Beware of overcharging in supermarkets

[andya700]

This morning at Lidl, we had the nearly unfortunate experience of being ripped off by £6, which I suspect may have caught out others. My wife is fond of rhubarb deserts, so when she saw they were selling rhubarb and gunger gin for £8.99 she put one in the trolley. We always check our receipt before leaving the shop, so imagine our surprise when the gin went through at £14.99. I went back to the aisle to check and there were three other bottles on the shelf and the £8.99 price label did match the details of the product. I called acrossw an assistant and she said the bottle had been put on the wrong shelf, probably by another customer, so I pointed out that that the label correctly matched the product and there was no other product label showing £14.99. She then called the manager across, who then started to bluster a bit, saying that the bottles on the shelf were not ones which matched the price label. I asked her why they had been put there and where was the £14.99 price label.
I eventually got a full £14.99 refund and left minus the gin.
So folks, be careful and check everything.

 

[Box Brownie]

If, as you say, the shelf edge label (100%) tallies with the product and size of bottle? I would have taken a phone photo of the label & displayed bottles and email it to the HQ.... raising it as a complaint.

On the few occasions that I have had a similar situation, the store has made an "at till adjustment" and then noticed them remove the 'wrong' shelf label.

 

[woof woof]

I've had products matching the price and and yet a different price at the till in ASDA. Staff have usually been a mixture of uninterested, dismissive, defensive and vaguely unpleasant which I get as they probably don't get paid enough to care. It's an attitude I wouldn't be happy with and I have worked in low paid jobs but there you go.

My worst overcharging happens at my local paper shop as my mam gets a red top delivered. They're pre paid and I should only pay delivery at the shop but the staff regularly try and overcharge by twenty odd quid so much so that I now only pay when I spot a reliable member of staff on the till.

 

[andya700]

I have just Googled the product, I was overcharged, so what is going on there?I will definitely phone their head office on Monday.

Food, Non-food, Wine and Recipes | Lidl GB

Explore our range of high quality fresh food & product offers. Enjoy great prices & latest deals in store. Shop today & use your Lidl Plus app.

www.lidl.co.uk

 

[Nod]

Manager trying to make a few extra quid? Although I would have thought that the bar codes would be set by head office rather than locally.

 

[mj4456]

My worst overcharging happens at my local paper shop as my mam gets a red top delivered. They're pre paid and I should only pay delivery at the shop but the staff regularly try and overcharge by twenty odd quid so much so that I now only pay when I spot a reliable member of staff on the till.

Time to change shop?

 

[andya700]

Manager trying to make a few extra quid? Although I would have thought that the bar codes would be set by head office rather than locally.

I have had another look at the receipt, and although the assistant struck through it when doing the refund (Will have to check that goes back in the bank on Monday) I can see that it definitely is the product, so I wonder what is going on? It wasn't on special offer either, because as we can see from my link, that is the normal price.
I really cannot see any reason why it came out as £14.99.

 

[Nod]

I'd e-mail head office a photo/scan of the receipt and a screenshot of the relevant page, asking what's going on.

 

[g4aaw]

Vigilance is key.
However, whenever I buy things at Primark, it usually ends up being less at the till.
Why don't they sell food?? Imagine the saving.

 

[cosmicma]

worst iv'e had for overcharging was a fish n chip shop in blackpool
ordered fish n chips the price was £8.95 so paid with my card and when i looked at the receipt i'd been charged £89.50
it's a good job i looked
to be fair they was very apologetic and refunded in cash but it made me wonder if it was a one off or some under handed tactic used before

 

[woof woof]

Time to change shop?

Unfortunately I paid in advance so until the subscription runs out I'm stuck with them.

 

[Dave Canon]

I vary rarely shop at a supermarket with my wife but every time I did so we seemed end up at Customer services dealing with the errors. This was at the local Morrisons. I do not think it was anything but errors when special offers have not gone into the computer or a shelf special off sign is left after the offer is removed from the computer but my wife spots any of these mistakes and does not leave the store until all are resolved. This is fine of course but it lengthened the trip significantly. We switched to deliveries but Morrisons made even more mistakes so we have dropped them.

