A Target customer has gone viral on TikTok after exposing a discrepancy between shelf and register prices at one of the stores, sparking outrage among customers.
The video comes from user Matthew (@mscottj89), and it has quickly accumulated over 317,000 views. In the short clip, the TikToker shows how he was charged more than the advertised prices for several items at his local Target store. He claims that this is not an isolated incident, but a recurring problem that he had experienced many times before.
@mscottj89 Target is pulling a bait and switch and you probably don’t realize it. #fyp #target #scam #baitandswitch #trending #grocery #shopping ♬ original sound – Matthew
“So I’ve been seeing some crazy videos about how big grocery stores are ripping people off. And I’m here at Target and it is absolutely true. Check this out,” he says in the video.
The video then cuts to bottles of Ortega sauce that the label on the shelf prices at $2.69. But the TikToker pulls out a receipt showing they actually cost $3.59 at the register.
He also shows a gallon of bottled water that is advertised at $1.19 per bottle, but scans at $1.29. Matthew says that he had to ask a store employee to “manually adjust” the price to reflect what was advertised on the shelf.
Speaking about the issue, the Target shopper said: “It’s the mere effort that I have to go through to ask the person to come over and adjust prices and the fact that I have to track everything that I’m putting in my cart, and remember what price it was.”
“Why do I have to do that? Why aren’t these companies updating this? And by the way, this is not the first time at all. It’s happened so many times. I’ve just never documented it before. And I’m gonna start documenting it. Because this is getting ridiculous,” he added.
Matthew urged Target shoppers to share his video and to check their receipts carefully to avoid getting “ripped off”.
Matthew isn’t the first TikToker to accuse a store of charging more for items at checkout than the listed price—a shopper pointed out the same pattern at Walmart in August 2022. Many users in the comment section also expressed their anger and shared stories about similar experiences at Target and other stores.
“My mom found out she has been paying $26.99 for her dog food that is marked $22.99 on the shelf. She took ALL her recipes and got her $53 back!” one user wrote in the comments section of Matthew’s video.
“Every time this happens to me at target they said the lower price is because they haven’t updated it on the shelf yet. How is that my problem?!” a second commenter shared.
“The thought of having to check every single item I buy at the store is so stressful to think about, but if I have to do it, so be it,” a third remarked.
“It’s a huge deal and it adds up. Also sometimes the ppl won’t adjust it! This has happened soooo many times at ShopRite,” another user added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Matthew via TikTok direct messages and to Target via their email for further comment.