HERMINIA I. Flores reminds shoppers not to get distracted when they go shopping?especially when the cashier starts adding up their purchases.

In an e-mail, Flores says, ?I had these bad experiences on several occasions when the tag price (of an item) was not the same as what the cashier had in her register. These usually happen during weekends when supermarkets change their prices especially (for) fresh produce like tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, onions, etc.? She said the problem was also true for canned goods.

Flores mentioned two well-known supermarket chains where she had the experience of getting items with tag prices that differed from what registered on the cash machine.

She asked the Department of Trade and Industry to closely monitor tag prices and make sure they were the same as those programmed into cash registers.

What Flores says actually makes sense, not only because prices indeed can differ between what the price tag says and what was entered into the register, but also because shoppers should try not to get distracted when they go shopping.

Moreover, glitches can occur even if a store is using state-of-the-art equipment. Sometimes a machine has trouble reading a bar code because it is covered by ice (when the item is frozen) and the cashier has to enter the number by hand. The cashier may also have trouble reading the numbers when the code is written by hand.

A slip of the finger can also result in errors like one piece being entered twice or numbers being transposed. One wrong number can make a difference in the price of an item. Both humans and machines are fallible so it is wise to pay attention when your purchases are being added up so you spare yourself the hassle of having to return to have the store make whatever corrections have to be made.

They?re only human

In fact, a spokesman for a major supermarket chain asks customers to be more understanding when errors occur and to realize cashiers are just human. He strongly suggests to let the cashier know immediately about any problem. He said when cashiers go on duty, they rarely leave their terminals until they are relieved. Sometimes exhaustion or the urgent need to answer the call of nature could make them distracted, resulting in unintended mistakes.

This is why it makes sense to heed Flores? advice?pay attention to what the cashier is doing. Make sure she is entering the correct price and the right number of items. On busy days, if you allow yourself to get distracted, you may even end up getting things you actually do not want or need if the cashier just keeps on adding up stuff including those of the customer who is next in line and is also not paying attention to what is going on.

Make sure everything you paid for has been put in your shopping bags. Little items can get overlooked or buried under shopping bags or whatever clutter is on the cashier?s terminal.

Regular updates

Though acknowledging their system is not completely fool-proof, Jody Gadia, business unit general manager for Robinsons Supermarket, assures customers that the chain regularly and properly updates prices in both the server and the point-of-sale cash register machine.

The system seems to work quite well as Gadia says he has not heard of a problem like the one Flores mentioned. Frozen items occasionally make it difficult for machines to read bar codes, or prices of very new products may not have been entered into individual cash registers, but Gadia assures customers the problem is quickly resolved without causing the client a lot of inconvenience.

No tipping here

Speaking of Robinsons Supermarket, I do not know if my experience is unique but I have found baggers at the Ermita branch very helpful, seemingly without expecting to be rewarded for it. On several occasions, they carried my purchases to the taxi stand and refused any gratuity.

Since I do not go around telling people I write the Consumer column for the Inquirer, or even that I am a journalist, I do not think I am being singled out for special service. If this is store policy, I commend management and I hope they keep it up.

Send letters to The Consumer, Lifestyle Section, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1098 Chino Roces Ave. cor. Mascardo and Yague Sts., 1204 Makati City; fax 8974793/94; or e-mail lbolido@inquirer.com.ph.