I was having a fairly successful and pleasant day yesterday until a snarky e mail from some policy wonket sitting in an over air-conditioned office up Ottawa way arrived in my in box.

The background to the snarky; I had previously sent some of my concerns about how the NNC program is playing out in Labrador to the Labrador representative on the advisory board of NNC.

I had included some information on how it was possible to display pricing of subsidized items publicly including a photograph I took from a social media sight depicting the price of milk up in Norman Wells.

I had also mentioned that recently a local store had received a shipment of frozen meats that were already dated before leaving Goose Bay and mentioned that this on-going practice adds to retailer’s costs and how it effects the consumer as well.

Miss snarky goes on to berate me for not picking up on the fact that the photograph of the milk prices in Norman Wells was the work of the retailer and not that of NNC.

Well whoop de doo miss snarky- that was the whole point of my e mail, why has something LIKE this NOT been done by NNC.

But the kicker of Miss snarky’s bureaucratic muse was when she accused me of contradictions, she asked if I condoned or condemned the selling of outdated frozen product by retailers. Miss Snarky obviously did not read my e mail correctly nor bothered to check any previous correspondence from me to NNC and or the Labrador representative to the NNC advisory board. It would be obvious where I stand on that if she had bothered.

Needles to say my reply to Miss snarky will most likely result in my blackballing by her or NNC.

Feeling good today I am.

Coincidently the very same day: We go into Northern and there are some fresh vegetables being put out. Fran notices the tomatoes, and knowing how a love the little red buggers she says, “these look nice”. I check them out and they do indeed look nice [relatively speaking] and I pick out half a dozen.

When we go to the checkout with our purchases I notice the price per kilo for the tomatoes comes up at $11.99 a kilo.

After I pay I go over to the produce section and check the sticker prices above the produce. You have to work at it as there is no rhyme or reason to how the prices are stuck up there.

Low n behold the sticker price says ‘loose tomatoes $8.99 a kilo’.

I go back over and ask for the manager and am told he won’t be in till 4pm. I then mention the discrepancy to the check out lady promptly says ‘she can fix that”. Good I say but I don’t want you to get into trouble and such.

“No problem” she says.

Well there was a problem as the computer checkout would not co operate, then people started to back up waiting to check out and the store is short staffed so I say I will come back later and deal with it. This I will today.

There is more; next we head to BigLand to pick up some dry dog food. While there I notice fresh vegetables are out there too. There are some loose tomatoes, but this time packaged into four and wrapped in store.

The sticker price is $5:47 a kilo.

Bloody hell I think to self. There are only two packages of four on the shelf, one goes while I am there thinking “what the you know what”. Any way I do not need any more tomatoes for now and I will see what is what on the morrow.

There is more and it gets better, or worse depending on your point of view.

Later in the evening I find out that tomatoes are selling at Jacquie’s Convenience store for…. wait for it………..

$3:25 a kilo.

You say tomato, I say buyer beware: So the final solution to the tomato saga of yesterday is.

The manager was in and I pointed out the discrepancy, my impression is himself and other staff were already aware that I might be in, the check out lady from yesterday was off.

It took some time and an explanation or two from the manager and some controlled calmness from myself and if I am not wrong from himself. This is what the explanation was:

I hope I can relate in it an understandable manner.

The check out lady of yesterday entered in the incorrect code resulting in the $11:99 a kilo price.

The $ 8:99 a kilo sticker price of yesterday was last weeks price. This week’s price is $ 5:19 a kilo which is now up above the produce shelf.

I received a full refund of $9:65 along with the comment of “I hope you enjoy your tomatoes.”

I know that Northmart [part of the same North West Company that Northern is part of] in Goose Bay has a policy of a full refund if the sticker price is higher than the check out price if the item is under $10:00.

So I don’t feel guilty one bit. Matter of fact the folks up here in some of the stores are lucky that the majority of people do not question openly these sorts of anomalies.

It is not about the money, it is about a lot of other things that the consumer has to deal with on a daily basis.