Incorrect or non-existent prices in shops

Peanut

I'm growing increasingly tired of being overcharged in shops due to the wrong prices being displayed, either due to sloppiness, or I suspect in a number of cases, pure greed.

For example, I buy something in a store in Grafton Street expecting to pay the marked price, the cashier asks for a higher price, I point out that the display price is lower, so fair enough she apologises and charges me the lower price.

All fairly reasonable, expect I repeat the same procedure about 2 week later, and yes the old price is still on display and the higher price is still being charged at the till.

And now today, different store, still in Dublin, go to buy some prepacked olives, the cashier charges me 40c more on the basis that its "a different brand" even though the increased price is nowhere to be seen on the relevant price tags, which themselves make no mention of the brand etc. (funnily enough, I can't see the price coming up at the till after the barcode is scanned either.)

I feel that this particular place has a policy of trying stupid scams like this intentionally, as it's not the first time it has happened. And I'm pretty sure it's illegal. (I will be calling the ODCA tomorrow about them to see if there is any point in pursuing it).

I would like to know if many other people have experienced the same, and if so, why is the regulatory environment so weak that these places can get away with this so easily?

rant over..

shayser

Yep, it is absolutely intentional by the shops, and illegal.

What really gets me is the practice where there are packed and layered shelves of products with the prices on the lip/edge of the shelf rather than on the products (which they are allowed to do, but which is typically abused). There isn't enough room for all the prices and it is impossible to see which price relates to which product. Often the price labels overlap or are away from the product. The practice of displaying products without prices is just as bad.

hoolio

you sure about that (the illegality) shayser?

think i read once that prices on display, technically, are only basically an invitation to offer the shop X euros for product Y, an offer they do not have to accept. although i might just be wrong.

monkeyfudge

I believe that they are covered once they make you aware of the actual price at the till. Then it's up to you if you want to purchase it at that price or not.

Although if a shop is repeatedly using incorrect prices to lure in custom then something can be done about it.

Colonel Sanders

Legally the price on the shelf is only a suggested offer to make the shop for the product which they can either accept or reject. Its called invitation to treat.

I remember asking a business student where this falls in with false advertising. He asked a lecturer who said that in this situation the shop is breaching advertising law but the customer is breaching contract law. It would be up to a judge to decide which is the more serious breach of the law.

Colonel Sanders

just found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat

thefinalstage

Colonel Sanders wrote:

just found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat

Alright than, I'll offer half of the asking price!

antoinolachtnai

It is illegal to have the incorrect prices on display or not to have any prices, where a barcode scanning system is used (one of the European Communities Act Regulations 2003, I think).

The ODCA will deal with this.

Procedure is to ask to speak to the manager. Ask the manager to show you the correct shelfmark. If the manager fails to show you the correct shelf label. If he can't show it, doesn't apologize and doesn't offer to remedy, ask him if he is aware of the requirement to display correct prices. Then report him to the ODCA. Make sure to mention your own address, the address of the shop, the exact item and the date and time of the day when the problem occurred, and what the response of the staff was. Make sure to say that you are willing to go to court to testify. (Use the form on the website, in my experience they do read this stuff.)

shayser

This is the Consumer Assocations's take on things.

Under the EC (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) Regulations 2002, retailers must show the correct selling price in euro including taxes.

And here.

If a retailer makes a mistake and the actual price for the item is more than that displayed the retailers have certain rights. They do not automatically have to sell you the goods at the price stated. It is the retailer's responsibility to correct the mistake as soon as possible. If the retailer knowingly* charges more for a product than is displayed an offence may be committed. Generally, if you are told the correct price before you pay, you have no right to redress. If you notice the error after you have paid, you should bring the matter to the retailer's attention who, most likely, would refund you the difference. You could also report the matter to the National Consumer Agency. The office will investigate the complaint with the objective of ensuring future compliance with the Act. This however does not mean financial redress for the individual complainant.

*Accent theirs.

I would imagine that the number of people who don't notice that the till price is different to the advertised price, or who do notice and don't complain, would be more than those that actually complain. In my experience in retail, both in the national supermarkets and in local outlets (working close to the owner in one case) and they know and use every trick in the book. It is getting harder now though.

This is the regulation.

antoinolachtnai

This is wrong. An offence is committed whether the retailer 'knowingly' does anything or not. 'knowingly' doesn't mean a lot when you are talking about multinational plcs. You do not have to be charged; you just have to be offered a different price.

Once the transaction goes through (i.e., you accept the price offered to you by the shop for your goods in totality by giving them the means of payment) you have no particular right to a refund.

PCros

You have to understand aswell that nothing can be done about unless most of the prices are incorrect.

All shops are allowed a percentage of error, if a few items are incorrectly priced nothing can be done. I'm not sure what the actual percentage figure is though, I think its 20%

antoinolachtnai

Do you have a source for this? There is no provision in the legislation that I know of for allowing a 20 percent error, or any margin of error for that matter.

