When "special offers" aren't so special...

juke

So I’ve complained online to the shop (“the person who deals with this is on holidays”! and the NCA (who will investigate, but may not inform me of their findings) but what else to do?

I do my grocery shopping in one of the top 3 supermarkets. And I buy wine…a bottle or 2 a week. To drink with dinner – so nothing too special – I try to spend no more than €10.00 per bottle.

A couple of weeks ago (30th June) I decide to spoil myself and bought a favourite (so I’m familiar with its normal retail price) for €12.99.

One week later imagine my surprise to see said same brand on “special offer 25% off” for €12.99 for a limited time – 2nd to 20th July. It also quoted the usual price as €17 odd.

I questioned a member of staff (ok junior – and I didn’t press the matter – whilst I shop there, I don’t like it and haven’t had good experience from management before) who just shrugged his shoulders and said that’s the price.

I’ve checked the website and it continues to offer this special offer……makes me wonder what other special offers I see on every visit to the supermarket are not so special………….. How many unsuspecting shoppers get conned on a regular basis?

Any thoughts?

Mods, Is it allowed to post the offer link here?

J

axer

From what I know it is illegal to do that. I believe the item must be at the "original" price for at least 30 days before the "sale" to qualify as the original price. Just remember that from college law lectures but cannot remember from what act that is.

Sponge Bob

Tesco are simply delighted at the lack of Trading Standards officers in ireland , we only have the useless NCA which never leaves Dublin 1 and Dublin 2 to monitor compliance in the field.

The UK seem to think that laws and standards need enforcement at the local level . Supermarkets seem to think that they will be inspected regularly and act accordingly .

Thankfully we do not bother Tesco like they get bothered in their home country , jolly decent of us eh! .

juke

axer wrote: »

From what I know it is illegal to do that. I believe the item must be at the "original" price for at least 30 days before the "sale" to qualify as the original price. Just remember that from college law lectures but cannot remember from what act that is.

Me too - vaguely.
Guess I'm questioning how many of us take these offers at face value - I only noticed this because it's wine I like...but nobody can moniter prices properly as sponge bob says.

Will my complaint have any effect at all? I suspect not much:(

Clytus

I know of one of the leading discount stores has taken legal action against one of the major multiples for price comparisons printed on a flyer handed out nationwide.....the products they selected for comparison ,when looked at carefully are not like for like. Interesting case....funny how solicitors can form opinions on foodstuffs quality without having to go to the expense of having Nutritional,Micro,Chemical and Organoliptic testing on food!!

jimmycrackcorm

Sponge Bob wrote: »

we only have the useless NCA which never leaves Dublin 1 and Dublin 2 to monitor compliance in the field.

Not true. I used to work in software development for retail computer systems and had a bit of pressure a while back with a shop in a little country village who had a visit from an NCA officer saying they would be shut down within 3 days unless the computer system printed out the shelf labels with the price per KG added.

sunny2004

axer wrote: »

From what I know it is illegal to do that. I believe the item must be at the "original" price for at least 30 days before the "sale" to qualify as the original price. Just remember that from college law lectures but cannot remember from what act that is.

Firstly I thing its amazing the shop use "sharp practice" like this !

But i am just wondering to myself is there some difference with special offers and Sale prices ? I am not sure myself...

Doctor DooM

sunny2004 wrote: »

Firstly I thing its amazing the shop use "sharp practice" like this !

But i am just wondering to myself is there some difference with special offers and Sale prices ? I am not sure myself...

There's a huge difference.

I don't know the law behind it, but a sale item has to represent a reduction.

Special offer tags can effectively be slapped onto anything.

Generally they are used when you are just getting a "good offer" on something. TBH, under current law, it's up to you as a consumer to use your head to determine if its a good deal or not.

