Store Scan Error

Sometimes the scanner doesn't read properly. The UPC code has a check digit, so it shouldn't come up with the wrong value, just an error indication. When that happens, the cashier generally punches the number in manually. Possibly this happened, and the error was human.

no she did not manually put in numbers.

That's very odd. The bar code system has a lot of checks built into it. The black bars and white stripes have fairly tight tolerances for printing, and the set of stripes representing a number 0 - 9 have different formats depending on which side of the center stripes they are on. There is also a checksum digit built into the barcode and it has to match the decoded stripes properly. And then once a set of stripes is decoded and the checksum is verified the computer 'looks up' the number in its memory to see what product that number matches.

So not only must the bar code be read as a legitimate set of stripes, there has to be a matching set of numbers within the computer's file system for that particular number. So it is extremely unlikely - though not impossible - for this to happen.

When I brought the items back and they were rescanned they both rescanned

correctly.

oilcan13

Were there possibly two scan codes on the package? One for the single package and one for a "lot size" package? I've had that happen. I bought an entire roll of 250 plastic signs and they scanned the single sign code - got 250 signs for $.89!

no

You may be a victim of "quiet zone" violation.

That's the spaces between the code stripes.

The Seven Most Common Reasons That Barcodes Fail

Checking your link gave reasons for failure but no reason for a rescan scanning correctly.

oilcan13

Could it have come from a multi-pack? Our stores often have signs warning that, if you take an item from a multi pack, the price that will be charged will be for the whole pack. It follows that the bar code must be different for this to happen.

no

There is a high dollar item that I will log into our database every time we receive a shipment of them. Each comes in its own polypropylene cylinder about 2" in diameter. I have had so many incorrect reads of them that I have given up and hand enter the serial numbers every time. Somehow the quite zones and bar/space size works against me on this curved "look angle" and I frequently pass checksums with bad reads.

Many items in the store amaze me that the bar codes work at all. I once had custom made some bar code labels on aluminum foil stock. The company name and logo were printed on them. The printing formed boxes for the part number, human readable serial number and bar code serial number. They looked good. No, actually they looked great. A first class label to make a good impression on our customers. The problem was that the aluminum foil had so much reflection that the scanner was blinded and would never work. We ended up throwing out all the labels. In stores you see bar codes of every color printed on every color and texture. I bet a lot of them cause many checksum errors and are at risk of bad reads.

Life is not easy. You should make a ticket check all the time.

I imported 5 same model cars and Road tax made 4 different tax labels, based on dimensions.

Tax differences were between $155 to $180.

Same car type, same engines, only some had a different color.

Thick paint? Different lead wipe thicknesses on the repairs and joins (old cars)?

Normal official nonsense?

What did you do about it?

That is how our society works.

If one can help the country with paying more taxes isn't that wonderful?

Of course to find that relationship towards the OP, it needs some accountancy and indirect math.

(I did not react to it. I could live (actually survive) with the average, rather than risking the highest revision for all)

I worked in MIS for a large retail many years ago and while sometimes a barcode would fail to read, I never encountered where it read a wrong number.

The fact that both items read as "cough drops" seems especially strange. How likely is it that any mis-read would STILL be for the SAME product, just a different quantity?

Good question. Also after it was rescanned it read correctly.

oilcan13

The Bar Code was most likely a UPC (universal product code) symbol. If they were exactly the same, the manufacturer was the cause. Chances are that the database at the store was at fault, assigning the same value for both product codes. Either way, their loss, your gain.

Most stores that use a bar code type of register make entries of the products they sell into a local database and they record the price in which they intend to sell that product for, in order to make a profit. If they make a mistake, it is their own fault.

It appears You did not understand the question. If I did not return to the store it was MY loss. One pack registered right (25 drops) the other IDENTICAL pack registered wrong (200 drops). when I returned to the store and had both rescanned they both registered okay (25 drops) . The 200 drop pack was over $3.00 more.

oilcan13

The till operator sometime swipe the product against the screen and may have left a drop of water or moisture which could then act as a lens and blur the lines.

The bar codes are allocated by the supplier and the numbers of different sizes or versions could be very similar.

I help a friend who had a small shop at his filling station and had a barcode numbering rule book.