Wrong price at the checkout? Here’s how to enforce Quebec’s price accuracy policy

A customer taps a credit card at a self-service checkout kiosk. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg)

Do you know how to ensure you’re being charged the correct price when paying for goods at a store?

Quebec has a price accuracy policy that protects consumers from pricing errors, primarily when what’s displayed on shelves, in flyers and on ads differs from the charges at checkout.

The policy applies to businesses that don’t label each item individually, such as grocery stores that use shelf prices or optical readers.

A few tips

Quebec’s Consumer Protection Office points out that if there is a discrepancy at the cash, the merchant is required to:

• Give you the item for free if it is advertised at $15 or less;
• Sell you the item at the advertised price, with a $15 discount, if it is advertised at more than $15.

The policy covers the lowest advertised price, not the checkout price.

If you purchase identical items and the error repeats, the merchant must correct each one.

However, the requirement to provide the item for free or give a $15 discount only applies to the individual item affected.

Example scenarios

• Discounted item: If your cereal was advertised at $5 but costs $8.99 at checkout, it should be free.
• Sale item: If a flyer shows a $50 item on sale for $25, but in-store checkout shows $50, the store must sell it for $25 minus $15, totalling $10.

Post-purchase errors

Even after leaving the store, you can return to claim compensation if you notice a pricing error.

Exceptions and nuances

The policy doesn’t apply to:

• Clothing and shoes
• Fruits, vegetables, and products without barcodes
• Medicines sold in pharmacies
• Cow’s milk
• Alcohol sold at grocery stores and convenience stores
• Tobacco
• Out-of-place items or mismatched barcodes
• Sale tags without clear expiration or validity dates

Online shopping

The policy generally doesn’t cover online purchases, but the advertised price must still be honoured if there are differences.

If in-store prices are higher than online, the policy applies, unless specified (as in “online only”).

If the in-store price is lower, you pay the lower amount.

Individually labelled items

Stores that label each item aren’t bound by the policy but must follow individual labelling rules: the lowest ticketed price applies, and there is no compensation for discrepancies.

For example, if you buy an item that lists a price of $9.99, but at checkout, the price is $19.99, the merchant is required to charge you $9.99 without additional compensation.

If a retailer refuses

You can file a complaint with the Consumer Protection Office if a store refuses to honour the price accuracy policy or apply the lowest advertised price.

With files from Noovo Info.