When a gallon is not a gallon

[JoeSpareBedroom]

zzzzzzzzzzzz......

If you can't read the signs, you're in the 90% of drivers who are incompetent in one way or another.

[DerbyDad03]

No argument there, but please explain how this has anything to do with the fact that Ice Cream no longer comes in 64 oz containers.

[DerbyDad03]

=2E

[DerbyDad03]

re: That's a great idea as long as the labels for all the packs of sugar (lets say) use the same units for the price per unit.

Bringing up an issue specific to unit pricing doesn't negate the idea that shopping via unit pricing eliminates the "they made the package smaller" problem.

Inconsistancies within the unit pricing system is a matter worthy of another discussion, but the bottom line is that by using unit pricing I don't have to care if they change the package size without changing the price. I know how much I'm paying on a per unit basis and I know how much product is in the package. And I sure don't care if they don't call me everytime they make a change to the package size, shape or color.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

re: That's a great idea as long as the labels for all the packs of sugar (lets say) use the same units for the price per unit.

Bringing up an issue specific to unit pricing doesn't negate the idea that shopping via unit pricing eliminates the "they made the package smaller" problem.

Inconsistancies within the unit pricing system is a matter worthy of another discussion, but the bottom line is that by using unit pricing I don't have to care if they change the package size without changing the price. I know how much I'm paying on a per unit basis and I know how much product is in the package. And I sure don't care if they don't call me everytime they make a change to the package size, shape or color.

============================

Unit pricing inconsistencies are so simple to eliminate that if you see inconsistencies, you can conclude with absolute certainty that the supermarket doesn't give a damn. They don't deserve your business.

[DerbyDad03]

uoted text -

Gee...I wonder how soon it will be before I run out of stores to shop in. Have you found a chain, or even a single store, where you haven't ever run into a unit pricing "inconsistancy".

re: you can conclude with absolute certainty that the supermarket doesn't give a damn

One also has to wonder who caused the inconsistancy - the store, the manufacturer or the system? I once ran into a situation where all the paper towels in the store were priced "per 100 sheets". However, the sheets were such vastly different sizes that the one that had the cheaper unit price was actually much more expensive on an overall square footage basis.

This could certainly be called an inconsistancy, but who's fault was it? Who says that paper towels should be priced per sheet? Can I be absolutely certain that it was the store that caused this inconsistancy? I guess I'll have to track down a manager and see who made that decision before I place blame.

[George]

Tell that to the local "Smithville" that installed lower speed limit signs and didn't follow the state's required procedure that requires that a flasher be attached to the signs for so many days to call attention to the change. All of the speeding tickets that were issued in the reduced speed area were invalidated.

Please don't put words in my mouth. I never said anything nonsensical like that.

[George]

Just reread what I wrote. You seem to be really missing the idea that people get used to things and it isn't fair if you a just change stuff without notice.

[George]

And you would be correct. A local town changed speeds on a road and did not follow the required notification procedure. All of the tickets they issued were invalidated.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Gee...I wonder how soon it will be before I run out of stores to shop in. Have you found a chain, or even a single store, where you haven't ever run into a unit pricing "inconsistancy".

re: you can conclude with absolute certainty that the supermarket doesn't give a damn

One also has to wonder who caused the inconsistancy - the store, the manufacturer or the system? I once ran into a situation where all the paper towels in the store were priced "per 100 sheets". However, the sheets were such vastly different sizes that the one that had the cheaper unit price was actually much more expensive on an overall square footage basis.

This could certainly be called an inconsistancy, but who's fault was it? Who says that paper towels should be priced per sheet? Can I be absolutely certain that it was the store that caused this inconsistancy? I guess I'll have to track down a manager and see who made that decision before I place blame.

========================

It's definitely "inconsistency", not "inconsistancy".

I've run into about two inconsistencies in twenty years, shopping at Wegman's here in Rochester. But, that company does almost everything perfectly to the point where others in the industry are mystified and envious. So, it's probably not a valid example.

The example you gave is the store's fault. The unit price should be designated "per sqare foot". The retailer hired stupid people. Even if a programmer spotted the problem, some companies are so regimented that suggestions are never passed back & forth between departments.

Programming could solve the problem, assuming the data entry people were intelligent enough to use an application correctly. When a new item comes along, code it appropriately, and have the software disallow certain inputs. To use an extreme example, they're entering a new Barilla pasta sauce:

- Operator is given a choice for type of item (pasta sauce, dry pasta, paper towels, juice, etc)

- After choosing "sauce", the application locks the unit of measure, since those items use weight, not volume.

