By Mark David Blum, Esq.

I had the privilege of accompanying a dear friend in a high speed corvette for a shopping run for food and goodies at the Topps Market in Skaneateles yesterday. Among the foodstuffs to be hunted and gathered were a smattering of fresh fruit demanded by the wiminfolk in the tribe.

So while at the market and meandering about the produce / vegetable section, I was immediately startled by the higher than normal prices I saw. Probably just the local businesses scooping up a few extra high end camper dollars.

BUT, when shopping for fruits and vegetables; NINETY PERCENT of these items are listed as being sold by the pound. That is normal behavior and despite the outrageous per pound cost, it still was routine to see all the options listed at the per pound rate.

So how do you, for example, buy a pound of cherries? You normally take a plastic bag offered by the store, stuff it with cherries, and then put it on a scale to see how much are the contents in weight and dollars ... and then adjust the amount accordingly. Quantities and cost are important factors in deciding what and how much of an item to buy -- at least normally they are.

Topps Markets has a better idea. They appear on the surface to be normal. But when you grab up a bag of cherries -- something is wrong. Topps has removed ALL scales from ALL its stores. So those grapes that are 3.99 a pound you just bagged up ... you don't know that will actually cost you $11.00 at the check out.

It is a dirty trick Topps Markets are playing. It is a rip off to the public. Many shoppers are limited by dollars they can spend or only need specific amounts of a product. I call "foul" against Topps for inevitably and probably by design, forcing me into a situation of buying more than I want, spending more than I should, and leaving the store feeling ripped off.

Next time, I swear as I stand here, I will use their system against them. If the only scales in the store are at the check out line, then when the lines are long, I can assure you that I will be the guy standing there having the cashier deduct grape by grape by grape until we reach a reasonable cost. It is either that or Topps Markets can stop with their stagecoach robberies. A sucker may be born every minute, but I been around a while and will not be played like this.