The Scanner Price Accuracy Code is a Canadian retail voluntary practice managed by the

Retail Council of Canada The Retail Council of Canada (french: Conseil canadien du commerce de détail), founded in 1963, is a not-for-profit trade association representing retail companies in Canada. RCC coordinates advocacy, communications and education campaigns on be ...

and endorsed by the

Competition Bureau The Competition Bureau (french: Bureau de la concurrence) is the competition regulator in Canada. It is an independent Canadian law enforcement agency that ensures that markets operate in a competitive, innovative manner. Headed by the Comm ...

. It was introduced in June 2002 as Canadian retailers were in the midst of updating their point-of-sale systems with barcode readers to "foster consumer confidence" with the new systems. It provides consumers with compensation for items with an incorrectly scanned price. It was developed by the Retail Council of Canada in collaboration with the Canadian Association of Chain Drug Stores (now Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada), the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers and the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors.

Code

The code applies only to retail shops that participate in the voluntary program. One of its key features is the "Item Free Scanner Policy". If the price of an item scans incorrectly during checkout at the point of sale, the customer is entitled to request a price adjustment; if the item's price is less than $10, they receive it for free, and if the item's price is at least $10, the customer receives a $10 discount. If the customer purchases more than one of that item, the first one is subject to the price adjustment, and the others are charged at the posted sale price. The sale price may include that posted in the shop, in an advertising flyer, or in online advertisements. Items covered by the code include those that have a Universal Product Code (UPC), a Price look-up code (PLU), or other barcodes that are scanned at the point of sale by a barcode reader. The code does not apply to items that are individually priced (that is, they have a price tag), items that are weighed (such as produce),

prescription drug A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescription medicine) is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. The rea ...

s, and cosmetics available only "behind-the-counter".

Problem resolution

A customer unsatisfied with the cashier's point-of-sale resolution for a price discrepancy should first attempt to resolve it with the shop's manager or supervisor. If this does not result in a resolution, the consumer may call the Retail Council of Canada Scanner Price Accuracy Committee at a toll-free telephone number to register a complaint. About 92% of the 1000 annual calls received by the committee are not legitimate complaints. Incorrect charges for individually priced items are covered by the

Competition Act The ''Competition Act'' is a Canadian federal law governing competition law in Canada. The Act contains both Criminal law of Canada, criminal and Civil law (common law), civil provisions aimed at preventing anti-competitive practices in the econ ...

, and unresolved price discrepancies reported to the Competition Bureau.

Participation

There are few participating retail chains, but they represent over 7,000 shops throughout Canada, excluding those in Quebec which are covered by the provincial Consumer Protection Act. Among them are

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

Canadian Tire Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire (including Canadian Tire Petroleum gas stations a ...

, Costco,

Giant Tiger Giant Tiger Stores Limited is a Canadian discount store chain which operates over 260 stores across Canada. The company's stores operate under the Giant Tiger banner in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island ...

, Home Depot, Lawtons, Loblaw Companies,

Rona Rona, RONA or Róna may refer to: Places * Rona (Kristiansand), a neighbourhood in Kristiansand, Norway *Rona (river), a river in Maramureș County, Romania *Rona, Bellevue Hill, a historic house in the Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill * Rona, Swit ...

Safeway Safeway is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, d ...

, Shoppers Drug Mart,

Sobeys Sobeys Inc. is the second largest supermarket chain in Canada, with over 1,500 stores operating across Canada under a variety of banners. Headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, it operates stores in all ten provinces and accumulated sales o ...

, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart. Shops of participating merchants are required to post a sign about the code near the entrance to the shop, and some also post a notice or sticker at the point of sale.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/scanner-sale-price-errors-1.3994752, title=Special code means shoppers charged full price for sale items could get them free, last=Colbert, first=Yvonne, publisher= CBC News, date=23 February 2017, access-date=28 November 2021 {{Cite news, url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/scanner-price-accuracy-voluntary-code, title= Did you know you're entitled to $10 off a wrongly priced item under the Scanner Price Accuracy Code?, last=Edwards, first= Danielle, newspaper=

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with M ...

, date=20 November 2019, access-date=28 November 2021 {{cite web, url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/price-code-free-1.6263904, title=Attention shoppers: Overcharged for an item at checkout? You might be able to get it for free, last=Harris, first=Sophia, publisher= CBC News, date=28 November 2021, access-date=28 November 2021 {{cite news, url=https://www.thestar.com/life/fashion_style/2009/10/14/did_the_store_overcharge_you_no_need_to_fume.html, title=Did the store overcharge you? No need to fume, last=Rempel, first=Shauna, newspaper=

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

, date=14 October 2009, access-date=28 November 2021 {{cite web, url=https://competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/vwapj/ct02380e.pdf/$file/ct02380e.pdf, title=Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code, publisher=

, date=2002, access-date=28 November 2021 {{cite news, url=https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/consumerwatch-scanner-price-accuracy-code-1.692857, title=Consumerwatch: Scanner price accuracy code, publisher= CTV News Winnipeg, date=5 September 2011, access-date=28 November 2021

External links

Scanner Price Accuracy Code
at the

Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code—Code of practice
at the

Scanner price accuracy
at the Competition Bureau
Scanner Price Accuracy Code FAQs
at the Retail Council of Canada Consumer protection in Canada Retailing in Canada Retail pricing 2002 establishments in Canada