how much is that apple?

a cautionary tale

wandered into trader joes the other day to buy a simple lunch, an apple and some cheese, and when i got my receipt i noticed that i was charged 65¢ rather than the expected 45¢. so i mentioned it to the cashier and her response was

the organic apples are always 65¢.
the sign said 45¢, i said.
the organic apples are always 65¢, she repeated. do you want me to give you 20¢?
no, i said. i’d like you to fix the sign, tho.
i’ll talk to the manager, she said, while flashing me that look, and then turning to the next customer.

second verse same as the first

as i turned to the escalator outside i had a vague discomforting feeling, so i turned back around and walked over to the customer service area, where i mentioned the situation to another clerk.

that’s an organic apple, he said, the organic apples are always 65¢.
the sign said 45¢, i said.
that’s not possible, he said, the organic apples are always 65¢. 
it was just the one sign, i said, and there weren’t any other apples under it.
well the organic apples are always 65¢.
maybe you could check the sign, i said.
yeah. i’ll check that out. and then he gave me that look. and turned away to a co-worker. 

is this any way to treat a customer?

i didn’t think so either.

and of course the crazy thing is that i wasn’t asking for a deal or anything, and i had walked 10 minutes to get to this particular store, while i had a 45 minute window to get lunch. will i do that again without thinking twice?