Tesco No Quibble Guarantee changing

SteM · 01-06-2011 3:19pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

I wouldn't be blaming the staff - for all you know they could be bringing it to management attention.

I would imagine a large multinational like Tesco would have something along the lines of a discount/refund report that management should be analysing to eliminate this sort of thing. I know it's the norm in any of the retail organisations I've worked in.

I count management as staff of tesco too. The fact is it's a human fault that is costing the business they all work for money.

faw1tytowers · 01-06-2011 9:17pm

Saw the new notice in Tesco today. As of 30th of June you get double your money back if you are overcharged.

CH3OH · 01-06-2011 10:34pm

faw1tytowers wrote: »

. As of 30th of June you get double your money back if you are overcharged.

It's double the Difference....

faw1tytowers · 01-06-2011 10:50pm

CH3OH wrote: »

It's double the Difference....

Oh thanks for that, my memory sucks...

wmpdd3 · 01-06-2011 11:04pm

mikemac wrote: »

I highlighted it multiple times.
I would have thought they escalate issues. Large corporations are usually known for having procedures for everything.
If a refund is given maybe alert a manager or at least get someone on the floor to put up a temporary label.

This isn't the customers job. All I did was highlight the price mistake, the rest is up to them.
And if they can't do it after eight times, well management have failed

My god that really is shocking. If I worked there, I'd be fired!

By now I'd stop stocking that Mag if the system can't update to the new price.

No excuse for it. All overcharges are printed off and handed to the manager to fix...... just can't understand it.

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.

Ok thats mad too, that's really easy to fix, just cancel the offer on the poultry one till India fix it.

I totally agree with you.... but do you really have to get personal with the customer service person? Oh well.

daytob · 03-06-2011 6:41am

maybe I am reading this wrong but sometimes double the difference is going to work in the customers favour more than giving it out free.
for instance when the duracell chargers were out last year I got them for free after buying a few of them and being charged 22 euros. so does that mean I would now get if i did the same transaction 36 euros per charger?
( €3.95 for charger, €21.95 charged, €18 difference, x double?

maxer68 · 03-06-2011 8:39am

wmpdd3 wrote: »

I totally agree with you.... but do you really have to get personal with the customer service person? Oh well.

I did not and never would get personal with any staff member of a store. 99% of retail staff are good and decent and have adifficult job. Unfortunately this person was in the 1% who don't give a damn about the job, the company or the customer.

Her attitude to a senior staff member was disgraceful, her attidude to the customer was bordering on the insane. Its her problem not mine, I'm lucky enough that a couple of euro makes no difference to me, but I hate being overcharged.

I don't get involved, I simply move on - there is plenty of choice for me in the area.

door · 03-06-2011 9:14am

I dont see how Tesco think people were taking "advantage" of the free item policy. If they have a policy and they over charge people, thats it. Theres no taking "advantage" in the sense that they are implying by this people are doing something wrong. I only ever used it twice in all the years going to Tesco. Once was recently in Tesco in Bray where they overcharged for sandwich meal deal, charging for all the items seperately. The customer service person wanted to give me the difference back but I referred her to the "no quibble guarantee" sign plastered behind her. My God, did I end up witnessing the greatest quibble ever by staff and management. I never heard so many sighs before towards a customer carrying out their basic consumer rights. Anyway, I got my money back and it gave me confidence for standing up for my rights.

rubadub · 03-06-2011 9:19am

daytob wrote: »

maybe I am reading this wrong but sometimes double the difference is going to work in the customers favour more than giving it out free.

It could sometimes but it would be a rare case. If an item is overcharged by 5cent I would no longer bother going back to complain.

door wrote: »

I dont see how Tesco think people were taking "advantage" of the free item policy.

People could take advantage, you buy 1 item see it is overpriced, go back and buy 20 of that item and get them all free. They left themselves open to this and obviously it was paying off for them or it would have been changed a long time ago.

Tesco are saving money on staff, i.e. other supermarkets evidently do employ staff to bother checking prices are correct, tesco are in a way employing customers to do this for them, and paying these "staff members" in way of free goods. It is also a talking point amongst people, the conspiracy theorist in me would say some may have been purposely done, esp. when they are not corrected immediately, many seemingly went on for days, it can get good advertisement on forums.

lindtee · 03-06-2011 10:38am

I agree with your conspiracy theory rubadub:) I also think their "misprices" are done on purpose too to get customers in, many is the time I've gone in specifically to get a mispriced kettle, cafetiere, batteries, nerf guns (and so on) spotted on bargain alerts, but ended up getting groceries etc. I'm sure that they are aware of news of these misprices spreading like wildfire on forums:cool: It's funny that other stores never have these misprices.

jomc · 03-06-2011 10:51am

door wrote: »

I dont see how Tesco think people were taking "advantage" of the free item policy. If they have a policy and they over charge people, thats it. Theres no taking "advantage" in the sense that they are implying by this people are doing something wrong. .

Exactly and surely when this overcharge and free item transaction is completed then the staff know there is a problem and should immediately correct it. If they don't then its really their problem

phill106 · 03-06-2011 10:54am

Yeah, heard this a few days ago from a mate who works in tesco, pity was good for the eagle eyed shopper when it lasted.
Nearly every shop I was getting something for free at one stage.

Glenbhoy · 03-06-2011 2:15pm

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).

