Price mistakes in shops

lounakin · 19-12-2012 10:40pm #1

I keep reading reviews and hearing people saying they wanted to buy an item at the advertised price only to find out it was a mistake at the till. Why are people under the impression that by law the shop has to sell this item at the lower price? I've seen people defending this urban legend of a law tooth and nail!

Gongoozler · 19-12-2012 10:43pm

Well, it'd take a while to explain, so i'll cut it down to the main point - people are retards.

Boombastic · 19-12-2012 10:43pm

lounakin wrote: »

I keep reading reviews and hearing people saying they wanted to buy an item at the advertised price only to find out it was a mistake at the till. Why are people under the impression that by law the shop has to sell this item at the lower price? I've seen people defending this urban legend of a law tooth and nail!

Years ago I worked in Tesco and their policy at the time was to give it at whatever price it scanned at. This guy comes up to the counter with fish fingers, when scanned through the price showed up as €0.00, The manager told me to give them to him at that price as that was the policy, Yer man goes hang on a minute and went and got 4 more boxes!! Happy customer,:D but the guy who was supposed to make sure everything scanned properly got a boll1xing:(

Max Power · 19-12-2012 10:44pm

I like the smell of firelighters

MadsL · 19-12-2012 10:44pm

lounakin wrote: »

I keep reading reviews and hearing people saying they wanted to buy an item at the advertised price only to find out it was a mistake at the till. Why are people under the impression that by law the shop has to sell this item at the lower price? I've seen people defending this urban legend of a law tooth and nail!

Tesco's no-quibble perhaps.

Of course they once did quite bit of quibbling when I tried to buy their roasted chicken priced at 2.99 per kg when the advert said 2.99 each. To the point where they threw me out. No quibble me arse.

Clarehobo · 19-12-2012 10:49pm

MadsL wrote: »

Tesco's no-quibble perhaps.

Of course they once did quite bit of quibbling when I tried to buy their roasted chicken priced at 2.99 per kg when the advert said 2.99 each. To the point where they threw me out. No quibble me arse.

Where was it advertised?
Just wondering because I worked in Tesco aeons ago and the policy was people were to get it at the shelf price: had it once and I think the guy made such a fuss that the three pack of orange juice was costing him so much more than shelf price and the manager gave it to him for free...

Sunnyisland · 19-12-2012 10:51pm

Boombastic wrote: »

Years ago I worked in Tesco and their policy at the time was to give it at whatever price it scanned at. This guy comes up to the counter with fish fingers, when scanned through the price showed up as €0.00, The manager told me to give them to him at that price as that was the policy, Yer man goes hang on a minute and went and got 4 more boxes!! Happy customer,:D but the guy who was supposed to make sure everything scanned properly got a boll1xing:(

Thats funny

franktheplank · 19-12-2012 10:51pm

I'm more of a shoplifting man myself.

Gordon Gecko · 19-12-2012 10:52pm

Bitch was giving out stink on my butcher's counter today: saw a tag saying 25 euro on a roast, then I had to explain that the "/kg" right beside the price meant that I did not have to actually sell it to her at the price she "thought" simply because "no customer could read that".

MagicSean · 19-12-2012 10:53pm

People are stupid

Muir · 19-12-2012 10:55pm

My sister went in to buy something on offer the other day, there were at least 10 signs saying the item was on offer, tried to charge her full price at the till & the manager said although the deal had ended the previous day they had to give it to her on offer, and he had had to do the same with others that day because no one had taken the reduced price signs down.

suicide_circus · 19-12-2012 10:56pm

I worked in a place where the register system was arseways. Sometimes got stuff scanning at minus figures, so if you wanted the float to be correct you'd actually have to hand customers cash just for bringing the item to the till. We didn't though obviously.

Senna · 19-12-2012 10:58pm

Asda in the North have the same policy, once bought two 16gb usb pen drives that were at the 1gb price, no arguing, its our mistake so you pay the advertised price. Nice policy, but its down to each shop to decide on their own policy.

road_high · 19-12-2012 10:59pm

Funny thing is I find 9 times out of 10 when the price is "wrong" it's in the shop's favour...wonder why that could be :rolleyes:

kneemos · 19-12-2012 11:00pm

If something is advertised at a certain price then that's the price I'm getting it,no ifs,ands,buts or maybes.

