Tesco break the law

flav0rflav

Eh, I've been brainwashed by the original eighties "Buy Irish" compaign, nothing more.

And I was referring to corporate profits and tax thereof.

dmeehan

I was in Tesco in Douglas yesterday and while I did not check to see if ervything was properly labeled and priced:D anything that I looked at was

MadsL

A few reasons why Tesco don't want to display unit prices: The following goods are not marked with unit (comparison) prices, it is clear to see why.

3 pack of Class 2 onions = €1.59 (each pack is approx 800g)
Same Onions loose = €1.49 a kilo

The pre-pack onions are really €1.98 a kilo or 28% more expensive.

Tomatoes On The Vine pre-pack 450g €2.29 or €5.09 a kilo :eek:
Loose Vine Tomatoes = €2.99/kg

The pre-pack tomatoes are over €2 euro more expensive.

Baking Potatoes Tray 4 Pack €2.49 (~900g) works out at €2.76/kg
Potatoes Baking Loose (€1.69/kg)

So you are paying €1.07 for the plastic tray and clingfilm!!


This is clearly in breach of the law - but Tesco don't want to comply it seems.
>>edit: Tesco made 1.4bn GBP profit this/last year (around €2bn!)

Financial Results

jesus_thats_gre

It has always been the case that pre packed food is more expensive than loose of the shelf stuff... They will argue that they are of a higher standard and so on.. Some people prefer them because they have the piece of mind that they have not been grabbed by some "nagging old woman" five minutes before who might be disease ridddin.... And you not paying the extra just for cling film and a plastic tray, there are various fixed and current costs taken into account

Otherwise, I would still buy the loose stuff!

MadsL

Jesus, I don't mind paying over the odds in some respects, although €2 in the case of the tomatoes is a bit steep!
I know the extra labour and packaging costs money.

BUT...I want to easily see how much extra I'm paying(and I was quite suprised when I sat down with a calculator.

Class 1 is Class 1. There are recognised standards for vegetables.

Tesco do not put per kilo prices on these items. That according to me and the ODCA and the EU and Mary Harney is illegal. I just can't get Tesco to admit it and correct their 'mistakes', 'human error' and 'local problems'.

If you want to see for yourself just how many items they don't price correctly, try shopping online (you need a clubcard) at www.tesco.ie

€2bn profit :eek:

jesus_thats_gre

I would forget about the 2 billions profit. This cant be avoided becasue of the scale of the company. They have 70 plus stores here, narly 700 stores in the Uk, 160 stores in Europe and 10 plus stores across Asia.


The shear scale of the company makes in unavoidable. I dont know what profit margins they operate on but I do know for a fact that a large portion of their stores operate at a loss. If you look at the following link you will see that the profit margin isn't what you would call beyond normal:

http://www.tesco.com/corporateinfo/ and go to Company info > Company history > Profit & sales.

From what I can see, from sales of 26+ billion sterling, there is only a profit of 1.5 billion sterling... Which if my thick head is working right is somewhere near 5%. I wouldnt like to compare that to your local corner shop never mind the likes of Superquinn.

MadsL

Sainsbury's underlying pre-tax profits in the year to March 29 were up 10.8% at £695 million. The group has 501 stores and 145,000 employees.

Asda's pre-tax profits in the year to 1 May rose to £422.9m ($684.6 million) from £404.9m. Total sales increased to £8.9bn from £8.2bn..

Profit margins within UK food Supermarkets is between 6% & 8%. In the USA, profit is between 2% & 3%. Mark-up is also lower in the USA and is in the region of 20%. Here, mark-up can be well over 80%. (Mark-up is the amount added to the cost price of goods to cover overhead charges, profit, etc.) Food costs are between 40% to 50% cheaper in the USA than in Britain, and wages are 45% higher, which is probably why in 1997 in the USA, only 10.7 percent of household disposable personal income went to pay for food, with 6.6 percent for food at home and 4.1 percent for food away from home http://www.rip-off.co.uk/beeb.htm

All of which is academic.
Here's the law.
Tesco are breaking it.
Not for the first time either.

jesus_thats_gre

Right, I give up!

dirty_latino

Madsl:

Is this hatred of tesco just a deeply concealed jealousy?
That is what it seems like in my opinion?

Am I allowed an opinion?

Ste.phen

Lets say for example that i worked for Tesco (obviously I dont cos I wouldn't be allowed talk about Policies here if i did):

The main problem MadsL noted was lack of unit prices on certain products, you seemed to imply this was deliberate to hide poor value on some pack sizes.

At store level there is no control over what is printed on the SEL, (apart form the price, but that's more complicated).
The unit prices / units themselves are set centrally from head office.

I can't speak for Dundalk, or any store but my own, but i know we recently re-SEL'ed the entire store, and unit prices were added to all the food SELs, we did the non-food ones a few weeks later.

