When is 99 Cents Not 99 Cents?

When is 99 Cents Not 99 Cents? When it is a Dollar of course! So don't let the name "99 Cent Only Store" fool you. You are NOT paying 99 cents for that item, you are paying $1.00.

Confused? Well, you see the recession forced the 99 Cent Only Store to raise their prices to 99.99 cents per item. I guess it could be 99.99999999999999 cents per item, I mean it really doesn't matter, any way they spin it you are paying a buck.

I really took umbrage at the price increase, and the misrepresentation of my favorite store, and so I wrote the head honcho with my grievances.

Eric Shiffer wrote this response to my email below -

Thank you for your email and your business over the years. Our reasons for the "about a penny" increase are spelled out in our news release as you know. However, do you have a number either I or one of my partners could call you to discuss your feedback more?
Please allow me to assure you that continuing to keep improving product quality is an important priority for us. Thanks.

Eric Schiffer

Subject: For Eric Schiffer regarding 99.99 cents

Dear Mr. Schiffer,

I am a loyal 99 Cent Only customer, but I'm not an idiot. 99.99 cents is NOT 99 cents! I understand that Motel 6 has to charge more than 6 dollars a night, but it's slogan is not "No Night Over $6 EVER!"

If you want to help your company, perhaps you should make your stores smaller, easier to shop, and get rid of all the CRAP that you sell for 99 cents that isn't even worth the plastic bags (that's a whole other can of worms) they are crammed into.

On many occasions I have purchased items at your store that were dangerous, or unusable that I had to throw away. Included were bitter blueberries, Chinese pickled carrots that made me sick, wall hooks that didn't stick, undrinkable coffee, chipped glassware, unwearable undergarments . . . the list goes on and on.

I'm a value shopper and realize many of these products are of sub-par quality and otherwise wouldn't be offered at such a low price . . . but really . . . do you have to devote so much shelf space to them???!!!

With your new 99.99 cent price you are cruising for a massive class action lawsuit for misrepresentation.

You can save yourself a lot of grief by taking my advice, and establishing better quality control, and a more pleasant and productive shopping experience for your customers.

Honestly, I don't mind paying a penny more for a good product, but as I said, I'm no fool . . . I can just as easily take my dollar to Dollar Tree.

I responded by sending Eric Schiffer my phone number, but of course I never heard from him.

The thing is, I still shop at the 99 Cent Only Store a couple to a few times a week, but I am still annoyed to have to traverse so much questionable, and downright dangerous merchandise to get to the good stuff.

Feel free to email Eric Schiffer yourself - him address is erics@99only.com