Skid · 19-12-2012 11:00pm

It is amazing how almost everyone who screams 'I know my rights' has no clue whatsoever about their rights.

Shane-KornSpace · 19-12-2012 11:07pm

kneemos wrote: »

If something is advertised at a certain price then that's the price I'm getting it,no ifs,ands,buts or maybes.

Not in my shop, you wont.

kneemos · 19-12-2012 11:09pm

Shane-KornSpace wrote: »

Not in my shop, you wont.

Try me bub,I KNOW MY RIGHTS.

Shane-KornSpace · 19-12-2012 11:09pm

kneemos wrote: »

Try me bub,I KNOW MY RIGHTS.

And what rights are they?

Gongoozler · 19-12-2012 11:10pm

Skid wrote: »

It is amazing how almost everyone who screams 'I know my rights' has no clue whatsoever about their rights.

It's almost mandatory.
Once had a woman scream at me that her brother was a solicitor and how dare I tell her she wasn't entitled to a refund, she'd have him in to get it from us. Yeah...still waiting on that.

Senna · 19-12-2012 11:11pm

kneemos wrote: »

If something is advertised at a certain price then that's the price I'm getting it,no ifs,ands,buts or maybes.

Why don't you go to a used car dealer with the prices of cars stuck on the inside of the window, those cars are usually open, so take off one digit and buy that €9999 car for €999.
No shop has to sell you anything, at any price.

Lapin · 19-12-2012 11:15pm

Haggle.

kneemos · 19-12-2012 11:17pm

Shane-KornSpace wrote: »

And what rights are they?

Seriously do there must be a flaw in the law if a shop can advertise a low price that encourages people to put items in the basket and then charge them more at the till.

theteal · 19-12-2012 11:21pm

People need to understand the difference between an advertisement and an invitation to treat. A price on a shop shelf is not an advertisement. Quite simple really.

Shane-KornSpace · 19-12-2012 11:26pm

kneemos wrote: »

Seriously do there must be a flaw in the law if a shop can advertise a low price that encourages people to put items in the basket and then charge them more at the till.

As the above poster mentioned, it's not an advertisement.
It's an invitation which can be retracted at any time before the sale being complete.

Corruptedmorals · 19-12-2012 11:27pm

kneemos wrote: »

If something is advertised at a certain price then that's the price I'm getting it,no ifs,ands,buts or maybes.

And what is your legal basis for that? The law protects the retailer, so that they don't have to sell TVs or whatever for €10 due to decimal points errors. It's called invitation to treat and it means you haven't a leg to stand on. Lots of shops will honour errors, but they are going above and beyond in doing so.

lounakin · 19-12-2012 11:29pm

kneemos wrote: »

Seriously do there must be a flaw in the law if a shop can advertise a low price that encourages people to put items in the basket and then charge them more at the till.

There is a difference between advertising at a low price and making a mistake on the item! One is illegal and can get reported: say you go in a shop and all the items are marked a certain price, with advertisement on the outside enticing people to buy at this price and you find out it's actually more expensive, that's clearly wrong. But if you find a mistake on a label, the shop doesn't have to comply with it.

irish son · 19-12-2012 11:31pm

kneemos wrote: »

Seriously do there must be a flaw in the law if a shop can advertise a low price that encourages people to put items in the basket and then charge them more at the till.

Im not 100% sure but I think if the price on the shelf in grocery stores are wrong them stores can be fined heavily.

Senna · 19-12-2012 11:33pm

irish son wrote: »

Im not 100% sure but I think if the price on the shelf in grocery stores are wrong them stores can be fined heavily.

Only if its proved to be a deliberate error, which cant be proved too easy.

irish son · 19-12-2012 11:36pm

Senna wrote: »

Only if its proved to be a deliberate error, which cant be proved too easy.

Are you sure about that? I thought it was so stores wouldn't be lax in keeping prices updated.

A_Sober_Paddy · 19-12-2012 11:38pm

Price in store is only invitation to threat...