Assuming all stores follwed this procedure according to the briefing packs, there shouldn't be any SELs without unit prices. If there ARE than it's a central issue. When Head office update the unit price, or add a unit price to a product, that product's label is automatically printed out in all stores the next morning and should be in place that day.

Just remember that there are approx (by my last count) 500,000 products in our Front End system, most of which have seperate SELS, so it does take time to edit them all with appropriate units.

Anyways, i went off on a huge tangent there, the point i was making was that all the labels SHOULD have been updated a few weeks ago, where this happened but the new label didn't have a unit price, there is no control over this at store level. All that can be done is to contact Head Office who should update the label centrally.

I know If I were working and you made that complaint, i'd reproduce the SEL myself, and if the new one still hadn't a unit price, i'd ask Head Office. It seems that's what they did in Dundalk (or wherever it was).

Or something...


BTW that policy about getting a full refund if the SEl price is lower than the scanning price doesnt (in my training and experience) apply to non-priced products (i think i saw someone imply that it did). If something has no price on it, it is a Trading Standards issue, yes, btu not one that falls under the No Quibble Guarantee.

spongebob

I think Igy said that Tesco policy is to display these comparative prices. Tesco have sent clear directives to their stores telling them to do so. Some stores may not have been as organised as others, local difficulties do arise.

Naturally Igy was commenting on something he had heard.....somewhere.

Thats good news then ,still, thanks to Madsl for kicking it outta the woodwork.

M

flav0rflav

SELECT 'food' FROM 'tesco' WHERE 'unit == NULL'

What do I get for solving the 'central issue'.

But seriously, people are concluding it's an 'incompetency' rather than 'conspiracy' issue?

spongebob

Lets give them till Saturday the 5th. It should all be fixed by then ....thats what Igy said.

M

Ste.phen

Thats the theory at least;
Essentially, the SEL produced in one store will be exactly the same as that produced in another (unless there's a local price change or something, but thats fairly rare).
So either the unit prices you noted are missing in every store in the country (possible), or someone in that store hasn't done their job (much more likely)

MadsL

Igy, thanks for the *cough* inside track.

I assume that this a nationwide problem as I have spotted the same items with missing unit prices. Classic case would be Class 2 Mild Onions in a 3 pack. I have never seen this item unit priced in any Tescos.

Anyway, Unit pricing is missing from a considerable number of items on the website. The law covers online sales too.

SELECT 'food' FROM 'tesco' WHERE 'unit == NULL'

Amen! Nice one.

Just remember that there are approx (by my last count) 500,000 products in our Front End system, most of which have seperate SELS, so it does take time to edit them all with appropriate units.

With respect Igy (and this is not at you)
Ahh diddums! This law change (or rather tightening) was announced to the general public in Jan 03 and came into force three months later. I'd bet that large retailers were given at least a years' warning. Tesco can hardly be short on resources to implement this and they provided a lot of unit pricing prior to the change anyway. Dunnes seem to have no problem complying enthusiastically with the law.

Is this hatred of tesco just a deeply concealed jealousy?

*sigh* Do I have to explain this again??
Jealous of what? I shop in Tesco all the time. I spend a considerable amount of money there. I like their products. I just want them priced according to the law of the land. If I post in the IOFFL forum about eircom's shenanigans nobody attacks me for 'jealosy', rather I'm providing consumer choice information and debate. If I post here about the largest retailer in the country flouting pricing legislation, I'm a nutter. WTF???

I am a consumer. I have rights. I expect the law to be upheld by the people I pay (through my taxes) to uphold the law. As Igy has pointed out it is possible that these pricings are wrong in every single Tescos in the country, and that means that Tesco's is potentially liable for (say approx 20 breaches in 70 stores at €3000 an offence) €4.2m in fines.

I started all this by spotting that an item was not priced in Tesco. Which being the nice Meldrew that I am I let them know that they had made a mistake. SuperQuinn would have given me 200 points odd on my loyalty card and said thank you. Tesco ignored it, then ignored it some more, and some more. Then they priced it arseways. When I said it was still wrong, they ignored it harder. I took my complaint to head office and the ODCA. They said "all is well here but thanks for asking, and sorry about the ad in the paper". I went back to my local Tesco, who then lied to me about the law "There is no law requiring us to display a price". "We don't need to display unit prices, the government won't enforce that for a year."

Tesco by their corporate attitude to the consumer have got me angry. All of which could have been avoided by customer service and a little action. I'm angry, not jealous.

