The $99 Onion

Is inflation really out of control? Are we being ripped off daily without knowing it? Yes, we are being ripped off and. We know about it. But how many times have we been ripped off and don’t realize it.

Why am I talking about a $99 onion?

Not only are consumers being taken so badly in everyday shopping for our basic necessities, but we also have to watch every single penny and every single charge we get.

Let me tell you what happened to me.

One day, I had a bunch of errands to run and just needed a few things from the grocery store. So, I placed my pickup order for about 10 items which totaled $35 so that I could make this hearty soup for my husband. I already had most of the ingredients but I wanted to include everything in the recipe. I finally found this recipe for Spinach Cannellini Soup that my grandmother always made and I always bragged about.

So, I go to Kohl’s to make an Amazon return, I then let the store (I won’t say the name because it isn’t important) that I am on my way to pick it up. If my plan goes the way I want I will be home in about twenty minutes. No such luck.

I get my shopping package then I go home and I look at my receipt which now says $134 instead of $35. Why? Because they charged me $99 for one onion instead of 99 cents.

So, I get on the phone with the store and after twenty minutes and three people later, I am told they cannot credit me and that I have to go into the store. Just what I didn’t want to do. I was having a time-saving day. I guess not.

Later that day I go to the store and speak to the manager I spoke to on the phone. For the next 20, her and another staff manager are literally trying to figure out how to credit me for this onion. At this point my voice level is even higher than it was on the phone. So instead of just picking up shopping on my way home, I am now spending over an extra hour of my time trying to get this credit for a mistake made by a clerk who does not speak English. Apparently, she has made MANY mistakes and they just shrug. So finally, I get a credit (that I explained how to do) and a gift card for the store as I made it quite clear I would not return.

So, what’s my point. Basically, check all your receipts and make sure you are not getting overcharged. We are now in a society where people are underqualified to work, typing in the wrong prices and mostly not caring about the consumer – AT ALL!!!!

In fact, I found three more problems on my credit cards that I may not have checked if this “$99 Onion Fiasco” did not happen to me. We are all looking for shortcuts, technology is changing too quickly for most of us to keep up with and we end up with more problems because of this.

So as a consumer in 2024 in one of the worst recessions we have seen and highest inflation we have seen in my lifetime, we need to take special care and take more time making purchases and looking for coupons and better pricing.

After all this, my Spinach Cannellini soup did come out delicious and we will always have the $99 Onion Fiasco to refer to. Please watch your dollars and spending. We will hopefully get through this rough time and see better prices ahead.