Check your receipt
My money-saving tip may be obvious, but it's worth remembering; Always check what you've been charged. And try not to be put off by the Herculean task of getting a refund. Bought a bag of frozen chips from Tesco the other day, priced £1. As it was in amongst a load of other stuff, I didn't pay too much attention to the prices ringing up as the cashier flung everything over the scanner. It was only once I got outside that I checked the receipt and discovered the robbing sods had charged me £2.20 for £1's worth of chips. More than double! Cheeky scrotes.

Of course, the fun part comes when you try to get your money back. Whilst Tesco make the paying-for-stuff part super-efficient, training staff to whizz a trolley-load of shopping through the scanner like passport checks under Theresa May (whoop, biddapolitics etc), getting them to fix the cock-ups is slower than passport checks in a decommissioned military airport on the outskirts of Slovenia (or, as Ryanair call it, 'Bristol East').

First you have to queue at Customer Services, waiting as two overwhelmed and utterly miserable 'team members' deal with angry customers trying to return badly-shat duvet covers and pairs of high-heels stained with Blue WKD vomit. When you finally reach the desk, you explain to the harassed assistant what the filthy rob-dogs have charged you for the chips, and what they should've cost. With a hefty sigh which knocks over a passing pensioner, the assistant takes your receipt, takes your chips and ambles off to the far side of the store (as the growing queue behind you audibly plots your murder).

Ten minutes later, she returns with a face as grim as Jordan's soul. You cast your mind back and try to remember whether you asked her to check a price, or whether you accidentally asked her to see if she could fit a whole dog up her arse. Without a word, she jabs a few keys on her till. She scribbles something on your receipt. She mutters a curse under her breath, something to do with a pox and your genitals. She then hands you some coins to refund the difference. There is no eye contact, no words of explanation, just the cold, resentful handover of chips and coins. It's like the returning of belongings after a particularly harrowing break-up.

You decide it's probably best not to ask about the 'Double the Difference' refund policy displayed behind her.
(costas, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 15:13, 4 replies)

Oh it very much is
I agree, ALWAYS check your receipt. But ALWAYS insist on the Double The Difference refund. A surprising amount of the time, they end up paying you to take away the goods.

In one instance, the thing they overcharged me on was the only thing I'd bought. I made my way directly to customer services, who asked me "Why didn't you mention it at the till?" I came back with "Because if I'd done that, they would have charged me the right price. By coming to you, you give me double the difference."

She looked like I was taking the money out of her own purse, but I got my way.
(bblgoose, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 15:25, closed)

Double the difference
Stopping over in the states on my way back from Canada I went to a large department store (JC Penneys rings a bell for some reason) to buy a pair of jeans. I took them from a largish display that had all Levis marked down to $39.99 but when they rang them up, they tried to charge me $54.99. When I queried that, they tried to charge me $39.99 until I pointed out the "Double the difference" sign on the counter that they had just tried to cover with a bag - so I got my new jeans for $24.99 in the end. Well worth a bit of standing my ground and complaining.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 15:59, closed)

The Mrs has benefitted from the double the difference policy twice now.
First time was 83p profit from some tat or other. The other was a life-changing* £6.40 for a cocked up multibuy offer on a crate of cooking lager.

* Ok. It was only a day saving; Instead of sitting at home wanking to Christinamodels saggy tits I went down the local for a 'free' pint with the Mrs courtesy of Tescos.
( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Mon 14 Nov 2011, 16:18, closed)

Well written
"Ten minutes later, she returns with a face as grim as Jordan's soul. You cast your mind back and try to remember whether you asked her to check a price, or whether you accidentally asked her to see if she could fit a whole dog up her arse." = CLICK
( Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Tue 15 Nov 2011, 13:47, closed)