Next steps;

1. OCDA (again)
2. Tesco in writing to their legal department.
3. Irish Times.
4. Newstalk.
5. Mary Harney's office (quoting Mary Harney)

sceptre

Originally posted by MadsL
5. Mary Harney's office (quoting Mary Harney)

I like that one a lot. I'd even push it up the list to number 3

MadsL

All of which is pretty tame compared to the stick Tesco in the UK have been given - p1ss1ng off the capitalists, farmers and the palestinians. It seems that there are a few 'Israeli' tomatoes that Mr Angry might like to blow up.

Also I liked the following quote:

Friends of the Earth's report also highlights that Terry Leahy's 2003 pay package of £2,838,000 is about 225 times larger than the income of the average UK farmer. Tesco's profits, at £1.4 billion, are more than half the entire UK income from farming, £2.36 billion.

sceptre

“I've been shopping at Tesco since that nice Mr Cohen (Sir Jack Cohen founder of Tesco) flogged cheap veg from a market stall in the East End, and, in all my years as a shareholder, I have never been so appalled by the actions of the Board...' etc etc

I want to AGM-hop and say things like that when I'm old (while poking my walking stick dramatically)

MadsL

LOL...

It's an excellent image isn't it. But I'm not suprised at the outrage, some of the non-execs who were only earning £30,000 a year now getting £59,000 a year. £59,000 for a non-executive. :eek:

MadsL

Intersting research here

31% of shoppers did not understand how Unit Pricing (UP) was meant to help them compare products.

35% could not be bothered to look at UP and 28% stated that unit pricing was too difficult to use.

Those least likely to look at unit prices are women, the least educated and shoppers aged 18-34.

MadsL

Can't wait to see what they finally have to say now.


For the attention of ***************;
copied to An Tanaiste, Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment.

The Tanaiste said: "There has been widespread consultation with all trade representatives and retailers have known for some time that these changes were coming. We are giving them until 1 March to adapt their pricing systems to the new rules and I am satisfied that this is more than enough time. From that date onwards there will be no excuse for failing to comply with the rules. Consumers should be vigilant and where they notice that prices are not being displayed they should report this to the Director of Consumer Affairs." Mary Harney, DETE Press release Thursday 23nd January 2003

Dear *********,
I would like to bring to your attention the following breaches of the S.I. No. 639 of 2002 European Communities (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) Regulations 2002

6. (1) A trader shall ensure that the indication of the selling price and where appropriate, the unit price of a product offered by him or her to consumers or to prospective consumers is -
(a) unambiguous, easily identifiable as referring to that product,
(b) clearly visible and legible to prospective customers, and
(c) in proximity to the product or, in the case of a product for sale by distance contract, to the description of the product.

by the Tesco Stores
*************** (edit I won't say which branch here)
on 4th July 2003

Unpriced Items
Walkers Sensations Crisps - 4 varieties. (mentioned yesterday to a member of staff, still unpriced)
Gala Loose Apples
Clementines Punnet

Items not displaying a Unit Price
Fun sized apples polybag
Golden Delicious apples polybag 7pk
Granny Smith apples polybag
Gala Apples polybag
Punnet of Irish Pears
(Oranges Class 1 priced each, not per kg)
Oranges Net
(Peaches loose are priced each, not per kg)
Peaches punnet
(loose Kiwis are priced per kiwi)
Kiwis as a 4 pack - No unit price, just a pack price.
Kiwis As a 6 pack - No unit price, just a pack price.
Tesco Organic Apples
Tesco Organic Dessert Apples
Tesco Organic Bananas
Mild Onions Class 2 3pk
Mixed peppers 3pk
New Potatoes 2.5kg bag
Baby Plum tomatoes 250g
Plums Punnet
Strawberries 227g
6 Free range eggs
18 Greenfield eggs

Sanex Sensitive Bodywash 500ml
Tesco Value Kitchen Towels
Sun Dishwasher Tablets 45pk
Tesco Dishwasher Tablets 22pk
Comfort Tumble Dryer Sheets 20pk
Bounce Summer Meadow Tumble Dryer Sheets 25pk
White Tesco Luxury Soft Toilet tissue 4Roll pack
Peach Tesco Luxury Soft Toilet tissue 4Roll pack
Green Tesco Luxury Soft Toilet tissue 4Roll pack
Double Velvet Toilet Tissue 4Roll pack
White Tesco Luxury Soft Toilet tissue 9Roll pack
Tesco EcoSoft White Toilet tissue 2Roll pack
Tesco EcoSoft Peach Toilet tissue 2Roll pack

Items displaying misleading pricing on the SEL
- The pack price appears twice, once as the pack price, the second time in the Unit Price position on the SEL giving the impression that the pack price is the price per kilo.
Tesco Finest Classic on the Vine Tomatoes 450G
Swedes

Items where a special offer large cardboard price obscured the SEL and displayed no unit pricing
Dove Shampoo range
Tesco Value Conditioner

At this point I was asked to stop writing this list by the Store Officer, however further breaches were also in the store. However, I trust that 40 items that are in breach of the regulations is sufficient to warrent Tesco thorough investigation of your SEL pricing policy. I trust that after I have repeatedly brought this issue of clearly displayed pricing and unit pricing to the attention of Tesco's staff in the past, Tescos will now seek to bring this store and the other 69 stores around the country into compliance with the law.