Dave

 

[AndrewFlannigan]

made me wonder if it was a one off or some under handed tactic used before

It's easy to hit the wrong keys on some types of merchant terminal.

 

[cosmicma]

It's easy to hit the wrong keys on some types of merchant terminal.

i imagine it is but it all seemed a little too slick if you know what i mean by that
as if it was something they were used to doing

 

[tijuana taxi]

One that always makes me laugh is Ocado and Youngs Fish Cakes
Packet says 99p and Ocado charge £1 https://www.ocado.com/products/youn...75BXOxfU_-sSyUZd6txoC1McQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Pound Coin]

There are definitely good and bad ways of dealing with an error and customer complaint like this, but there is no legal requirement for the retailer to sell a customer any goods. The retailer makes an "Invitation to treat", technically asking the customer to make an offer, and the customer makes an offer. Usually this is at the price marked. But the retailer can legally refuse the offer that the customer has made.

Where it gets complicated is if the retailer doesn't correct the mistake.

 

[andya700]

There are definitely good and bad ways of dealing with an error and customer complaint like this, but there is no legal requirement for the retailer to sell a customer any goods. The retailer makes an "Invitation to treat", technically asking the customer to make an offer, and the customer makes an offer. Usually this is at the price marked. But the retailer can legally refuse the offer that the customer has made.

Where it gets complicated is if the retailer doesn't correct the mistake.

"Invitation to treat" takes me back to my Business Law lessons.
However, in this case, the item was clearly marked at the correct price of £8.99 (as per the link I posted), when it reached the till, it resulted it being added to my bill at £14.99 without telling me, which is £6 more than it should be. There was no recourse to refuse to sell me the item, which would then have fallen in line with "invitation to treat", but I do suspect there may have been an attempt to defraud me. I wonder how many other customers have been caught by this one?
I wonder how many people would notice it before leaving the shop? How many would be bothered to follow it up when they found out?
The staff even tried to fob me off with a couple of ropey excuses - "That isn't the right price label for that drink", "Maybe a customer put it there by mistake"

 

[gremlin16]

sounds like a job for trading standards to me.

 

[Craig1912]

Bought a bottle of champagne from Tesco once. It was on offer but when it went through the till I was charged full price, turned out the label on the shelf should have been removed the day before. Their policy was to give me a full refund and let me keep the champagne as it was their error!

 

[Pixbarmy]

Watch out for gift cards being charged on your bill at many stores. The "bent" till assistants book through gift cards while you are not looking and pocket them (so I am told!). The gift cards are then sold on to unsuspecting buyers at knock down prices!

 

[Cobra]

There is one girl on the checkout at my local Tesco Express, I watch like a hawk.
To be fair she has got better since I complained to the CEO ( yes, I don't mess about!) about 3 times I think it was.
The one that bemused me was I ended up being charged for 6 cucumbers.
And I hadn't even bought 1.
When I challenged her, apparently it wasn't my fault!

Talking to the duty manager at the time, it seems that there was a bar code next to the hand scanner that she managed to scan
every time she moved the scanner ...

 

[Pound Coin]

What did she want the cucumbers for?

 

[andya700]

What did she want the cucumbers for?

Haven't you heard of the "Cucumber diet" which stipulates - "Nil by mouth"

 

[Cobra]

What did she want the cucumbers for?

I was waiting for that one

 

[Nod]

Cucumber or joke?

 

[boogie man]

There are definitely good and bad ways of dealing with an error and customer complaint like this, but there is no legal requirement for the retailer to sell a customer any goods. The retailer makes an "Invitation to treat", technically asking the customer to make an offer, and the customer makes an offer. Usually this is at the price marked. But the retailer can legally refuse the offer that the customer has made.

Where it gets complicated is if the retailer doesn't correct the mistake.

