HiLo 'warning'

We did a big grocery trip at HiLo last week. Food, drinks, lots of stuff. The bill was $28,000 J. I was not watching the price of each item as it was scanned (too busy sweating!). When we got home, I looked at the receipt and noticed that a "B Free $200 Phone Card" for $200 (+ $50 tax) J had been purchased.

We did not buy a phone card. We bought enough minutes (money) at Mega Mart to last us the trip.

Last year, I bought minutes at HiLo and was given the little cards with the codes to type into the phone to redeem the money.

So for this "purchase" I don't know if the cashier intentionally scammed us by charging us for the phone card and palming it for herself/friend, or if was just been a mistake.

It's a paltry sum of money, but I will be more watchful in the future.

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Originally Posted by SoonComeNegril

So for this "purchase" I don't know if the cashier intentionally scammed us by charging us for the phone card and palming it for herself/friend, or if was just been a mistake.

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My opinion........... The cashier would not take a chance of losing a good job by stealing 250.

Probably a mistake..but what do I know?

Cap

Please check your receipts for accuracy and make sure you have all your purchased items when you leave HiLo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SoonComeNegril

We did a big grocery trip at HiLo last week. Food, drinks, lots of stuff. The bill was $28,000 J. I was not watching the price of each item as it was scanned (too busy sweating!). When we got home, I looked at the receipt and noticed that a "B Free $200 Phone Card" for $200 (+ $50 tax) J had been purchased.

We did not buy a phone card. We bought enough minutes (money) at Mega Mart to last us the trip.

Last year, I bought minutes at HiLo and was given the little cards with the codes to type into the phone to redeem the money.

So for this "purchase" I don't know if the cashier intentionally scammed us by charging us for the phone card and palming it for herself/friend, or if was just been a mistake.

It's a paltry sum of money, but I will be more watchful in the future.

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I know it's a paltry amount but did you go back to have it corrected?

you need to check and make sure you got everything you paid for at the store......yea mi know it's a pain in da ass......
but rather be safe than sorry......mi shop at the stores and supermarkets at least twice a week.....
and usually once a month mi catch sumthin......either dem didn't put an item in one of mi bags....
or they over charged mi for sumthin like a veggie or fruit.......and for some reason "butter" is my biggest culprit....
probably cause the baggers put dat in a seperate bag and then forget to put it in with the groceries......
as far as a cashier or bagger playing games and trying to thief sumthin.....doesn't happen......
like the above boardie said....they will loose dat valuable job if they try any of that lame ass chit......true

the phone card thingy was probably from a previous customer that they mistakenly put on your total by mistake.....

oh with HiLo you can't ever go by what is the prices are marked on the shelf.....you need to go to the cashier for a price check for the correct price......
it is a rare occasion when the actual price on the shelf matches what comes out at da register.....wi all complain about...and even the home office knows...
but for some reason HiLo just don't want to have a pricing coordinator in the stores changing the price tags.......in Negril they are the worst offenders by a mile

the money changers are the dangerous guys to watch if you worried about getting ripped off when around dem shopping places......

Cool Runnings, Marko

No, partly out of not wanting to walk back, and partly due to not wanting to make an issue. I was going to go back and speak with the manager, but if they would not have refunded the charge, then I would have felt the need the boycott the store.

I'm chalking it up to a learning experience to be more watchful.

95% of our experiences in Jamaica are positive, and I make a concerted effort to not be that tourist that is suspicious of being ripped off by locals. But things, intentional or not, do happen.

The cashier at Hammonds gave me a nice chiding when I gave her 3,000 J instead of 300. Gotta get back to Canada and coloured bills!

I always check my bills, usually as they are being rung through, even here at home - maybe it's my Scottish genes. In my favour, I point out under charging as well as over charging.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SoonComeNegril

95% of our experiences in Jamaica are positive, and I make a concerted effort to not be that tourist that is suspicious of being ripped off by locals. But things, intentional or not, do happen.

