Consumers must read sale signs carefully before they claim deception
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

BEWARE OF THAT FINE PRINT- Consumers should read the small print on sale banners to make sure it describes the item next to it. This sign for $9.99 isn't for the $14.99 cake pans stacked underneath, but is meant for the items on the shelf behind the sign.

Everyone knows the excitement of seeing a banner sign with a good price over a desired item, as well as the disappointment when a higher price rings up at the cash register.

Observant consumers might point out, "Hey, that's not the price it said on the big sign above it." What follows could be a good or bad experience, depending on the store.

All is well if the cashier agrees the price above the item was misleading and rings it up accordingly.

Otherwise, an unsympathetic manager is summoned, and he or she will point out the fine print at the bottom of the sign.

At that point, the customer, in self-defense, might say something like, "The sign said in really big letters that it was my choice, and just below that it said something about cooking and baking sets. This is a baking set. It's not like I can't read."

Or the customer might just pay the higher price and leave the store, avoiding the embarrassment of impatient shoppers lining up while the manager carefully explains the fine art of reading and comprehending store signs.

Thousand Oaks resident Edith Jancovich found herself confused by a banner sign at a local craft store when she tried to purchase scrapbooking paper, the only item under a sign that said $9.99 with an arrow pointing down, she said.

When she went to purchase it, the paper rang up as $39.99.

She decided not to buy it, but earlier in the year, at the same store, she ended up buying other items that she thought were marked at a lower price than the price that came up at the register.

"I was in a hurry and had waited in a long line to buy them, and so I just paid the price it rang up instead of the price on the sign beside it, even though I knew it was a gimmick," Jancovich said.

That's a complaint familiar to County Sealer Jim Delperdang, manager of the Ventura County weights and measures department.

The Ventura County Division of Weights and Measures is given power by state law to protect the interests of the buyer and seller and ensure honesty and integrity of everyday business transactions. The department works with the county's district attorney's office to enforce state laws and protect the consumer against the unlawful computation of value, Delperdang said.

They respond to about 200 complaints from consumers a year. The group also sends out investigators who pull a sample of items from the shelf and see if they scan at the price that's marked.

Investigators for Ventura County's weights and measures department contributed to two companies being held accountable last year for inaccuracies. According to Delperdang, Albertsons supermarket and Rite Aid pharmacy ended up paying almost $2 million each after Ventura County joined other California counties in civil actions against the companies when some of the stores' items consistently scanned incorrectly.

If a sign offering the price is misleading but is all inclusive, it is considered bad merchandising and does not fall under the statute concerning unlawful computation of value.

For instance, Delperdang said he saw a sign that read, "Rubbermaid 50 percent off selected items." Nowhere did it say which items were discounted, but it did say that only some of them were. It was a bad business practice that would frustrate customers but was not against the unlawful computation statute.

Delperdang said his investigators would talk to a company about such a practice and could work with the district attorney's office to stop it if they saw a pattern that continued.

Also, the statute enforced by the department does not address items put back in the wrong place, he said.

Those who need to file a complaint may call Weights and Measures at (805) 6542444.