It works the other way round too and shop staff can make errors. Many moons ago I used to be a retail manager in a diy shop. Several times when things had been mispriced too low by staff making a mistake jwe’d get customers pushing their luck and trying to buy all the underpriced stock. I’d let them have one item as it was our error after all but I wasn't going to let them walk out with dozens of the things.

 

[JohnC6]

Bought a bottle of champagne from Tesco once. It was on offer but when it went through the till I was charged full price, turned out the label on the shelf should have been removed the day before. Their policy was to give me a full refund and let me keep the champagne as it was their error!

Isn't that an oxymoron..Champagne from Tescos ?..

 

[andya700]

Isn't that an oxymoron..Champagne from Tescos ?..

As long as you don't say - "This is a grand cru Champagne, from the Basildon region, purchased from their Tesco branch". "This wine has hints of flint and chalk, with an estuarine finish and the unmistakeable, overall flavour of Essex".

 

[ecoleman]

"Invitation to treat" takes me back to my Business Law lessons.
However, in this case, the item was clearly marked at the correct price of £8.99 (as per the link I posted), when it reached the till, it resulted it being added to my bill at £14.99 without telling me, which is £6 more than it should be. There was no recourse to refuse to sell me the item, which would then have fallen in line with "invitation to treat", but I do suspect there may have been an attempt to defraud me. I wonder how many other customers have been caught by this one?
I wonder how many people would notice it before leaving the shop? How many would be bothered to follow it up when they found out?
The staff even tried to fob me off with a couple of ropey excuses - "That isn't the right price label for that drink", "Maybe a customer put it there by mistake"

I doubt very much if the retailer was intentionally trying to defraud you.

All pricing on the POS system will be controlled from head office so you'll probably find that this is just an innocent case of lack of communication between two departments and the price was not set correctly on the POS system.

 

[FlyPhot]

Another one to watch for is multi-buy 'bargains'. In Home Bargains recently I noticed tins of tomatoes at 28p a tin, or a little further along the aisle as a multi-buy 'bargain offer' of 3 for £1 !!!!!! (exactly the same product)

 

[Cagey75]

This is one of the main reasons I love the scanner shop system in tesco, you see the actual price in real time as you shop [that plus I love that you can pack your shop as you go and keep an eye on your total spends] - It's happened numerous times that I'll grab something on offer according to the shelf sticker, only to find it is not marked down when I scan it. Luckily there is a remove item option also

 

[JohnC6]

Another one to watch for is multi-buy 'bargains'. In Home Bargains recently I noticed tins of tomatoes at 28p a tin, or a little further along the aisle as a multi-buy 'bargain offer' of 3 for £1 !!!!!! (exactly the same product)

A regular one,is that. I've seen a 'Bargain Family Pack' ..in huge red lettering ..eg with four items in for only 1p less than buying four separately. Some pricing beggars belief. I find this with beetroot in jars where a large jar on offer can cost less than one half the size. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy three at full price than a large pack on offer . In one Morrisons I go to, ..we have two stores here... I would buy hazel nuts in a pack for eg £1. 95 from shelves where nuts in general were sold..I get redskin peanuts for the garden birds which a visiting squirrel often nicks..yet go to the 'Home Baking' aisle the hazel nuts..same pack size..are £2.10 . Customers who see me down on my knees trying to read the price label stating price per 10 or 100gms of an item on the bottom shelf could be forgiven for thinking I was a muslim at prayer....

The aisle to go in at Asda is the World Products..usually of Asian/Chinese origin cost a third or more less there than in a nearby ailse. I think other stores gave aisles for the likes of those foods. Rice,for instance is much cheaper in that World ' aisle than one further along. Better still, if there are Asian shops go to them for rice & spices. Much wider choice and half the cost.


