Electronic Price Tags May Help Prevent Customers From Being Overcharged

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - There's nothing worse than getting home from the store, looking at your receipt and realizing that you were charged more than what was on the price tag.

It happens more than you know.

One company now says it's got a solution to that problem.

From incorrect price tags to out-of-date sales stickers, customers are often charged more at the register than the price tag on the shelf advertises.

In fact, in the past two years, Safeway, Whole Foods, Walgreens, Target and CVS have all paid steep fines for overcharging customers.

In one case, supermarket customers were overcharged for about one out of every 50 items thy bought.

"I think it happens in almost all the stores. It's just a question of whether it gets noticed or not," Ron Hasemeyer, of the Department of Weights and Measures, said.

Hasemeyer said it's usually human error. Store workers can't keep up with the blizzard of sales and price changes that happen every week.

Now, a company says it's come up with solution.

Altierre makes electronic price tags.

The founder says the company guarantees the shelf tag and the cash register are always in sync.

"It's completely electronic, no manual intervention required. They can instantly update their signs," Sunit Saxena said.

He said they also let retailers to change prices more often to remain competitive with online retailers that adjust prices all day.

"These are like little webpages sitting on the shelf," Saxena said.

Kohls began rolling out the electronic tags in 2010, but declined to comment on how they've impacted business.

While electronic price tags could make it easier to for some stores to raise prices on a whim, ultimately, you'll end up paying less if you can trust the price on the shelf is actually the price you're being charged at the register.