Tesco No Quibble Guarantee changing

Jessica Fletcher

I saw a sign in Tesco today saying that from the 30th May, they will no longer give you an item for free if you're overcharged. Instead you'll get double the amount you were overcharged by.

It was good while it lasted :-(

Davy

Boo :mad:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

About time. People were abusing the previous guarantee and we all, as customers, carry the cost of that.

Davy

the groutch wrote: »

will be glad to see the back of this free item malarkey.

I know of people who when they get overcharged for an item go back and buy a dozen, in order to get them free too. That's not what the guarantee was intended for, and the rest of the customers have been footing the bill.

I think/hope most people aren't like that going back to abuse the guarantee. If they had changed to it allow you get one item free rather than a total change. This guarantee was introduced remember because they were overcharging customers so often

January

Aliya Hallowed Soybean wrote: »

About time. People were abusing the previous guarantee and we all, as customers, carry the cost of that.

How were people abusing it? If the shelf price is different to the price you paid at the till then you get the item free... nothing abusing about that?

Nolimits

January wrote: »

How were people abusing it? If the shelf price is different to the price you paid at the till then you get the item free... nothing abusing about that?

People were abusing it by buying the whole shelf of the items once they knew they would get them free.

wmpdd3

And....

the prices on tills in 24 hour store were changed between 4am and 8am. All the prices need to be displayed withing this time.

Every 3 weeks there would be a refund of at least €40 to each person from purchases made between those hours.

foggy_lad

So tesco introduced this when they went to the scanning tills to counteract the fears people had about prices being wrong and being overcharged but now instead of employing competent staff that can get the on shelf prices right they are getting even worse with even more wrong prices so they do away with the refund offer as they dont care about their customers or how much they overcharge them!

borderlinemeath

foggy_lad wrote: »

So tesco introduced this when they went to the scanning tills to counteract the fears people had about prices being wrong and being overcharged but now instead of employing competent staff that can get the on shelf prices right they are getting even worse with even more wrong prices so they do away with the refund offer as they dont care about their customers or how much they overcharge them!

Do you know how many products are in a tesco store?

I don't but I would imagine it's hundreds of thousands of options. So there has to be room for human error.

Occasionally on the bargain alerts forum there is a post about an item that is underpriced in tesco (bodum coffee plungers most recently) so it happens the other way around as well.

I have seen people filling their trolleys with one product in order to capitalise on price errors. I've also seen posters bragging that they've done it as well. It's almost like a begrudgery that's built into people - "big business can afford it so f*ck them".

It does cost the customer in the long run.

xxlauraxxox

least tesco would give the product for free or will double the difference were overcharged supervalu will only give u the difference u were overcharged

parsi

This would imply that rather than forcing Tesco and their incompetent staff to get their act together regarding false pricing, the problem is such that this guarantee is costing them money.

Frankly I would have expected that their choice would have been to tackle the problem by streamlining their price change policies.

UrbanSea

I'd love if the system somehow overcharged for about 50 quid :cool:

compsys

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Do you know how many products are in a tesco store?

I don't but I would imagine it's hundreds of thousands of options. So there has to be room for human error.

Occasionally on the bargain alerts forum there is a post about an item that is underpriced in tesco (bodum coffee plungers most recently) so it happens the other way around as well.

I have seen people filling their trolleys with one product in order to capitalise on price errors. I've also seen posters bragging that they've done it as well. It's almost like a begrudgery that's built into people - "big business can afford it so f*ck them".

It does cost the customer in the long run.

I've never been over charged by Superquinn!

Seriously, Tesco are a joke when it comes to displaying their prices properly.

compsys

parsi wrote: »

This would imply that rather than forcing Tesco and their incompetent staff to get their act together regarding false pricing, the problem is such that this guarantee is costing them money.

Frankly I would have expected that their choice would have been to tackle the problem by streamlining their price change policies.

+1

Well said!

Jev/N

compsys wrote: »

I've never been over charged by Superquinn!