The best regular bargain is with Napolina tinned toms..for spagh bol for instance are often an eye-watering £1.10 a tin..I remember them at 25p about three years ago but often I can buy four for £2. When that offer is on, which is quite regularly, I buy enough to keep us going until the next offer. The best ever,recently, was Wilkinson's Sword Edge Hydra 3 5 pack razor blades directly from the company for half the price in the the stores. Infact, in stores they were sold for £7.50 for 4. My guess was that they were about to discontinue that line and just go with Hydra 5. I've just checked and don't see Hydra 3. I was alerted because I hadn't been able to get Hydra3 in-store for ages. They..the company ...soon ran out of those packs and it was still worth me buying a razor with one in plus 4. They worked out at 3p per blade more than the others without buying a razor. I bought two razor packs . The two razors will be useful as a replacement anyway. I've worked out that I have enough to last 4 years.

 

[the black fox]

Came across this tonight in tescos the wife spotted a xmas jug ,ticket under said £2 but was £7.50 when at the till .. wonder how many people get caught by that one .. having been in the business years ago I think this is just a management trick to cover stock losses ?? Tescos are imho getting very pricy these days and far from uncle jacks policy of pile it high sell it cheap !

 

[JohnC6]

Came across this tonight in tescos the wife spotted a xmas jug ,ticket under said £2 but was £7.50 when at the till .. wonder how many people get caught by that one .. having been in the business years ago I think this is just a management trick to cover stock losses ?? Tescos are imho getting very pricy these days and far from uncle jacks policy of pile it high sell it cheap !

They're in a no-lose situation so when it's brought to their attention they just say it was 'an administrative error' I've heard that explanation time and time again in all sorts of scenarios.

 

[Pound Coin]

A Tesco might have 60,000 lines on sale. An Aldi or Lidl 2,000

I'd imagine that no human can memorise all those lines, and they change fairly quickly, so it is probably surprising that there aren't more administrative errors.

 

[the black fox]

A Tesco might have 60,000 lines on sale. An Aldi or Lidl 2,000

I'd imagine that no human can memorise all those lines, and they change fairly quickly, so it is probably surprising that there aren't more administrative errors.

normally I would have taken pics with my phone and stood my ground over this but it was to busy .. I still think it was a deliberate misleading rather than a mistake a super way to cover stock losses .as most people will only buy one of the items so it will be a case of is it worth bothering to go back to a mega out of town shopping centre this near xmas . and as stated I was in the business for 30+ years so know all the tricks

 

[JohnC6]

A Tesco might have 60,000 lines on sale. An Aldi or Lidl 2,000

I'd imagine that no human can memorise all those lines, and they change fairly quickly, so it is probably surprising that there aren't more administrative errors.

Fair point. This article is from 2015 but in reality not much has changed and it's sharp practices highlighted here that cause shoppers to be cynical.

UK supermarkets criticised over misleading pricing tactics

Which? dossier to competition watchdog detailed ‘dodgy multi-buys, shrinking products and baffling offers’

www.theguardian.com

 

[Pound Coin]

Fair point. This article is from 2015 but in reality not much has changed and it's sharp practices highlighted here that cause shoppers to be cynical.

UK supermarkets criticised over misleading pricing tactics

Which? dossier to competition watchdog detailed ‘dodgy multi-buys, shrinking products and baffling offers’

www.theguardian.com

However, what is mention in that article are not errors, they are practices such as “dodgy multi-buys, shrinking products and baffling sales offers”.

My comment was following this one of yours:

They're in a no-lose situation so when it's brought to their attention they just say it was 'an administrative error' I've heard that explanation time and time again in all sorts of scenarios.

Which appears to be referring to errors, not practises.

 

[cambsno]

Came across this tonight in tescos the wife spotted a xmas jug ,ticket under said £2 but was £7.50 when at the till .. wonder how many people get caught by that one .. having been in the business years ago I think this is just a management trick to cover stock losses ?? Tescos are imho getting very pricy these days and far from uncle jacks policy of pile it high sell it cheap !

Or it could just an error, I make mistakes in my work and expect Tesco employees to do the same.

 

[cambsno]

As long as you don't say - "This is a grand cru Champagne, from the Basildon region, purchased from their Tesco branch". "This wine has hints of flint and chalk, with an estuarine finish and the unmistakeable, overall flavour of Essex".

Ok, its Kent but Chapel Down is the only wine I buy now - Bacchus is excellent as is their sparkling stuff.