To report the village butcher

[Matchstickbox]

Am I?
I'm on a budget (like us all) and I'll ask butcher for 1kg mince then I'll go home and weigh it in to portions to freeze.

(Butcher always tell me a portion is more than the 125g I've read else where. He thinks about 200g pp.)

I came home last time and weighed up the two bags of minice to dived up and I'm short. About 125g.
It's been playing on my mind but my neighbour said I'm being sill and should report him...
I think I should, he'll not know it was me, will he, and he should be weighing food correctly, so not unreasonable to report him.

I think you should do it. Nothing devious about it. It sounds like he might be cheating the entire village out of money.

Does he not weigh it in front of you?

The butchers in our village has the scales on the counter, they weigh the meat there, with a readout positioned so customers can see it and see whether the meat weighs 1kg or 875g. That's normal in most butchers I've been in. Plus as a pp says, they'll say if it's slightly out from 1kg and ask if that's okay.

It's a bit awkward knowing exactly what the situation is without an itemised receipt or sticker on the bag saying how much you've been charged for though. And pretty poor practice to not provide proper receipts IMO. You really need to know whether he's charged you for 1kg of mince, so overcharged you, or whether he's given you less than 1kg of mince but only charged you for the weight he's given you.

well it's bloody tough for butchers who compete against low cost supermarkets. but this isn't the way to go about things.

who would you report him to?

i would buy again, take my scales with me in the car, measure in the car (make sure the scales are flat, maybe bring that 500g bag of flour with you to check), then take the scales and the meat back to the shop if you're short again.

it might be that his scales need recalibrating [benefitofthedoubt]

If he was the sort to try and diddle someone, I'd find it strange that he would pick the customer who came in and asked about portion sizes, and who is therefore likely to weigh it at home?

He must have been displaying his prices.Did he charge you the kg price or 875g.That's what you need to establish first!

As this thread shows, people generally give a small butcher's shop the benefit of the doubt. With the amount he was out by, he would have known by eye. If you spend all day weighing, you get a good idea.

Fetching stuff out of the back indicates that he's selling you meat with a higher fat/water content than what's on display. You should be served the meat that's out on display.

He sounds like a right tricky dicky

Maybe it's bagged in pound bags which is 454g, so only been charged for 2 bags

hello mr butcher I think you may have made a mistake.

Oh I'm so sorry Mrs customer. Here is my finest sausage as compensation.

sorted

Ooh er missus!

Just tell him

Before you go in guns blazing, surely you need to ascertain whether, when you last bought mince, he charged you for 1 kg or 850g. If the latter then there is nothing to complain about. Since you don't have an itemised receipt for your last purchase, perhaps go and buy just mince, weigh it and check against price.