Volo Raises Sales Tax by 1 Percentage Point

This article from the July 31 Daily Herald (http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=224499) is a great segue to something I posted on my blog last week that I'll share here. It was a delightful Home Depot experience. I've changed a few words to make it more appropriate. The comments below the Daily Herald article are pretty funny, although I don't know why people are really complaining. There are so few businesses in Volo for it to really make a huge difference at this point. And, frankly, I'd rather be paying 7.5% than what people are paying in Cook County!

You know the economy is bad when...

...you argue over 7 cents.

I bought some air filters for my HVAC unit a few weeks ago and it turns out I bought the wrong size. On Wednesday (July 30), I returned them to Home Depot with the intent on exchanging them for the right size. The other size was the same price so I expected an even exchange. Home Depot has a separate returns counter, so I had to get my money back first and then go through the regular register with the new purchase.

I scanned the new filters in using the self checkout and I expected my total to be $7.46. That's how much was returned to me and so I expected to put the same amount back in. To my surprise, the total came up $7.53! How is that possible? I asked the girl manning the self checkouts to explain why there was a price difference when I was making an even exchange. The girl tried to tell me it was because I was buying a larger size that made it cost more. I had to explain to this girl at least twice that the two items were the EXACT SAME PRICE. What difference does the size make if the price is the same? I was trying to be polite about it but it was very clear this girl had no idea what she was talking about, and to make matters worse, she was starting to get [irritated] about it. "Well *I* don't know why it's not the same." I should have just paid the extra 7 cents and left, but I really felt like I was being cheated here, so I asked her to get a hold of a manager.... for 7 [lousy] cents!!! It was all a matter of principle by that point. The girl should have offered to ask someone else rather than be nasty about it, so by that point, I was going to make her work. A manager wasn't available, but a more senior member of the Home Depot team came over and explained to me that the sales tax rate had adjusted the previous Saturday (July 26). Now the [Volo] sales tax increase should have already happened, but apparently Home Depot was just now getting around to it. The lady kindly adjusted my item by 7 cents which is what a GOOD salesperson would do, and because of the sales tax adjustment, I ended up saving a penny in the end!!! Go me...

I was very polite and even said thank you to the rude girl behind the self checkout counter. She said "have a nice day" without even looking at me. Touche.