Anthony Arms' Bargain Table Not Such a Bargain -- UPDATE POST 23

[Noah_Zark]

SEE POST 23 for UPDATE.

Out and about in the south Pgh area this afternoon running errands and such and the route took me past Anthony Arms, so I stopped. I had not been there for perhaps 6-8 years because the last time it took forever to have a clerk respond to a request to see at used handgun.

I checked out the new firearm stock, the used guns, and some ammo prices, etc. Some items competitive, but some others were ridiculous (A Romanian bolt action trainer marked as a "Mauser trainer" and priced $500). To the right of the entrance were a couple-few folding tables with firearm magazines thereon (metal & plastic, not paper). The sign said, "25% off price as marked, unmarked magazines $10 ea!" Looking through the mags I found eight marked $24 and $25 each that I could use. Rounding, that's 8x $25 = $200, and taking "25% off price as marked" would make it $150 plus tax. After waiting for the clerk to finish handling a couple customers ahead of me, he rang them up by reading the well-worn bar code on the plastic bag containing one of the mags and announced $230-something. I said, no, should be around $160.

He responded, "No, that's the price." I observed that he scanned the barcode, which was the original price, and someone had ink penned $24 and $25 on the store price labels above the barcode. I said, "$24 and $25 is the price as marked. Then take 25% off that. Should be $160 or so." He says, "That's a discount on a discount. The $25 price is already 25% off." I replied, "No, $25 is not 25% off the barcode price. Someone marked them down manually because they haven't sold because they fit an obscure firearm. The sign says, '25% off price as marked, unmarked magazines $10 ea'. That would be 25% off either $24 or $25. Again, about $160."

So he turns to the screen, moving the mouse, pressing up and down keys and the shift key, muttering. Nothing's happening on the screen. He does this for 30-60 seconds, then turns and announces, "It won't let me override and discount a discounted price, I can ring them all up at $24, that's all I can do." I replied, "Well, that would be an override, because the ink penned price is less than what came up when you scanned the barcode. If you're not honoring the terms of the sign, and walking away from a $150 sale on magazines that have sat here for years, I'll pass." I left them on the counter.

Nothing changes. I learned my lesson. And the mags? I can order them offline for ~$22 ea, free shipping.

Noah