Which means that the shop owner doesn't have to sell at that price, but normally will as a gesture of good will, if they don't the customer could argue for false advertisement, but it would have to proven in court that the shop advertised a wrong price on purpose...

I'd open to be corrected now, but I've worked in retail for over 5 years

fasttalkerchat · 19-12-2012 11:38pm

kneemos wrote: »

Seriously do there must be a flaw in the law if a shop can advertise a low price that encourages people to put items in the basket and then charge them more at the till.

You are under no legal obligation to take an item if it costs more than you thought. Until payment is processed you are free to walk out the door.

Shryke · 19-12-2012 11:38pm

kneemos wrote: »

Seriously do there must be a flaw in the law if a shop can advertise a low price that encourages people to put items in the basket and then charge them more at the till.

Things can be priced incorrectly by mistake. Human error, it happens. It doesn't mean the retailer has to bend over and lose money.

And having worked in retail I can say that people honest to God take price tags off certain items and put them on more expensive ones and then try/demand to get them at "the price they were marked". This happens all the time.
I never let them off with it, but spineless managers usually would in the end if the customer pressed. People are stupid assholes, it's not even a law to have to sell something at the price it was marked, and still an army of wagons and clowns have to act like cnuts.

fasttalkerchat · 19-12-2012 11:38pm

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Price in store is only invitation to threat...

Which means that the shop owner doesn't have to sell at that price, but normally will as a gesture of good will, if they don't the customer could argue for false advertisement, but it would have to proven in court that the shop advertised a wrong price on purpose...

I'd open to be corrected now, but I've worked in retail for over 5 years

Invitation to treat!

Difference Engine · 19-12-2012 11:40pm

Basic contract law. The misconception is that they are offering to sell it to you at that price and you accept by bringing it to the till and making payment.

What they are actually doing is inviting you to offer to buy it at that price, which they then accept and consideration (money) passes between you.

Subtle but important difference. As other posters already said look up invitation to treat.

Anyone can tell the differences between a simple error and a calculated effort to mislead customers. It's a while since I was at school but does the business studies syllabus not cover some of this.

A_Sober_Paddy · 19-12-2012 11:40pm

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Invitation to treat!

That was a funny typo:D

fasttalkerchat · 19-12-2012 11:42pm

irish son wrote: »

Are you sure about that? I thought it was so stores wouldn't be lax in keeping prices updated.

Senna is right. An isolated incident would not be enough to be fined. It would need to be documented that they regularly advertised products as being significantly cheaper in an attempt to mislead customers.

M cebee · 19-12-2012 11:43pm

i bought a couple of keyboards for 2.75 each at tesco the other day

checkout remarked on the price but sold them at scanned price

Difference Engine · 19-12-2012 11:46pm

M cebee wrote: »

i bought a couple of keyboards for 2.75 each at tesco the other day

checkout remarked on the price but sold them at scanned price

If you do find an error like that you can always use the self service checkout. No questions asked there!

Archeron · 19-12-2012 11:49pm

Shryke wrote: »

an army of wagons and clowns have to act like cnuts.

I always wondered what the collective term for that kind of wagon was, thank you.

theteal · 19-12-2012 11:49pm

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Price in store is only invitation to threat...

Which means that the shop owner doesn't have to sell at that price, but normally will as a gesture of good will, if they don't the customer could argue for false advertisement, but it would have to proven in court that the shop advertised a wrong price on purpose...

I'd open to be corrected now, but I've worked in retail for over 5 years

A TV/Radio/Newspaper ad, a big poster in the window; not honouring these would be false advertisement and yes, retailers can get into serious trouble for that practice. A price on display is the invitation to treat which then can lead to the offer and acceptance stages of forming a contract. Pricing mistakes happen. No retailer has to sell an item at a displayed price but if mistaken prices are reported and not remedied, again the retailer may face consequences.

Knockout_91 · 19-12-2012 11:52pm

Mum was in Harrods a few years back, looking at a bag priced €1500 but had a tag on it saying €150 (accidentally). Till girl tried charging her €1500, mum refused, demanded to speak to the manager, and got the bag for €150.

