When shopping, you naturally only want to pay for what you buy. But that’s not always the case. You should check your receipt for errors, especially on Monday morning.

Some customers insist on it, some take it with them but dispose of it in the nearest trash can, and some reject it outright: the receipt when shopping.

A former supermarket cashier (42) revealed why it can make sense to look closely at the long piece of paper immediately after paying – and to open your mouth if something is wrong. She worked as a cashier for a German supermarket chain for years.

As a woman or man with a family and a job, the best thing you can do is not buy small quantities several times a week, but rather make a large purchase once a week. But no matter how often you go to a supermarket or discount store, shopping costs money, and quite a bit.

How good that it feels like there are several days of promotions every week, including numerous discounts at supermarkets and discounters. This way you can at least save a little – if all the items that end up on the conveyor belt are accounted for correctly. According to the insider, this is exactly where errors can occur, and in two different ways.

For loose goods such as fruit and vegetables, cashiers have to enter a so-called PLU code (English for “price look-up”) in order to record the number of pieces or to weigh the products. If the numbers are transposed when entering the code, it can happen that a pomegranate is charged instead of a kiwi and you have to pay more – for a product you didn’t even buy.

It’s worth not only keeping an eye on the products recorded on the digital display, but also checking the receipt.

It may also happen that current offer prices are not yet recorded in the system. For example, if some products are offered particularly cheaply on Mondays and Wednesdays, it may be that they will still be sold on Monday morning at the same price as the previous week. 

The new, lower price was simply not fed into the system yet. Another reason to inspect your receipt closely, especially if you’re shopping on Monday morning. If the “risk” is too high for you, you can of course avoid shopping on the first day of the week.

But what should you do if you have actually discovered a mistake and your favorite cream cheese, which is finally on sale again and should only cost 0.89 euros, was billed at the regular 1.19 euros? Is it worth asking the cashier about 30 cents? Or isn’t that totally petty?

The insider has a clear opinion on this: If you have discovered an error and paid too much, you should communicate that. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that much if you “lose” 30 cents – but if that happens often, you as a customer are missing out on a lot of money. This is annoying and often avoidable.

From her own experience as a cashier, the insider also knows that in most cases it is no problem to speak to the cashier in such a situation. On the contrary – cashiers are also interested in ensuring that their cash register is correct at the end of their shift and that there is neither too much nor too little in it.

The original of this article “What you have to pay attention to at the supermarket checkout – especially on Monday mornings” comes from Express.de.