More customer service -- in a recession?

My wife and I recently stopped in a local A&P supermarket for some milk and bread. While there we spotted a sign that told us that Entenmann's bakery goods were on sale 2 for $5.00. Being a big Entenmann's fan, I immediately picked out two items to purchase. When we got up to the checkout, the items did not come up at the sale price. I mentioned this to the cashier and she told us that it only applied to purchases over $25.00. My wife and I pointed out that the sign did not indicate that anywhere and she then informed us that it said so in their flier. We told her we didn't get the flier and again stated that the sign did not mention that. She looked at us blankly.

When it became obvious that she was not going to take any action to remedy the mix up, we told her to take the items off the bill. She promptly did this which then required her to call a supervisor since it represented approximately 50% of the sale. The supervisor came over looked at the screen, turned her key, and walked away. She didn't ask why there was such a large void or if there was some way she could help. Disregarding the loss prevention aspect of her actions, she shouldn't have done this because she could have prevented the loss of the sale. A mere "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding" would have at least saved A&P of Midland Park a customer. Instead she showed complete disinterest and so now we've told as many people as possible about the incident, and you're reading it on a blog.

In my previous retail life as a front end manager, I was clearly instructed by my bosses as to how to handle this. I would have 1) checked the sign, 2) honored the price for the customer if that was indeed what the sign said, 3) apologized for the misunderstanding, 4) immediately removed the sign if it was wrong. That would have been customer service. Instead, at a time when every retailer should be fighting for as many customers as possible, A&P of Midland Park is turning them away.

Thoughts anyone?