Have been a few times (especially where an offer wasn't recognised) but realised it at the self scan and they gave me the item for free

wmpdd3

compsys wrote: »

I've never been over charged by Superquinn!

Seriously, Tesco are a joke when it comes to displaying their prices properly.

I was overcharged twice in Superquinn, on baby bottles and an offer on nappies that didn't work.


In all fairness the operator called someone over who just looked at the stuff, asked what prices I thought they should be and changed them on the till immediately without checking it out.

Great service but very very trusting......

vicwatson

Maybe Tesco will start getting their pricing correct? It's obviously worth their while if mistakes are made, it will be even more worth their while from May 30th.:(

BobMc

they should be able to have all prices correct in my opinion, I noticed in france last year the price displays are electronic, I guess allowing them change prices remotely from the office no excuse there I'd imagine

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

January wrote: »

How were people abusing it? If the shelf price is different to the price you paid at the till then you get the item free... nothing abusing about that?

Several people here, over the years, have said that they go back time and again when they discover an error. one person recently claimed to have a freezer full of one product which they paid nothing for. That's abuse and you and I pay for that kind of dishonest behaviour.

Gulliver

wmpdd3 wrote: »

I was overcharged twice in Superquinn, on baby bottles and an offer on nappies that didn't work.


In all fairness the operator called someone over who just looked at the stuff, asked what prices I thought they should be and changed them on the till immediately without checking it out.

Great service but very very trusting......

At least they honoured the offer. You has to be very careful in Supervalu. They leave the promotional price banners on the shelf (over the item's actual price, too) well after the offer has ended. The end date is written in very small writing at the bottom. When you buy an item and the price is different they just say "the offer's over, didn't you read the bottom of the price banner?" and make you feel like a fool at the checkout.

Needless to say, I don't shop there anymore. If I wanted to read dates that much, I'd buy a calendar.

Cabaal

Aliya Hallowed Soybean wrote: »

Several people here, over the years, have said that they go back time and again when they discover an error. one person recently claimed to have a freezer full of one product which they paid nothing for. That's abuse and you and I pay for that kind of dishonest behaviour.

Indeed they have, infact there's a large number of websites that are dedicated to finding errors so people can go in and abuse Tesco's policy.

gman2k

Aliya Hallowed Soybean wrote: »

About time. People were abusing the previous guarantee and we all, as customers, carry the cost of that.

I agree with you that abuse by greedy customers is bad. But let's not pretend to ourselves that the introduction of the new policy will result in lower food prices!
Did self service tills give lower prices?
Did the removal of most head office functions from Ireland give lower prices?

We are still paying way over the odds for food in this country compared to the UK.
Tesco Ireland is already reckoned to be it's most profitable division worldwide.
Tesco's profit margins in the Republic are the company's highest in the world according to retail industry analysts in London, who have a detailed knowledge of Tesco's worldwide operations. Tesco's Irish profit margin, was 9.3 per cent in 2008 and is projected to rise to 9.5 per cent by the end of 2009. This makes the Irish operation Tesco's most successful worldwide in margin terms.[4] Tesco's Irish profit margin is all the more remarkable given that the company sells a much larger volume of higher margin non-food items at its UK stores

borderlinemeath

gman2k wrote: »

I agree with you that abuse by greedy customers is bad. But let's not pretend to ourselves that the introduction of the new policy will result in lower food prices!
Did self service tills give lower prices?
Did the removal of most head office functions from Ireland give lower prices?

We are still paying way over the odds for food in this country compared to the UK.
Tesco Ireland is already reckoned to be it's most profitable division worldwide.
Tesco's profit margins in the Republic are the company's highest in the world according to retail industry analysts in London, who have a detailed knowledge of Tesco's worldwide operations. Tesco's Irish profit margin, was 9.3 per cent in 2008 and is projected to rise to 9.5 per cent by the end of 2009. This makes the Irish operation Tesco's most successful worldwide in margin terms.[4] Tesco's Irish profit margin is all the more remarkable given that the company sells a much larger volume of higher margin non-food items at its UK stores

Yawn.