All items should be priced correctly at all times. There is obviously some excuse if a few prices are missing, but incorrect pricing or missing pricing in a whole section just should not happen.

Archeron

I had a pain in my face with this as well, as it was happening with about a quarter of what I was buying in the local shop. It came to a head one day when I was massively overcharged on numerous items. When I pointed this out to the clerk, she actually went and changed the pricing on the shelf to the higer ones she had charged and called me a liar!
After this, I reported it to the consumer association, and I have to say fair play to them. They rang me about three weeks later to say they had investigated, and that, yes indeed, the shop had lots of products marked with wrong prices. They said they would be doing spot checks over the next year to make sure the store complied with regulations.
The next day the store had every product correctly marked. :rolleyes: They still try the same overcharging now and again, but I just dont shop there anymore. Definitely worth reporting, they DO follow up on complaints.

Peanut

Good to hear it Archeron, that's very ignorant behaviour from the clerk though..

I think maybe some of the confusion over legislation is over EU compliance vs. Irish law?

I've no problem with it happening occassionally as clearly it can be just an error, but some of these places do just take the p*ss...

Thanks for all the replies btw.

parsi

I had an experience in Tesco's one where they didn't give me a two-for-one offer . They denied it was available so I went back to the shelf, took down the notice and brought it to the Manager's lackey (Tesco's managers hide in their offices) who looked at it and said "That offer expires on 27 June". Thats fine, say I, it's only the 25th today (actual date was something else but numbers are correct).

The gobsmacked look on her face was worth millions...

loyatemu

Tesco are not the worst - though some of their special offers are worded in ways designed to catch you out. if you do pull them up on something though they will generally give you the stuff for free.

it's the convenience stores that are the real villains here - half the time they either have no price on the shelf for an item, or the price will be for an entirely different (or worse still, a slightly different) item.

wasim21k

so every one experienced in over charged then why not give shop name and address to avoid them?????

antoinolachtnai

It would really be more useful to ask to speak to the manager in each store, get their feedback and see if they improve, and maybe post that.

The law is quite clear, but I think everybody is entitled to the odd dumb mistake. It's not the mistakes that really count, it's the way they are dealt with.

I think a lot of managers don't bother because no one ever complains.

Demonique

antoinolachtnai wrote:

It is illegal to have the incorrect prices on display or not to have any prices, where a barcode scanning system is used (one of the European Communities Act Regulations 2003, I think).

There's a shop (AM PM I think) that's in the Swan Centre in Ranelagh. They don't display prices for ANY of the magazines which means you have to go to the bother of queuing up to find out the price.
The Chinese woman behind the counter had very poor English and couldn't understand that the magazine's prices should be displayed.

Ugh, it is my opinion that if you're dealing with the public in an English speaking country you should at least have basic English"!

rubadub

parsi wrote:

I had an experience in Tesco's one where they didn't give me a two-for-one offer . They denied it was available so I went back to the shelf, took down the notice and brought it to the Manager's lackey (Tesco's managers hide in their offices) who looked at it and said "That offer expires on 27 June". Thats fine, say I, it's only the 25th today (actual date was something else but numbers are correct).

The gobsmacked look on her face was worth millions...

I had a similar one, they walked me around to where I got it, saw the sign confirmed it was all OK, took the sign down, and gave me my money back and the stuff for free.
It was only after I was wondering what would happen to people still qeueing up who availed of the offer. Did they drag them around and tell them there was no sign in the first place? wouldnt surprise me.

Got stuff in dunnes free too, a buy one get one free that didnt register. Thought it was odd, they gave all my money back and stuff for free, but didnt appear to care that the computers were wrong. Then only the other day the same thing happened, a manager was there and was getting really flustered when I told him, was grabbing other employees asking what to do, saying things had to be cancelled. I got half of my money back, dunno what their policy was but I was pleased enough, made €6 on an already good deal.

That offer expires thing is a scam too, the sign should not be up if expired, and the expired bit is in tiny writing.

rediguana

Not quite on-topic, but customers aren't averse to shennanigans themselves. The small print doesn't need to be so small for them not to notice it, on many occasions. The amount of customers I have to deal with who can't read a simple sign (with perhaps a maximum of fifteen words on it) and don't notice (a) What days the promotion applies to, or (b) Which products it applies to, is a perennial source of amazement for me.

Some people have mentioned that if the promo isn't currently running, then the sign shouldn't be up. I understand the logic, but promotions need to be advertised in advance.

I bet if I put up a sign with small print saying "Free Shoulder Rub with every ten euro spent", nobody would miss it

That said, in a case where a shop has incorrect or unclear prices up, I think the consumer is well within his or her rights to make a fuss and try to get something for nothing. It's intensely annoying when you can't see the price for something. Financially punishing the relevant shop is the best way to bring the practice to a halt, unless the manager is incompetent.