- Application forces input for ounces only, not pounds, to keep the operator from trying to "help" by doing any calculating.

This would've eliminated the Wal Mart example I mentioned earlier, where the unit price stickers used weight for one jar of salsa, and volume for another. There was no good excuse for that mistake. The labels clearly state weight (as in sauces) or fluid ounces (as in juices).

You'd think Wal Mart would be more sophisticated than that, but in many ways, they're backward. Last year, I read an article about how they're trying to develop software to help analyze front end traffic and minimize the wait at the register. What nonsense. At Wegman's their goal is to have no more than one customer waiting while another is checking out. They achieve the goal, too, just by using their heads. Even when their stores are mobbed the day before a big holiday, the wait is negligible.

[DerbyDad03]

e quoted text -

I stand corrected on the speed limit issue, as least as far as "Smithville" is concerned.

re: Please don't put words in my mouth. I never said anything nonsensical like that

Then what was your point in bringing up the speed limit and parking issues? I'll trust your assertion that there is a state required procedure related to traffic law, but as far as I know there is no such procedure governing the size of an ice cream container.

You gave 2 examples of changes that came without notification and asked if I would pay the fines. If you're not implying that I should also not have to pay for the smaller packages because I wasn't notified, how are those examples related to this discussion?

[DerbyDad03]

=2E

[HeyBub]

You didn't ask for "non-shitty" ideas. And I think you're wrong. All of them have worked.

Is there anything else I can help you with?

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Yes. Please go kill yourself. But, I'll send money to your family to replace the lost income from your job cleaning bus station bathrooms. Let me know where to send the check.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

If you shop by unit pricing, it doesn't matter if the package is 28 oz or 32 oz. You're paying for what you're getting - no one cheated, no one lied. They simply raised the price by charging you the same amount for less product - but they clearly informed you of the price increase by posting the unit price on the shelf right next to the product.

******************** It is your attitude that allows the marketers to get away with sleaze. For decades, ice cream came in half gallons, sugar in five pound bags, coffee in one pound containers. Why, suddenly, do theyhave to be made smaller? Only to give the perception to the consumer that they are getting the same product at the same price.

If you think this is OK, it will not be long before new cars are delivered with three tires, flags with 47 stars, and coming next month, two leafed clovers. At least crayons still have the 7 primary colors.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

If I was the CEO of Breyers, it would still be 64 ounces, but at a higher price. Same way they've been doing it for 100 years or so.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

I'd just raise the price, the same as they have been doing for many years. Breyers used to be 79¢ a h alf gallon and they worked it up to about $5 and still sold ice cream. IMO, going to a smaller package instead is a method of deception.

While we're at it, notice they no longer have the Pledge of Purity that graced the cartons for many years. They've added other cheaper ingredients, even to vanilla that used to be simply: cream, sugar, vanilla. No more. Profit over quality.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

According to the grocery purchasing agents I deal with, the sale of Breyers

1/2 gallons slowed to a crawl when it was priced over $4.00. Stores and the manufacturer know that raising the price cut too much into their volume. There's a definite limit to how much prices can be raised. Customers have arbitrarily pegged, yet very firm ideas of what they're willing to pay for non-necessities.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

10 out of 50 things on your grocery list go up by $1.00, and now maybe you're $10 over your budget. Some fat slobs will forgo vegetables and keep the ice cream in the shopping cart, but normal people will focus on the essentials.

[DerbyDad03]

re: Only to give the perception to the consumer that they are getting the same product at the same price.

Well, technically, they are getting the same product at the same price. They're just getting less of it. And I pray for the consumer who is fooled (or even upset) by this gimic.

re: At least crayons still have the 7 primary colors

But how much more are you paying for them than you used to?

re: If you think this is OK...

=2E.. it will not be long before new cars are delivered with three tires,

Nope, gotta have 4 tires - but without raising the price they will give me a half-sized spare, barely room for 4 passengers, rotors that don't last 20K and tires that don't last 10. In other words, a lot less car for the same money. How is that different from less ice cream for the same money?

=2E.. flags with 47 stars

Which states do you suggest we eliminate? I've got a couple in mind.

=2E.. and coming next month, two leafed clovers.

I don't buy clover - it grows in my yard for free.

Fine, you are right. I give up. Let's get the masses together and refuse to buy Ice Cream until they put it back in 64 oz containers. Of course, we can't complain about the resulting 14.3% price increase, 'cuz it's one or the other. Pick your poison. I guess that'll show those sleazy marketers not to mess with us.