The cashier at Hammonds gave me a nice chiding when I gave her 3,000 J instead of 300. Gotta get back to Canada and coloured bills!

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It's not a local ripping off a tourist thing...simply another person possibly ripping off another person just like anywhere :( ...as I mentioned already, just pay attention to the receipt and the groceries you leave with...

And, SoonComeNegril....the Jamaican money is coloured just like the Canadian money... ;)

I've been using the little mini mart beside bar b barn. One particular cashier tried to scam me on every purchase. I ask for the bill each time. This cashier rounds off each purchase to an even amount and ups it. Numerous transactions repeatedly. It's annoying when it's done so blatantly.

No matter where we travel, there is a certain amount of money that dribbles away every day. We buy things we turn out not to need, we overpay for things, we buy things that turn out not to be any good (suspecting afterwards that the shopkeeper unloaded on us something he knew to be spoiled), we buy things that are supposedly local but turn out to be imported, and at the end of the day I can rarely completely account for how much I spent. I am careful with money and keep receipts, but I have had to train myself not to let myself dwell on this or it will ruin my vacation. it happens at home, too - I certainly have gotten home from my local grocery store to find that something I paid for didn't make it home with me, that I was charged the full price instead of the advertised sale price, that the small oranges I bought were rung up as large, and sometimes because of the computer codes one item got rung up as something completely different. I know it's hard, but don't let yourself dwell on these very small things, especially when on vacation. In Jamaica, I personally figure that as long as I keep the "dribbling away" to $10 per day, no problem, mon. YMMV of course, but that number works for me.

For comparison, every few years we manage to swing a vacation in Europe, and on average my wife manages to have an unanticipated $50. expense every day. I've just learned to budget for that. Didn't validate your ticket on the bus and the uniformed policeman stops you? Oops, $50. A guy in costume steps up and asks whether you'd like your picture taken with him? Oh, and would you like to include the whole group of guys in costume? Oops, $50. It's just life.

I agree with wrtiii. I do not want to spend my vacation counting pennies. I know that in Negril (though I've visited for 25 years) that I will fall for some scam or rip off. You arrive naïve...your guard is down...before you know it you pay more than what you wanted to. You must budget for that. My advice to visitors is to be "flush with cash". You can't have too much cash in Negril...and the last thing you want to have happen is to be short of cash. Cash is King. I hopped a cab for a really short distance and told the driver I really could have walked but... He said "you got money, you can ride!". Save up for your trip and bring as much cash as you can/.

PapaG...you are so right...but after living here almost 10 years, I still have trouble remembering to carry bleepin' cash...I got way to comfortable using banking & credit cards over the years.
Thankfully it's a small town...they know either Rob will follow up to pay the bill when I forget cash or catch me the next time 'round...they know where I live...haha!

I'm old school I have to have money in my pocket even up here in Canada! I always laugh when I go pick up my order from the TD Bank as they are always amazed how much Jamaican you get! LOL! :)

I find that I tend to get home and then wonder why I cannot account for a couple of hundred bucks....too much rum probably...over the next few weeks I usually start to remember.

The rum...of course...it was the rum! :cool:

Can't be just plain old forgetfulness can it??? I usually get home and think oh, I tipped, I ate, I drank, bought a bracelet and just had a really good time! It all adds up eventually and is worth every penny!

The cashier probably put a wrong code in for something, $250 Jamaica is under $2US I don't think she would do that for that amount of money

It might not be worth it in time or money for you to go back to the store, but if you have a phone, call the store number on the receipt and let them know what happened.

I've had no problem returning spoiled product or recently, I was charged for 2 of an item, when I only bought one. I call them as soon as I notice the problem, and then when I go to the store they already know the issue and are quick to resolve it. "I'm the lady who called about such-and-such". :D

Nowadays the grocery stores have computerized registers that give the product name/description as well as the cashier's name.