Everytime there's a tesco bashing thread somebody always brings up the 3 year old "statistic" that's never actually been proven.

I don't care that tesco makes 0.02 more of a profit here for their shareholders than elsewhere. A higher cost base means a higher profit percentage is needed - it doesn't always transfer into bigger cash profits.

I buy wherever is cheapest - be it Dunnes, Tesco, Aldi - I know they're all making a profit - I'm not going to work myself up into worrying who makes the most.:D

vicwatson

Of course if Tesco got their pricing correct in the first place there would be no need for "abuse". Is it abuse when they try to overcharge their customers and for the most part of it get away with it?

gman2k

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Yawn.

Everytime there's a tesco bashing thread somebody always brings up the 3 year old "statistic" that's never actually been proven.

I don't care that tesco makes 0.02 more of a profit here for their shareholders than elsewhere. A higher cost base means a higher profit percentage is needed - it doesn't always transfer into bigger cash profits.

I buy wherever is cheapest - be it Dunnes, Tesco, Aldi - I know they're all making a profit - I'm not going to work myself up into worrying who makes the most.:D

Yawn back at you.
I too buy wherever is cheapest, and I have never bought into the 'The difference is we're Irish' horse manure. At least Tesco is a PLC so ordinary people can share the profits. The difference with Dunnes is that it's a private family owned company - only they can see or take the profit.
BTW, I worked for Tesco for years, so I've no need to bash them.
My point was that these new policies will not result in lower prices. The dogs on the street already know that we are paying over the odds in Ireland in general for food compared to internationally.

borderlinemeath

gman2k wrote: »

Yawn back at you.
I too buy wherever is cheapest, and I have never bought into the 'The difference is we're Irish' horse manure. At least Tesco is a PLC so ordinary people can share the profits. The difference with Dunnes is that it's a private family owned company - only they can see or take the profit.
BTW, I worked for Tesco for years, so I've no need to bash them.
My point was that these new policies will not result in lower prices. The dogs on the street already know that we are paying over the odds in Ireland in general for food compared to internationally.

We pay prices that are on parity with our income. The cost base for trading comes into play in every market around the world.

Yes we pay higher prices than the UK and some mainland European countries, but certainly not all, ever been unfortunate enough to buy groceries in France?

The USA isn't necessarily cheaper either - the portion/pack sizes are much larger so for the most part you have to buy more than you intend to. And from what I recall, meat is very expensive compared to Ireland, I remember picking up steaks for a bbq and having to do a double take at the price.

slave1

Not necessarily a worse off position for the consumer, depends on the overcharge, say an item should be €3.99 and you were charged €8.99, under the old system you would get the item for free (full refund of the €8.99), under the new system you'll have twice the overcharge refunded which is a net position to you of €8.99 -(2X(€8.99-€3.99))=€1.01 cash in your pocket.
This position is sure to be 'exploited' as much as the old one was.
On larger electronic goods the new policy is a potential for free goods and cash into your pocket.

wmpdd3

slave1 wrote: »

Not necessarily a worse off position for the consumer, depends on the overcharge, say an item should be €3.99 and you were charged €8.99, under the old system you would get the item for free (full refund of the €8.99), under the new system you'll have twice the overcharge refunded which is a net position to you of €8.99 -(2X(€8.99-€3.99))=€1.01 cash in your pocket.
This position is sure to be 'exploited' as much as the old one was.
On larger electronic goods the new policy is a potential for free goods and cash into your pocket.

You'd get 5.99 x 2 into your pocket.

slave1

wmpdd3 wrote: »

You'd get 5.99 x 2 into your pocket.

Where did you get that?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

wmpdd3 wrote: »

You'd get 5.99 x 2 into your pocket.