Iswas tags are the way to check if you're actually getting a reduction. The items need to be on sale at the old price for a certain period of time.

axer

http://www.nca.ie/eng/Business_Zone/Guides/Full%20List/Product_Prices.html

'Reduced' prices in the sales

If you have stock in the sales with reduced prices, you have to have had the products on offer at the advertised original price for a reasonable period before the price was reduced.
For example, you are not allowed to have a label or sign on a product saying "reduced by 30 per cent" if this is the first time you are selling this particular product.

They don't say exactly what law enforces the above but I am presuming the Consumer Protection Act 2007.

OP: Did the special offer sign possibly say the RRP is €17 odd or did it specifically say "was €17 now €12.99"?
I'm thinking it is possible to show the €17 odd as the RRP legally if that is what the recommended retail price is i.e. in order for them to highlight that they are cheaper than the recommended price.

EDIT: From the Consumer Protection Act 2007
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2007/a1907.pdf

Chapter 2
Misleading Commercial Practices
42.—(1) A trader shall not engage in a misleading commercial
practice.
(2) Without prejudice to the amendments of the Hallmarking Act
1981 made by section 99, sections 43 to 46 specify the various circumstances
in which a commercial practice is misleading.
43.—(1) A commercial practice is misleading if it includes the provision
of false information in relation to any matter set out in subsection
(3) and that information would be likely to cause the average
consumer to make a transactional decision that the average consumer
would not otherwise make.
(2) A commercial practice is misleading if it would be likely to
cause the average consumer to be deceived or misled in relation to
any matter set out in subsection (3) and to make a transactional
decision that the average consumer would not otherwise make.
(3) The following matters are set out for the purposes of subsections
(1) and (2):
(a) the existence or nature of a product;
(b) the main characteristics of a product, including, without
limitation, any of the following:
(i) its geographical origin or commercial origin;
(ii) its availability, including, without limitation, its availability
at a particular time or place or at a particular
price;
.....
.....
(6) Without limiting subsection (5)—
(a) if the commercial practice involves a representation or
creates an impression (whether in advertising, marketing
or otherwise) that a product was previously offered at a
different price or at a particular price, consideration shall
be given to whether the product was previously offered
openly and in good faith at that price and at the same
place for a reasonable period of time before the representation
was made, and
(b) if the commercial practice involves a representation or
creates an impression (whether in advertising, marketing
or otherwise) that a product is being offered by a trader
at or below a price recommended by the manufacturer,
producer or supplier of the product (other than the
trader), consideration shall be given to whether that
recommended price was one recommended in good faith
by that manufacturer, producer or supplier.

It is 42.(6)(b) that makes it important whether the shop in question listed the other price as a recommended retail price or "was €x".

rameire

i remember a music shop on patrick street in cork cant remember which one, but it was christmas and the sale was on and they had a section for certain percent off , as i was looking through all the items, i noticed under every sticker stating the price of the product in the sale, was the old price, obviously the staff were lazy and didnt bother to remove the old stickers, but every single dvd and cd i removed the sticker from was actually cheaper before the sale, and the differences were between 2 and 5 euro. couldnt believe it,

Slice

A couple of weeks ago (30th June) I decide to spoil myself and bought a favourite (so I’m familiar with its normal retail price) for €12.99.

One week later imagine my surprise to see said same brand on “special offer 25% off” for €12.99 for a limited time – 2nd to 20th July. It also quoted the usual price as €17 odd.

It would be helpful if you had copies of receipts pre-special offer and during the special offer to show that the price remained the same. You should send these into the NCA if that's the case. And if you don't have the receipts the store manager should be able to retrieve copies of them if you made your purchase electronically; in other words by laser or CC.

parsi

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

Not true. I used to work in software development for retail computer systems and had a bit of pressure a while back with a shop in a little country village who had a visit from an NCA officer saying they would be shut down within 3 days unless the computer system printed out the shelf labels with the price per KG added.

Hmm. They seem to leave Tesco & PC World well alone - they are the greatest culprits for lack of pricing.

