TAKEN FOR A RIDE:NOT ON A ONE HORSE SLEIGH

Not only will the stockings be hung by the chimney with care expecting
St. Nicholas to soon be there, but so to have the price tags been hung on department store items expecting some unaware shoppers will
soon be there – scooping up sale items with extra dollars to spare.

Geez, it seems far better to hang with the Santa Clause myth then to
trust the big merchants with their greedy hands digging in our purses. Sears, JC Penney, Kohl’s and Macy’s seem not to be a holiday shopper’s best friend, claiming sale items have been marked down from prices that actually never existed.

Would this mean shoppers have been duped? Does this mean we can’t
believe in the cost of goods as they’re marked?

Last year’s bust by Los Angeles City Attorney, Michael Feuer, didn’t  just nathese bad guys bu, also, gave all of us a lesson  in support of the  adage “If it seems too good to be true – it probably isn’t.”

According to news reports, last year Feuer said these retailers falsely
advertised higher regular prices for merchandise so customers believed they were getting bigger bargains.

There are laws in California that were established  to keep retailers from advertising a higher original price unless the items were actually
sold at that price within three months of the discount ad.

Sears, Kohl’s and the rest of the unscrupulous bunch who were sued by Los Angeles prosecutors weren’t offering the bargain shoppers were undoubtedly  lured into their stores by. Instead, they  violated  the trust that, unfortunately, is given to them and, by the way, they also broke the law.

It pays (pardon the use of the word here) to scout for merchandise
long before we’re ready for the purchase in order to actually know the
original cost so as to not be fooled by a “mark-down” Holiday
Specials”.

Well, how many of us do that? And, if so, does it work?

There are lots of culprits out there pulling the same kind of “take the
public for a ride” shenanigans as those “outed” by Feuer.

Apple product with a special price? My daughter, the lover of all
things Apple, who I’m happy to say doesn’t have the budget to afford
most of the gadgets, told me of her dismay.

She’d been watching the price of the wanted “toy” and was overjoyed
when the cost dropped.

Ah, but only weeks after her purchase, the newer model was released.

My grandson with an AT&T phone plan couldn’t believe, and neither
could I, the list of charges that got tagged on to what initially
seemed a simple transaction.

The Macy’s/Sears/Kohl’s/JC Penney outing is an opportunity for a good family discussion on how we’re all being taken for a ride and, unfortunatley,  NOT on Santa’s sleigh.