Explain please.

hoodwinked

slave1 wrote: »

Not necessarily a worse off position for the consumer, depends on the overcharge, say an item should be €3.99 and you were charged €8.99, under the old system you would get the item for free (full refund of the €8.99), under the new system you'll have twice the overcharge refunded which is a net position to you of €8.99 -(2X(€8.99-€3.99))=€1.01 cash in your pocket.
This position is sure to be 'exploited' as much as the old one was.
On larger electronic goods the new policy is a potential for free goods and cash into your pocket.

i believe in this kind of case you would be right, there was an overcharge of €5 on ( advertised @ €4.99) goods that we bought only 2 days ago, we got the €9.99 refunded but we would have gotten €10 under the new system?!?!?

wmpdd3 wrote: »

You'd get 5.99 x 2 into your pocket.

ok maybe i am understanding this wrong but isn't it double the difference you get back....


thus using the example above would it not be:

€8.99 - €3.99 = €5 (x2) = €10 refund

slave1

hoodwinked wrote: »

ok maybe i am understanding this wrong but isn't it double the difference you get back....


thus using the example above would it not be:

€8.99 - €3.99 = €5 (x2) = €10 refund

I agree with this intrepertation, but don't forget the original outlay of €8.99 that you spent so the net position will be cash to you of €1.01 and the item for free, which is better than having the item for free.
It will probably have a minimal effect on lower priced items but on electrical goods (depending on the discount) could be more to the consumer benefit.

wmpdd3

Oops you right, there's a €5 difference in the two prices, my mistake.

So yes, in that case you'd get a refund of €10.

So you get €1.01 and the item.

ShooterSF

BobMc wrote: »

they should be able to have all prices correct in my opinion, I noticed in france last year the price displays are electronic, I guess allowing them change prices remotely from the office no excuse there I'd imagine

I can just imagine the arguments. "It was 69 cent! You calling me a liar? You obviously changed it since I picked it up." etc.

lindtee

Just saw the sign in my local Tesco today:( I have never been overcharged in Aldi/Lidl/ and only once in Supervalu that I can remember, whereas in Tesco I'd say one out of every 3 visits, I'd be overcharged on something:mad:

Guy:Incognito

parsi wrote: »

This would imply that rather than forcing Tesco and their incompetent staff to get their act together regarding false pricing, the problem is such that this guarantee is costing them money.

Frankly I would have expected that their choice would have been to tackle the problem by streamlining their price change policies.

Assuming you've made an error in your life somewhere along the line, are you now incompetent?

rubadub

Aliya Hallowed Soybean wrote: »

About time. People were abusing the previous guarantee and we all, as customers, carry the cost of that.

Customers might have to cover their legal costs if they ever get prosecuted, which they should, as they make these "mistakes" a hell of a lot (and if you read my other posts in this section I am not part of the anti-tesco brigade). I used to love their shady overpricing strategy, since I benefited. Obviously it did pay off for them all these years or they would have changed it before now. Even if it was genuine they could have employed people to check prices are correct -as other shops apparently do.

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Do you know how many products are in a tesco store?

I don't but I would imagine it's hundreds of thousands of options. So there has to be room for human error.

I rarely get overcharged in other supermarkets, it happens all the time in tesco. With this new change I probably won't even bother going back to claim the double difference, as it takes ages to queue up behind all the other complainers and cigarette buyers in my local one. If I spot a mistake I will leave it at the till and tell them -if they even care.

borderlinemeath

rubadub wrote: »

Customers might have to cover their legal costs if they ever get prosecuted, which they should, as they make these "mistakes" a hell of a lot (and if you read my other posts in this section I am not part of the anti-tesco brigade). I used to love their shady overpricing strategy, since I benefited. Obviously it did pay off for them all these years or they would have changed it before now. Even if it was genuine they could have employed people to check prices are correct -as other shops apparently do.

I rarely get overcharged in other supermarkets, it happens all the time in tesco. With this new change I probably won't even bother going back to claim the double difference, as it takes ages to queue up behind all the other complainers and cigarette buyers in my local one. If I spot a mistake I will leave it at the till and tell them -if they even care.

I would imagine that's to do with only changing their prices at certain times of the day. (was it midnight to 4am?? another poster put it up).

