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Kokua Line
Question: I recently purchased several CDs from the Keeaumoku Tower Records. One was marked at the sale price of $9.99. When the cashier rang up the CD, the computer said $17.99. Another clerk checked the rack and she said it was supposed to be $17.99 and that I had picked up a CD that they had missed when they were retagging them. I decided to buy the CD anyway, but as I was leaving, I heard the next customer being told the same thing about a CD he was buying. When I worked for a large department store, we were told that if a product was marked incorrectly by the sales staff, we had to charge the price stated on the tag. Am I correct in thinking this is an unfair practice by Tower? CD sale turns into
lesson on price tagsAnswer: After he received a copy of your complaint, Tower's regional manager, Mathew Koenig, checked the store's database and found no CDs priced at $17.99 being on sale for $9.99, which is below cost.
"I've been with Tower for over 26 years and I have never seen any sale reduction like this," he said.
Koenig said Tower's general policy is to charge the customer the price that is on the merchandise. However, there are circumstances that might negate that, he said, among them concerns about price switching.
If merchandise rings up at a price that is different from the sticker price, the item is checked. If the sticker price is below cost, "then it is obvious that we cannot sell it at that price," Koenig said.
However, if all the same items are priced the same as the one being purchased, "then the customer is given that price."
Items that are priced incorrectly are all checked out, a practice that's necessary because of "the large number of price switchers which cost the retail business millions of dollars each year," Koenig said.
He said sales staff "are trained in the aspect of asset protection and are team players in the control of shrinkage," constantly checking stock "to ensure that the correct price is on the merchandise.
"With over 100,000 CDs, this is an endless task and as in all retail establishments, there will be mistakes, but we do everything possible to reduce these errors," Koenig said.
Regarding a complaint like yours, "We would have to look at the totality of the circumstances surrounding the sale," said Stephen Levins, acting executive director of the state Office of Consumer Protection.
If it appeared to be an isolated incident in which the seller made a mistake, then it would not constitute an unfair or deceptive practice, he said.
However, if a merchant was aware a mistake in pricing was made "and they did not initiate appropriate steps to take care of it, then it could constitute an illegal practice under Hawaii law," Levins said.
Auwe
H-3 needs to be used as a freeway and not a raceway, especially near the merge roads. I use the H-3 daily, entering from the Hawaiian Memorial entrance on the Kaneohe side going to the Quarry Road. My problem is with cars coming from the tunnel side going to Kailua/Aikahi. Because it's a merge, you would think drivers would at least slow down and/or go over to the left lane, leaving the right lane clear for oncoming traffic. The speed limit is 55, not 75 mph! And when it's raining, it is even more troublesome entering the freeway because of the road being slick. -- Kaneohe resident who takes 3-year-old son to a baby sitter in Kailua
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
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