It started out innocently enough as a trip to the closest ShopRite to recycle a half-dozen plastic grocery bags bulging with more plastic bags and all manner of plastic food wrapping.
At the Paramus ShopRite, the bins for recycled bags are inside the store, and I should have deposited my bags, turned around and gone home.
Instead, in the spirit of conserving gasoline, I figured I'd pick up some celery for a canned-fish salad I wanted to make and a half-gallon of ShopRite Lactose-Free Milk.
The store wasn't that busy around 9:45 in the morning on Tuesday, and there was no waiting at the first Express Lane.
The store brand of lactose-free milk is usually $3.39 and sometimes $2.99 when it goes on sale.
The 2% milk was $3.39 at the Paramus store, but the 1% variety was $3.29 or 10 cents off. And since I usually use 1% milk, that was the one I chose.
However, at the register, it rang up at $3.39, and I told the clerk the sign said it was reduced to $3.29.
He hit a switch and the light designating his register as No. 1 started to flash, and we waited for a supervisor to come over.
It was only 5 t0 7 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. At one point, I asked the clerk, "Are we supposed to just wait?" He said yes.
Finally, a supervisor came over, took the milk and headed for the back of the store. She returned a few minutes later and told the clerk to re-ring the item.
I heard no apology for failing to update the store's computer to match the shelf price. The supervisor didn't even speak to me.
I asked the clerk what happened, and he said I was now being charged $3.29.
It certainly wasn't the 10 cents I was after.
But this is "the attitude" I've encountered at other ShopRites when I've asked the store to live up to its fliers and shelf-price signs.