Regards

********

spongebob

Get a friend to check the same list again, get someone else to observe them as they do.

If the store officer (security?) interferes get the observer to move in quick. Ask him why he is interfering

/me thinks that Tesco would be in a serious spot of bother if they were preventing people from logging breaches of the law, I see clubcard points with lots of zeros at the end

M

MadsL

I was actually kicked out of the store tonight!

I went in - actually needed some spuds - and was also looking to see if there had been any frantic SEL printing. No such luck.

Anyway, two prices displayed for fresh-cooked chickens a small €3.99 each sign and Small chickens €3.99/kg in big letters over the hot chicken counter. Free chicken for supper then methinks.

I buy (being followed by security) the potatoes and a small chicken that I asked to have weighed - 800g.

After I am charged the €3.99 for the chicken, I ask for it free in accordance with their 'no quibble' policy: Checkout manager comes over - recognises me and goes off to check, comes back and says that the price is correct - €3.99. I point out that the chicken weighs 800g and that the checkout display says €3.99 per kilo. I go with the checkout manager to the display and point out the sign. She refuses to give me the chicken free at which point security ask me to leave the store. Nice way to treat a customer and someone who points out their goofs (SuperQuinn reward this sort of 'you screwed up here reporting' with loyalty points)

gonker

Fair play to you MadsL. Got a fivers worth of cheese of them yesterday but it wasnt over the sel pricing just had the cheese marked down on one label and not on the other so I used the "no Quibble" line and they didnt Quibble gave me the cheese for nothing.:D and no store detectives either.
gonk

MadsL

Update: Tesco changed their sign. Now reads Small Chickens €3.99 not €3.99 per kg. One less illegal price then Tesco, nice one.
Every Little Helps.

Our man in Havana

Originally posted by MadsL
I was actually kicked out of the store tonight!

Are you now barred from Tesco?

MadsL

No, I don't think their anti-consumer activist store intelligence staff are that good. My local store hates me at this stage, though.
But still hasn't withdrawn "invitation to trade".

I saw a great irony though today in Tesco Dundrum. They have a sign that says "Tesco now displays in metric to comply with Irish Government Regulations". It was over a bag of spuds that had no visible price at all.

seamus

Frankly, I've always hated shopping Tesco for such things. SELS always seem to be badly placed or incorrect. They seem to have a "shop and shut up" policy as regards complaints. If you spot something wrong, they'll tell you where to go, and plead some sort of inability if they get investigated.

The fact of the matter is; Where barcode scanning is in place, all products must have a price displayed on the shelf edge beside the product or at the nearest possible position. The price on the label must be the same as the one charged at the till, and the price in units must be displayed on the SEL too.

Anything else is breaking the code of practice, and the law.

I salute Madsl for taking a stand and devoting time, effort and stress for something he/she believes in. Frankly, from what he's saying, the conduct of the Tesco staff and company in general is intolerable.

I worked price control for another major retailer. Probably the same one as Igy. We were a team of 3, responsible for 2000+ live products, and imo kept things very well. In my year and a half there, there were no major complaints, and any minor discrepancies were dealt with immediately, according to company policy, and the culprit found and given a bollocking (usually a poor shelf stacker).
There was also a complete shop update. Floor plan redesign, till upgrades, and the new SELs and stock positions that came with it. We took one weekend to replace almost all of the SELs in the shop, and within about two weeks all errant labels/prices were weeded out, and the accuracy of labelling returned to about 99%.

By the exact same token, it should be absolutely no problem for a tesco shop to replace all of their labels with per unit ones over the course of a couple of weeks, especially since they had at least 3 months to implement it. And to try and argue that they're in the right is just despicable, and tells me that they've no respect for their customers.

The problem is that the Oirish don't like to vote with their feet. Happy with what you've got, and let's not cause a fuss and all that.

dmeehan

Originally posted by MadsL
No, I don't think their anti-consumer activist store intelligence staff are that good. My local store hates me at this stage, though.
But still hasn't withdrawn "invitation to trade".

I saw a great irony though today in Tesco Dundrum. They have a sign that says "Tesco now displays in metric to comply with Irish Government Regulations". It was over a bag of spuds that had no visible price at all.

get a photo and send it to the newsies, although they might really hate you if you start bringing a camera with you to the shop:D

MadsL

get a photo and send it to the newsies

LOL..maybe if I got a shot of Beckham with the fruit and veg...