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[Tuscani01]

According to Canada's Competition Bureau scanner price accuracy voluntary code, it does indicate that items under $10 are free and anything above $10 is subject to a $10 discount.

Source: http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03252.html

Excerpt:


That said, I bought something a couple of weeks ago from Home Depot and the scanned price was higher than the price indicated on the shelf label. The checkout attendant came with me to investigate and it was confirmed that the label was correct and that the incorrect price was scanned in. Not having looked into this policy before, I asked about it and was also informed that they only had a policy if the item was under $10. The item I purchased was about $30 so all they did was correct the price, no discount or other price reduction.

At this point, I don't really care about what I paid but, rather, what should be the course of action in the future should something like this occur again?

I think the confusion has to do with retailers not training staff on the code, and the public not being aware of the code. The signage provided to retailers doesn't help either, as it does not list the >$10 item = $10 discount off corrected price rule. See below for text from the signage:

"Scanning Code of Practice

If the scanned price of a non-price ticketed item is higher than the shelf price or any other displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the first item free, up to a $10 maximum. If a Code of Practice problem cannot be resolved at the store level, please call 1-866-499-4599 to register your complaint."

Its also important to note that the description on the label must be identical to the product being purchased, so a pair of scissors with a price tag of $3 but labeled as a knife would not be covered under the scanning code of practice, even if every single item in that spot was a pair of scissors. Canadian Tire normally gives you the scissors for $3 regardless of what the description says anyway.

My experience at Best Buy involved $70 speaker stands being priced at $50, and the description was a different brand. They still honored the $50 price too, and for both speaker stands without me even having to ask... which went way above and beyond the scanning code of practice, but according to the rules, was still wrong since they should have taken off $10??? Seems quite confusing.