I know when I worked for large companies in retail the price error was usually rectified immediately when brought to the managers attention. If it had to be rectified from Head Office the price was changed to the price scanning or the item was removed from sale until the price was rectified.

I have been overcharged a total of 4 times in Tesco, about the same in Dunnes, don't shop in SV (but from reading thread on here it does seem to make a lot of errors) and once in Aldi when something scanned twice.

Then again, I don't go in deliberately looking for stuff that scans differently from the shelf label.

sendit

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Do you know how many products are in a tesco store?

I don't but I would imagine it's hundreds of thousands of options. So there has to be room for human error.

Occasionally on the bargain alerts forum there is a post about an item that is underpriced in tesco (bodum coffee plungers most recently) so it happens the other way around as well.

I have seen people filling their trolleys with one product in order to capitalise on price errors. I've also seen posters bragging that they've done it as well. It's almost like a begrudgery that's built into people - "big business can afford it so f*ck them".

It does cost the customer in the long run.

I agree with you about this. People on hear are always saying door to door sales people are out to rob people when there not, but this may as well be stealing with the excuse as you said that there a big business so it doesn't matter

rubadub

borderlinemeath wrote: »

I would imagine that's to do with only changing their prices at certain times of the day. (was it midnight to 4am?? another poster put it up).

No, I think I have only been overcharged once late at night, I would remember since the service desk is closed at this time and they told me I would have to come back tomorrow. I am in late at night a lot too as I live 100m from a 24hr tesco.

borderlinemeath wrote: »

I have been overcharged a total of 4 times in Tesco...

I don't go in deliberately looking for stuff that scans differently from the shelf label.

I deliberately second check my receipts as it happens so much, maybe you have been overcharged more (unless you mean you do not check websites to see incorrect prices). I do check for suspiciously low shelf prices in store, if I am overcharged I get it back, if it is correct I get a cheap product. Many of the best offers in tesco are not advertised as offers at all, and I have always had a hawk eye for prices.

borderlinemeath

rubadub wrote: »

No, I think I have only been overcharged once late at night, I would remember since the service desk is closed at this time and they told me I would have to come back tomorrow. I am in late at night a lot too as I live 100m from a 24hr tesco.


I deliberately second check my receipts as it happens so much, maybe you have been overcharged more (unless you mean you do not check websites to see incorrect prices). I do check for suspiciously low shelf prices in store, if I am overcharged I get it back, if it is correct I get a cheap product. Many of the best offers in tesco are not advertised as offers at all, and I have always had a hawk eye for prices.

I do check my receipts and I always use the self scan checkouts so I can see the prices as they scan - I'm fairly aware of the prices of items I buy on a regular basis so I know whether they're cheaper in Dunnes or Tesco - and I tend to price check things online before I go to the supermarket, so I'll know what to expect.

I also tend to do 2/3 "small shops" a week rather than one big one, it keeps me familiar with all the different offers the supermarkets have on. I'm only half a mile from a fairly good dunnes and about 2 miles from the 24hr tesco in Drogheda so I have the best of both worlds.

Vojera

I had this happen once in Tesco, pointed it out to the girl who was scanning my items and she just said "Do you want it or not?" I was happy to get my item for free that day.

I can see how people would abuse it though.

red_fox

Tesco UK recently ran a promotion where they would compare your reciept with Asda's prices and if they had charged you more then you get a voucher for double the overcharge.

So if you bought something in Tesco that was half the price in Asda then you got a voucher for its full value. There were people who would get one voucher and then use it to buy stuff and get another voucher of the same or greater value and keep rolling it over and over until Tesco changed it to the difference (not double), Tesco even stated this as the reason they changed the offer.

faw1tytowers

I was over charged recently and they only refunded be the amount i was overcharged by. I just assumed the policy had already changed. Once I got a free 30 euro bottle of wine cos they had charged me the origional price and not the special offer.

maxer68

Seems the policy has changed more than you think - not only has the no quibble refund gone, but they'll now argue with you the meaning of their signs

According to tesco, a sign reading "whiskas selection any 2 for 6.50" no longer means any 2 but 2 of the same. Even though if you picked 2 other different selections they come up at 6.50,!! Try figure that out! No amount of explaining would change thid persons mind - she even refused to take the word of the floor superviser.

wmpdd3

Not sure what offer that was or how long ago it was.
Once there is a yellow SEL under the product with the same offer written on it, it should work.

