Monday, October 15, 2012

Who Set the Dogs Adrift?

Hey, Merci here with a couple of what-in-the-world? stories for you.  The first I just know had to be human error!  No dogs in their right mind would set off downriver in a canoe without a paddle. (Actually, I think they guys heard on the video put the dogs there so the third dog could play the hero.) And the second is a computer with dementia.  Or perhaps it was working on a nest egg for retirement.

We all enjoyed watching this video of one dog rescuing two other dogs stuck in a canoe.  You can see for yourself how intelligent we dogs are  


If the video doesn't play, click here.

UPDATE:  As Suka mentioned, the owner has added a comment on the YouTube video site saying these dogs are trained. 

As to the demented computer -

Jan says we need to watch our pennies, but we've found penny-watching boring. They don't do anything, just lie there. She writes down prices when she shops and has a good idea of what the total will be before taxes are added so she won't have more purchases than money.  However, Friday taxes went w-a-a-a-y over the top.  Now Jan says she'll need to carry a calculator but she can only read a large print / large button one that won't fit in her purse.

She was checking out at a self-service aisle at Wal-mart with a single discounted food purchase.  (Our tax is 7% but 3% on food.)  The $1.73 item rang up correctly, but the total was $2.83.  She pointed to the total and asked the cashier standing nearby, "What's that?"  He glanced at it and said, "That's the tax."  She looked at the total and looked back at him and said with a touch of sarcasm, "I don't think so!" 

$1.10 tax on a less than $2 item? It wouldn't have been as noticeable had she been buying a number of items.  So we wonder how often does this happen and customers pay the excessive tax unawares?

She contacted Walmart through their website and the local assistant manager telephoned Saturday.  The manager was as at sea over the incident as Jan and the cashier had been.   She said she had never seen or heard of that happening before and she would send the issue to field support to see if they can figure it out.

The cashier hadn't mentioned it to anyone or turned in the printout he made when he canceled the transaction.  Jan was so rattled she left without her receipt - or her change - but she could give the approximate time, ID the cashier, and remember what item she bought so they can find the tax error in their records.

We aren't accusing Wal-mart of doing that deliberately.  But if want your human to be able to continue bringing home extra treats for you, remind them to be alert because even though computers are great, strange things can - and do - happen!

Have a good week.

23 comments:

  1. I'm not sure of all that water gang! Oh no, that kind of shopping is way too taxing!

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  2. Oh, interesting re: WalMart! What's especially disturbing is that the cashier didn't follow through in any way, which he would have been required to do. Hmmm....

    Our tax is 13%, which you pay on packaged items from the deli counter, etc. No tax on things like produce, meat, etc. But anything that is prepared in-store is taxed.

    BTW, we wonder where Jan's change ended up....

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  3. Well spotted Jan!! It totally pays to be alert - I'm forever having to correct being charged twice, excessively etc - always check the receipt!!

    The woofies in the clip are amazing!! Awww! take care
    x

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  4. I went to the youtube page of the video and the owner posted that the dogs are all trained, so I think it is a rescue scenario and not real. I was very nervous, though, that the black lab might get swept down river. The current looked very strong and the black lab seemed to have some trouble swimming toward the canoe. Sometimes humans don't think of consequences.

    Thanks for the heads up on the taxes. My human is like your mom, watching her pennies and always checking receipts. But she never thought of checking the taxes. She has just always looked at the prices of items and is always getting charged more for an item than it is marked. It used to be stores would give her the item for free if they rang it at the wrong price, now she is lucky if she gets a "sorry." *sigh....

    But thanks to your mom my human will start also checking the sales tax. So sad.

    Suka

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  5. That dog owner says that the dogs are "trained?" To do what??? Be horribly frightened by being placed in a canoe and set adrift? I'm not buying it.

    Speaking of not buying it, you do indeed have to be very careful about mistakes at checkout. The lady doesn't like to hold people up in line, so she checks out the receipt while sitting in the car in the parking lot. She has found discounts not being taken, wrong prices, an item in bin that was the wrong price, etc.

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  6. My mom is a real stickler fur checking the receipt thingy... in EVERY store. She has found MANY MANY thingys wrong with them over the years.. She has prolly saved enough... to buy a CART FULL of stuffies.

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  7. I would say those dogs are trained to do that. I think it is some good training for sure.
    The tax thing is interesting. I sure am going to watch the taxes on my invoices from now on. That sounds crazy. Thanks for the tip.

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  8. Thank you so much for your kind words and help for Angel. We appreciate it. She still hasn't been found so thanks.
    Best wishes Molly

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  9. Wow! Mom and the Dad are now going to check every receipt every time from now on so no one gets cheated out of treats! *eyes empty cupboard suspiciously*

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  10. Mommy loves the stickers that are supposed to be taken off at checkout and used as coupons for the item they were attached to--but never were. And most of them are a florescent color you can't miss, and usually on the top or by the checkout code on the package. Gotta watch them! Checkers can't catch everything!

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  11. Good job Jan! It's so easy for humans not to notice things like that!

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  12. We will sure watch that tax thing from now on! Thanks for bringing it up.

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  13. Jan
    Our Mom does not like WM. They do not care about their customers, we know that the prices are excellent there but Mom tries to shop everywhere but WM. We hope you get an answer.
    purrs
    >^,,^<
    ✿•*¨`*•. ♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥✿•*¨`*•.

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  14. Wow! We need to remind Mom Paula to watch out for Mr. Tax.

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  15. Fantastic video! What a hero of a doggie.
    You really have to watch the register when they ring you up. I have found that Meijer is really good at not having sale prices in and if you don't watch you pay regular. Mom doesn't shop there ever any more. Got tired of it always happening. I bet this does go on a lot more than we would like to think.

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  16. Computers are programmed by humans and therefore human error is bound to creep into some programs. When Mommy worked at a Savings and Loan they were off a huge amount because whoever wrote the computer program didn't understand how mortgages work. Mommy had to explain it to him. SLOWLY..........very slowly.

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  17. Sometimes with errors it makes you wonder if they are "human" errors or if the stores are trying to get a "little" extra!!
    Luv Hannah and Lucy xx xx

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  18. That video was amazing. We're glad to learn dogs are trained to do that (we were worried)!

    We are glad Jan checked the total on her purchase. I wonder how often people don't think to look?

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  19. We love those canoe dogs! And all we'll say about shops is that the "mistake" is always in their favour. Funny that.

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  20. Our Jan is sure that she is often charged higher prices, but frankly she is too "busy" (LAZY) to check.

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  21. I guess that I'd better watch my receipts more closely! That's outrageous.

    One of our dogs once helped the other who was having trouble climbing up a slippery slope out of a pond. The two were littermates. The brother who was on the shore reached down and grabbed his littermate by the collar and hauled him to shore. We were absolutely amazed!

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  22. Paws up for the hero doggie!

    Momo & Pinot xo

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