violation of state law.  Here are the pertaining laws from Michigan.gov.

445.353 Stamping or affixing total price of consumer item; exemptions; lists and signs for classes of items or individual items, "item" defined.

Sec. 3.
(1) The total price of a consumer item displayed or offered for sale at retail shall be clearly and conspicuously indicated in arabic numerals, so as to be readable and understandable by visual inspection, and shall be stamped upon or affixed to the consumer item. If the consumer item is in a package or container, the total price shall be stamped upon or affixed to the outside surface of the package or container and need not be placed directly upon the consumer item.

445.354 Charging more or less than price indicated; evidence of violation.

Sec. 4.
(1) A person shall not knowingly charge or attempt to charge for a consumer item a retail sale price exceeding the price required to be indicated pursuant to section 3. It shall not be construed to be a violation of this act to charge for a consumer item a total price less than the price required to be indicated pursuant to section 3.

I have run into this situation in many stores and have never been made to pay anything other than the price stuck on the item, except if it's an electronic scanner that scanned the higher price without me noticing.  In that case, you would be entitled to the price difference x10 up to $5.00.  Most retailers know this and offer the product at the marked price with no squabble, especially if you were only trying to buy a couple of them.  After all, it's their own fault for not updating their pricing.    

Langer's message was posted while I was researching and writing my post.  He is correct.  Obviously, this was handled poorly by Lakeside.  To be fair, it's a small business trying to get by in a tough time.  Maybe they weren't aware of the regulations and could make amends to this customer. 

[live2fish]

I have only one question - What do they do to help support both the fisherman and/or the trails around them. I see Bass Pro Shops do things and donate to our youth, but with the money spent there what do they do to send back to us fisherman?