为一只童子鸡双份买单？

 

 

我在一家华人超市购物完毕核对账单时，惊讶地发现我为一只童子鸡双份买单，被多收了$7.18元。很显然，我被这家超市多收了费用。

As I was checking over my grocery bill after shopping at a Chinese supermarket, to my surprise, I found that I was double billed for a spring chicken that costs $7.18. Apparently, I was overcharged by the grocery store.

和许多生活在当今科技时代的消费者一样，我常常会盲目信任超市结账流程的准确性。随着扫描仪在每样商品的条形码上发出扫描声响，这些商品的价格都会准确输入计费系统。在所有商品都扫描完毕后，屏幕上便会显示出商品的总价。

As many consumers living in today’s technology world, I often hold blind trust to the accuracy of the grocery checkout process. With each beeping sound, the price of the item will be scanned by the machine and the price accurately entered into the system. After all the items are scanned, the price total will appear on the screen. 

但是无论扫描流程看似多么严谨和精确，结算错误仍是屡见不鲜，有时候是收银员的人为失误，有时候是电脑出错。据ABC News报道，收银扫描出错每年导致美国消费者损失$10亿至$25亿元。

But despite how scientific and accurate the scanning process seems to be, mistakes – either by cashier’s human error or computer error– happen all the time. According to ABC News, American consumers lose $1 billion to $2.5 billion dollars each year because of scanning errors. 

虽然收银柜台有时也会出现少收费让顾客占到便宜，但这仍无法弥补吃亏的消费者。

Even though sometimes mistakes at the checkout counter turn out to be in consumers’ favor, it doesn’t help the consumer who was overcharged. 

幸运的是，我在离开超市停车场前就发现了结算错误。当我回到超市向收银员提出问题时，她很快就承认是自己出错，甚至连一眼都没看我购物车里的20多个购物袋，这不禁令我怀疑她是否在我找到她前就意识到自己对童子鸡扫描了两次。

Luckily, the errors were detected before I left the supermarket parking lot. When I brought up the issue with the cashier, she quickly admitted her mistakes without even looking into the over-20-bags in the shopping cart, which left me to suspect that she had realized that she scanned it twice before I approached her. 

站在退款柜台后的一位女士称：“商品贴错标签或是收银台扫描价格不正确等失误确会发生，我们对此深感抱歉。”

“Errors occur such as an item that has the wrong label or is scanned incorrectly at the checkout,” says the lady standing behind the refund counter. “We deeply regret our error.”

尽管她做了道歉，并且再三强调这是无心之过，但我仍深感不满，我对该食杂店的信任也因此而受损。

Despite her apologies and the reiteration that it was an honest mistake, I was nonetheless frustrated; my faith in the grocery store had been damaged.

以往当我在超市购物时，总是想当然地以为商家不会做错，但此次结算错误让我觉得自己太过天真。

When I do grocery shopping, I always assume that the supermarket will do the right thing and this mistake made me feel that I was naïve. 

为了维护消费者对零售行业的信心，加国已经推出名为“扫描价格准确自律公约”的全国性计划。签约加入该计划的商家会为错收费的顾客提供补偿，如果商品正确售价不到$10元，商家会将扫描价格出错的商品免费赠送给顾客；如果商品正确售价超过$10元，商家会另外给予$10元折扣。

To maintain consumer’s faith in the retail system, a national program in Canada called Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code is in place. The stores that have signed on to the program will compensates consumers who have been charged the wrong price by offering them the incorrectly scanned item for free, if the item costs less than $10. If it costs more, you get $10 off the price. 

换句话说，像我这样的消费者不仅应该得到第二只童子鸡的退款，及无偿赠送的第一只童子鸡。

In another words, customer like me will not only get the refund for the second spring chicken, but also the first one free. 

 

目前，加国已有8000多家药房和连锁商店加入这一“扫描价格准确自律公约”计划。

There are 8000 stores – from pharmacies to grocery chains participate in the program.  

但是当我向退款柜台后的女士提及该计划时，她只是耸了耸肩，不冷不热地说：“那我可帮不了你的忙，我们没有这一政策，我最多只能给你退$7.18元！”

But when I mentioned the program to the lady at the refund counter, she shrugged her shoulders, showing a callous attitude:

“Can’t help you out there. We are not in the program, and the $7.18 refund is the best I can do!”

我满心不悦地离开这家超市。钱虽不多，但零售业的诚信和消费者的信任至关重要。

I left the store dissatisfied. It is not about the money, but the system’s integrity and consumers’ faith.

有时只需动动嘴皮的口头道歉有时很廉价，超市必需通过更好，更有效的方式表达自己的歉意，才能重建消费者对他们的信任。

Sometimes verbal apologies are cheap, and grocery stores need a better and more effective way to express their regrets to rebuild their customers’ trust.