The current offer is 2 for 7.00 and you can mix 3 flavours.

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/SpecialOffers/SpecialOfferDetail/Default.aspx?promoId=R11015697

maxer68

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Not sure what offer that was or how long ago it was.
Once there is a yellow SEL under the product with the same offer written on it, it should work.

The current offer is 2 for 7.00 and you can mix 3 flavours.

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/SpecialOffers/SpecialOfferDetail/Default.aspx?promoId=R11015697

The instore offer, which lasted until yesterday was 2 for 6.50. It has been running for about 5 weeks. I first noticed the problem 4 weeks ago and sent an email and was told it would be corrected. It happened again about 2 weeks ago and the manager got me to show him the labels. He tried different combinations and they all worked EXCEPT when the poultry mix was included. The poultry mix worked when 2 poultry mixes were bought, but not when one was bought with another mix.

Manager agreed with me refunded the difference (did not refund full price) and said he'd sed details to HQ.

Yesterday, exact same issue, but the stupid b£$ch on the desk started arguing and claiming that I mis-read the signs. I asked if she had seen the signs, she said no, but said some offers are only for same varieity of product. I said I knew that. A supervisor then got involved, checked it and confirmed that there was an error. The yoke on the desk still refused to do a refund because she claimed she was right. - I'm not one for a public argument of over €3, so I just told the supervisor very politely that I was not entering an argument between staff and that I'll just simply shop elsewhere.

and that's a lesson how not to treat a customer, because dunnes is next door and it makes zero difference to me whether I shop in Dunnes or Tesco.

lindtee

Actually the same thing happened to me with that Whiskas offer a few weeks ago:rolleyes: Whatever combination I got they wouldn't go through as 2 for €6.50. Instead of pleading my case with the Customer services lady, as I was in a rush, I just asked for a full refund and left. The poor cat had to make do with dry aldi food instead:eek:, she was none too impressed

maxer68

lindtee wrote: »

Actually the same thing happened to me with that Whiskas offer a few weeks ago:rolleyes: Whatever combination I got they wouldn't go through as 2 for €6.50. Instead of pleading my case with the Customer services lady, as I was in a rush, I just asked for a full refund and left. The poor cat had to make do with dry aldi food instead:eek:, she was none too impressed

Well the good news for the cat is dunnes have a 24 poultry pack for €7.:D - I thinks whiskas put drugs into this stuff, cos the cats turn their noses up at everything else!:p

mikemac

Shame to see this end

I'm sure it was abused but sometimes it's their own fault

For about two months I'd buy my weekly copy of Autosport magazine, pay and stroll over to customer service. If staff can't correct an incorrect price after it was highlighted eight times then Tesco deserve to lose money.

Same in another store. For weeks and weeks I'd buy their salmon, pay and then get it free. Like I showed you the error multiple times, the store takes a hit and you do nothing

Sloppy management.

With thousands and thousands of products mistakes will happen. And Tesco are far more accurate then Supervalu.

But imo if a store can't be bothered to fix a price after several refunds they deserve to take a hit and let the area manager kick ass in the store

BengaLover

Dont forget that the marketing tools used to get you to buy these special offers are placed very strategically in supermarkets!
You see a great offer, and pick it up, get to the till and see the price scan up and think you are being overcharged on a special offer, only to find out that its not the item you thought you were picking up..ie, a bright label proclaims 'Fresh Orange Juice' half price in Dunnes, and you pick one up, but the promotion is actually referring to a similar but higher priced item sitting right beside the one you chose...Its done very cleverly in some cases, and i got caught out a few times..
Now i know to double check and triple check that the offer stated is what is actually on the shelf above the said offer..