Anecdotally it would seem that our consumer agencies prefer to lean on the small fish and "have discussions" or "accept undertakings" from the big guys.

Jip

Who said the OP was going on about Tesco here ? It could be Dunnes, Supervalu or Superquinn. They all do it.

To the poster above, I know for a fact that Tesco have more visitations from the NCA than Dunnes for example. I don't work for Tescos or any other retailer but I have had alot of dealings with each of them by other means. It can almost be argued that the smaller retailers are left alone more so than the larger ones whos prices are inspected on what is probably a weekly basis and are regularly prosecuted.

penexpers

axer wrote: »

From what I know it is illegal to do that. I believe the item must be at the "original" price for at least 30 days before the "sale" to qualify as the original price. Just remember that from college law lectures but cannot remember from what act that is.

If it's labelled as "Special Offer" then the rules regarding sale items do not apply.

axer

penexpers wrote: »

If it's labelled as "Special Offer" then the rules regarding sale items do not apply.

I believe they do *if* they mention an original price i.e. was 10 euro now 8 euro. Because that is a sale no matter what the shop calls it. If it just said "Special offer - 8 euro" then the original price does not matter and is fine even if it was already 8 euro before the special offer.

juke

Ye'll have to humour me here. don't know how to quote different posts together

axer wrote: »

OP: Did the special offer sign possibly say the RRP is €17 odd or did it specifically say "was €17 now €12.99"?

As I recall, the sign said "Special offer 25% off €12.99", and in smaller writing below was "usual price €17" It definately didn't have RRP.

I was there last night. The sign now says "Special offer, 25% off €12.99" and on a smaller tag below "€12.99, price per litre €17...."

Slice - I do have earlier receipts showing the previous retail price of €12.99 and previous sale prices. I didn't buy the wine on the day though.

The supermarket in question have been on via e-mail to say I was mistaken....:(

axer

juke wrote: »

As I recall, the sign said "Special offer 25% off €12.99", and in smaller writing below was "usual price €17" It definately didn't have RRP.

"Usual price €17" is worded very vaguely. They could argue that the usual price everywhere else is €17 but that they are 25% cheaper than that.

juke wrote: »

I was there last night. The sign now says "Special offer, 25% off €12.99" and on a smaller tag below "€12.99, price per litre €17...."

I don't understand the "€12.99, price per litre €17...." part. How can the price be €17 per litre if it is €12.99 for the litre? or are they trying to imply the old price was €17 per litre.

juke wrote: »

Slice - I do have earlier receipts showing the previous retail price of €12.99 and previous sale prices. I didn't buy the wine on the day though.

How old are the receipts?

MOH

axer wrote: »

I don't understand the "€12.99, price per litre €17...." part. How can the price be €17 per litre if it is €12.99 for the litre? or are they trying to imply the old price was €17 per litre.

I presume it's a 750ml bottle, 12.99 => 17.32/litre

axer

MOH wrote: »

I presume it's a 750ml bottle, 12.99 => 17.32/litre

That would make sense.

Unfortunately if that is the case then it would be hard to prove anything was done.

juke

MOH wrote: »

I presume it's a 750ml bottle, 12.99 => 17.32/litre

Yes.

I have receipts from May and June, but as Axer says, given the sign change, I've no proof now that the sign in the shop was misleading.

However, on the website it still says (and I've pasted it into notepad to quote it here):(**edited by me**)

"Name of Wine** (75 Centilitre)
€12.99 Price Per 75 CL
Offers on deliveries from 02 July to 20 July

SAVE 25% (applied) €12.99"

Am I missing something?

axer

juke wrote: »

"Name of Wine** (75 Centilitre)
€12.99 Price Per 75 CL
Offers on deliveries from 02 July to 20 July

SAVE 25% (applied) €12.99"

Am I missing something?

They don't say save 25% over the old price. They could mean save 25% over the RRP or other retailers.