Did you check your bill?

During my frock days, mom used to give me a list of items written in a small paper (1/4 kg tomatoes ,1/2 kg onions, 1 packet Tata salt etc.) to buy from a nearby annachi kadai(it is also common to refer people, who are in to retail business of rice, departmental stores, medical stores as "Annachi" in Tamil Nadu,South India). But now the scenario is totally different.

The ground-floor of many apartments in Chennai are turned into supermarkets. 'Spencers Daily', 'Vitan', 'Trinethra', 'Nilgiris', 'Lifestyle' and many more are the most preferred ones here. Pick your choice is my definition of a supermarket or departmental store.My question is, are we careful enough in noticing how much we pay?How many of us cross-check our bills? After all every penny matters.Usage of plastic money creates a 'don't bother' nature for everyone of us. Wherever we purchase its our right to claim for what we buy and how much we spend. Already we are into a critisism that the younger generation spends more than saving.

People are bond to make mistakes. We might make a mistake paying more money, the shopkeeper might make a mistake claiming extra charge, or there are possibilities of intentional theft without our knowledge. Its our duty to cross-verify if things are right, especially in places like supermarkets.

Two such incidents happened with me this month. One in an electronic showroom wherein the total cost of an item was 4000 rupees in which i paid 2500 rupees through my card and decided to pay the rest as cash. The shopkeeper forgot to get the remaining 1500 from me while he packed my item; i gave him the money and advised him to be alert.Another one in a supermarket where i ended up paying 580 rupees wherein I had actually purchased for 480 rupees ; which i realised after i reached home.

Check:

• Expiry date of the item.
• Condition of the item and its package.
• Quantity of items printed in the bill.
  
• Take time in reading the bill if you are paying for the correct items you purchased.
• When paying through cards,cross check the amount printed in the sales slip. Make sure you carry your customer copy.
  
• Avoid using mobile phone when you are paying your bills coz little-careless mistakes may lead to future concerns.
• I would suggest instead of humming a song while the bill is getting printed, we could straight away look into the monitors whether the salesperson is in the right track.That would minimise mistakes on either side.
  
• Last but never the least make sure you have a little space in your purse for you bill. Preserve it at least for a day or two for any exchange.