Holiday scanner survey finds nearly 99 percent accuracy rate

When consumers are holiday shopping this year, chances are pretty good that they will be charged the correct price. That's the conclusion of Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson following a pre-holiday scanner survey in which 54 stores in 27 Florida cities were inspected for scanner accuracy.

In all, only 32 errors were detected at the checkout lines among 2,975 items tested, for an error rate of just over 1 percent. Moreover, the majority of the errors were in the favor of customers.

"Our retailers do a good job keeping up with prices, including sales prices which frequently change, and inputting accurate information into their scanners to reflect the actual price of the merchandise that they're selling," Bronson said.

None of the stores tested failed for overcharges, which requires an error rate of 2 percent or greater. Two failed to meet the 98 percent accuracy requirement during their inspection, but those were due to excessive undercharges, which will trigger follow-up inspections. The two receiving a failing grade were a Ross and a Winn Dixie, both in Miami.

While the survey found that scanning errors are relatively uncommon, mistakes do occur. It means that consumers need to be aware of the price that they should be charged, Bronson said.

For example, among errors detected during last week's sweep was a $10 overcharge for a men's sleep set at a Kmart in Milton.

Those errors, as well as all others found during last week's visits, were immediately corrected by store management when they were informed of them.

"The important thing is to know the price of the item that you're buying, make sure that's what you're charged at the checkout line and keep receipts," Bronson said. "If there is any discrepancy, bring it to the attention of store personnel."

Bronson's Division of Standards tests checkout scanners, as well as scales and other devices used for products sold by weight or measure. Consumers who believe that they have been overcharged, or who detect problems with a store's scales, are encouraged to call the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at 1-800-HELPFLA (1-800-435-7352).