While out holiday shopping, it can be painfully easy to overspend, between the advertisements of deals, impulse purchasing, and the endless onslaught of inexpensive baubles available near checkout lines.
Some folks may painstakingly calculate how much they are spending as they go, while others prefer to be surprised at the register. The hustle and bustle of checkout—both self-checkout and the cashing out handled by store employees—can leave customers open for mistakes in their totals.
One shopper at Macy’s says the department store double-charged her for a gift set she had purchased, but she did not realize the mistake until she had already paid for it.
In a video that has drawn over 230,000 views on TikTok, @andreiitav_ says she is not sure how, but she was charged for three perfume gift sets at Macy’s, after choosing the two that she wanted to take home.
“I was at Macy’s trying to do some holiday shopping, I was in between a couple gift sets—I literally had 50 samples—walking around I think I smelled every single perfume,” she says. “I was in between these three sets. I was going back and forth between these two. I ended up choosing one, but I had one that I set aside. I was only supposed to buy two gift sets.”
She says her order was taken to be packaged, so neither she nor the cashier could see that she was only getting two of the gift sets, and she was initially shocked to see her total come out to nearly $400. It was not until she looked at her receipt that she realized she had been overcharged.
“I know my math is not all that great, but it had two items, $120 each, and the total was almost $400,” she says. “I was with my friend but my friend was walking around doing something else. I was very confused, and by the time I was trying to process the math and everything, I tried to take a picture and everything was blurry. They were like, ‘OK, you’re ready to scan now,’ and it doesn’t show the total when you scan, it’s just like, put your card. I was like, I’m just going to check the receipt.”
She did check her receipt and was able to have the extra amount refunded to her, but she warned other shoppers to be aware of any additional charges that might pop up on their receipts from double scans or miscommunications about what is being purchased.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @andreiitav_ and Macy’s via email regarding the video.
@andreiitav_ BE CAREFUL YALL #checkyourreceipt ♬ original sound – andreiitav_
Several viewers commented on the video that they had been charged for more than they bought in a variety of stores, even in the self-checkout.
“This happened to me at Walmart,” one commenter wrote. “The screen showed that I scanned two items, I paid and left home…the receipt showed I paid for 3 items. How?”
“Bath and bodyworks charged me extra for on sale items too,” another shared. “Got a handful of travel stuff that was supposed to be 2-3$ and they added $1+ each.”
“Also be careful when checking and someone does a price check but charges,” a further commenter said. “Almost happened to me once.”
A few viewers with experience working for retailers like Macy’s advocated for the employees, writing that it was probably just an honest mistake.
“Sounds like an honest mistake,” one commented. “Especially when people take multiple items and start changing their minds at the register.”
“Maybe it was an accident I used to work at Macy’s they dont do commission,” another said. “During the holidays I can confess that I have accidentally scanned things.”
“That was definitely accidental and she just didn’t notice,” a further user commented. “Sometimes scanners scan more than once on accident and Macys doesn’t do commissions.”
