Monday, May 31, 2010

Overpriced Products and Deceptive Pricing

Even though the economy has been in (slow) recovery, WHAT IS UP with still having to pay more for products that are in obviously smaller packages? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that smaller cartons, containers and boxes mean (guess what?) less product! When I roll up to the grocery store with a hankering for ice cream don’t think I don’t notice that those formerly one gallon containers of ice cream are now only 1.5 quarts! And don’t think I don’t notice when there is a sale on that very same miniature container of ice cream with (get this!) sale prices at the rate I used to pay for the one gallon container. Do manufacturers think we are absolute idiots? And yes, I am talking about you Dr*yer’s. And you too N@b*sco with your now teeny tiny boxes of wheat crackers. Same goes for yogurt, soft drinks and pretty much every other kind of food product out there.

Then there are all those amazing price “roll backs” advertised at the big box stores. Don’t you just love them? Only a complete moron would struggle to know that if a store is now rolling back prices on its merchandise to say 2009 pricing, then that same store was probably over inflating its prices in the interim. And yes, I am talking about you W@l-M@rt and IK%A. Both companies are currently babbling on and on in their commercials and print ads letting the world know they have been effectively overcharging consumers and now they are going to do them a huge favor by rolling back prices. How very generous!

And what about all those alleged “special sales” at the department stores? And yes, I’m talking about you M@$y’s. Every week it seems there is some “huge sale” advertised. However, when customers are given the impression that basically the whole store is on sale and in reality not a single item they want to purchase ends up being on sale, then those same customers are going to be rightfully ticked off. And please stop telling us at the register that if we use our M@$y’s charge for our purchases we can get a whopping 10% (or whatever) off. Such a measly discount impresses no one and instead makes us want to tell you where you can stuff it!

So attention all you product manufacturers, retailers, department stores, and supermarkets: Enough already with all the smoke and mirrors! You should realize that it isn’t just the coupon clipping nanas out there that are fed up with your ever shrinking product packages, sky rocketing prices, and “fake sales”. Listen and take heed because some of us are going to “start voting” with our wallets and ultimately hit you where it counts. …I’m just saying…