I work in retail. What I love, especially at this time of year, is when people purchase stuff before Christmas and then come back in January when the sales are on, refund said item, and try to buy it again at the new sale price.

We definitely do not allow that.

A_Sober_Paddy · 19-12-2012 11:53pm

theteal wrote: »

A TV/Radio/Newspaper ad, a big poster in the window; not honouring these would be false advertisement and yes, retailers can get into serious trouble for that practice. A price on display is the invitation to treat which then can lead to the offer and acceptance stages of forming a contract. Pricing mistakes happen. No retailer has to sell an item at a displayed price but if mistaken prices are reported and not remedied, again the retailer may face consequences.

Thats what I said

Gongoozler · 19-12-2012 11:54pm

Knockout_91 wrote: »

Mum was in Harrods a few years back, looking at a bag priced €1500 but had a tag on it saying €150 (accidentally). Till girl tried charging her €1500, mum refused, demanded to speak to the manager, and got the bag for €150.

I work in retail. What I love, especially at this time of year, is when people purchase stuff before Christmas and then come back in January when the sales are on, refund said item, and try to buy it again at the new sale price.

We definitely do not allow that.

Ah now this...this is a sticky yoke. They're entitled to their refund (if they are) and they're entitled to buy from your store (if they are), so why not allow the two transactions?

Knockout_91 · 19-12-2012 11:57pm

Gongoozler wrote: »

Ah now this...this is a sticky yoke. They're entitled to their refund (if they are) and they're entitled to buy from your store (if they are), so why not allow the two transactions?

No, you are only entitled to a refund if a product is faulty. You are not entitled to one if you simply change your mind. However, each store has their own policy.

Gongoozler · 20-12-2012 12:00am

Knockout_91 wrote: »

No, you are only entitled to a refund if a product is faulty. You are not entitled to one if you simply change your mind. However, each store has their own policy.

Hence why I said (if they are).

foxinsox · 20-12-2012 12:01am

Haggle

Can I please say on behalf of everyone who has ever worked in retail in their life:

Please don't haggle

It's fecking miserable

Then the haggler gets all sarky with staff

Please don't...at least not until May 2013

* Not personally addressed at poster who said haggle

kneemos · 20-12-2012 12:02am

If a product comes with the price printed on the lable is that still an invitation to treat?

theteal · 20-12-2012 12:04am

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

if they don't the customer could argue for false advertisement, but it would have to proven in court that the shop advertised a wrong price on purpose...

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Thats what I said

my apologies, Paddy, maybe I read it incorrectly (i'm watching walter white take care of business while half reading posts) but i got the impression from the above that you were associating a price tag with an advertisement. . .i can see now that you were referring to a customer making this mistake. Nothing would have to be proved in court as it's not an advertisement in the first place.

gnfnrhead · 20-12-2012 12:08am

Knockout_91 wrote: »

Mum was in Harrods a few years back, looking at a bag priced €1500 but had a tag on it saying €150 (accidentally). Till girl tried charging her €1500, mum refused, demanded to speak to the manager, and got the bag for €150.

I work in retail. What I love, especially at this time of year, is when people purchase stuff before Christmas and then come back in January when the sales are on, refund said item, and try to buy it again at the new sale price.

We definitely do not allow that.

Never even thought of that!

My mam has an awful habit of getting me DVD's and stuff that I already have as small presents. Never had any trouble returning them. A lot of shops will take stuff back after Christmas with minimal questions. I reckon they just assume people either already have it, or simply didnt want it.

I wouldnt return it and then buy it straight back, I'd wait a day or two

Voodoomelon · 20-12-2012 12:11am

Knockout_91 wrote: »

No, you are only entitled to a refund if a product is faulty. You are not entitled to one if you simply change your mind. However, each store has their own policy.

As far as I am aware, you are not entitled to a refund if a product is faulty; it's simply one of the options open to both you and the retailer to agree upon.

The retailer is also entitled to repair or replace the item. Who is correct? It's deliberately ambiguous to allow an agreement between both parties. You can't take a retailer to court saying an item was faulty and he would not give you your money back, when he offered to repair/replace it.

That is my understanding of it.

Price mistakes in shops

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