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.

That you know of, either that or I presume you don't shop in tesco very often. I don't look for items that I will be deliberately overcharged on, but I do look for special offers, 3 for 2 that sort of thing. I visit tesco regularly and I would imagine that at least once a fortnight I am overcharged for something. They are chronically bad about changing their prices. I have never been overcharged in Aldi or Lidl, but have been from time to time in Superquinn and Dunnes (I rarely visit supervalu).
I am not anti tesco because I happen to do fairly well there in terms of pricing, but to my mind they are by far the most unscrupulous of the supermarkets. I often have a little chortle to myself when I see some of their 'half price specials', yes indeed, half of what price exactly? The one displayed last week for about an hour?
You obviously can't defend this practice as they were caught out by the consumer council recently for their similar practices prior to their last big marketing push.

borderlinemeath · 03-06-2011 3:19pm

Glenbhoy wrote: »

That you know of, either that or I presume you don't shop in tesco very often. I don't look for items that I will be deliberately overcharged on, but I do look for special offers, 3 for 2 that sort of thing. I visit tesco regularly and I would imagine that at least once a fortnight I am overcharged for something. They are chronically bad about changing their prices. I have never been overcharged in Aldi or Lidl, but have been from time to time in Superquinn and Dunnes (I rarely visit supervalu).
I am not anti tesco because I happen to do fairly well there in terms of pricing, but to my mind they are by far the most unscrupulous of the supermarkets. I often have a little chortle to myself when I see some of their 'half price specials', yes indeed, half of what price exactly? The one displayed last week for about an hour?
You obviously can't defend this practice as they were caught out by the consumer council recently for their similar practices prior to their last big marketing push.

Before saying I don't shop regularly, go back and read all the posts I have made in this thread.
I shop in both Tesco & Dunnes on a very regular basis. I check my prices and I know the value of consumer goods. I don't fall for "half price deals" in any of the supermarkets.

I haven't defended tesco in any way. The main points I raised on the post were about the consumers that took advantage of the previous policy. ie fill up their trolley with goods they were going to get for "free" and by "free" I mean by you and I paying for them in the long run.

txt_mess · 03-06-2011 4:14pm

Having never managed to get overcharged and never used the policy I can say with a clear conscious I don't think buying multiple mischarged items is taking advantage.

I view their price policy as an offer to get me into the store I wouldn't feel guilty if i bought two tubes of toothpaste and got 50c or buying 40 tubes and getting 10 euro off off so why should I feel guilt if I use there offer to my advantage and get multiple mischarged items.

To be honest the arguement that it's driving up Tesco prices for everyone else is niave if you thnik Tesco would charge less if this wasn't going on .. really ?

From a Tesco perspective they should limit the policy to one per person if they don't they are passively compliant in it.

Fingers crossed I can find some overcharging for the double difference up offer ahem I mean policy.

Glenbhoy · 03-06-2011 4:20pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Before saying I don't shop regularly, go back and read all the posts I have made in this thread.

Before attacking my post, read it. I did not say you don't shop in tesco often, I said either you have not noticed instances of overcharging or you don't shop there often. There is obviously no way that we can prove the first point either way so we can leave it at that.
I said that because I find overcharging in tesco endemic, although it has improved a little over the last 4/5 months, thus it was then my belief when writing my post that you probably worked for tesco.

To those who feel it is/was wrong to take advantage of tesco's pledge, why do you think they continued with it for so long? As a bean counter myself, I can tell you that organisations do work out the cost over the saving, in their eyes it was worth it, they've now re-evaluated that and have decided on a clever new policy. Fair play to them, but again, if I spot an opportunity to take advantage of it, i will and i'll be boasting to my mates of same.

We don't all pay for it in the long run btw, or no more than those unscrupulous people who take advantage of loss leading products, hell, maybe we should ban the whole bargain alerts forum, in the long run consumers would end up seeing reduced prices overall eh:P

borderlinemeath · 03-06-2011 5:09pm

Did you not read this post?

borderlinemeath wrote: »

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.

I can honestly say I very rarely get overcharged in Tesco. Maybe I frequent a particularly good branch. I do tend to purchase the same products and switch products only if the price is worthy of it. I shop at quiet enough times in the supermarket so take plenty of time checking prices as well.

As for the presumption that you thought I worked for Tesco is laughable, on that basis there are plenty of other retailers that I would be working for as I have defended many brands and stores in the past.

People tend to have hold retailers in a bad light as they are blamed for "ripping off" the poor, decent Irish consumer. Rubbish, if people are stupid enough to fall for the marketing tactics that every single retailer/manufacturer uses then I don't feel any sympathy for them.

Consumers just need to keep their eyes open and be more aware of what they are buying.....a quick example would be potato waffles - I was in Dunnes last night and they had "green isle" potato waffles, 12 pack for €1.64, at the end of the aisle where their "special offers" were located they had "birds eye" waffles with a big "50% extra free" strip on the pack. Same amount of waffles but priced at €1.82. And I'm sure the same pack are in Tesco/SV too and probably priced accordingly.

And as for "boasting to your mates" about an "opportunity" to take advantage of a retailer, you're no better than a shoplifter going in and filling their bags and walking out the door. It's like the bankers transferring assets to their spouses - it's not breaking the rules - just abusing a loophole to look after number 1 in the greediest of ways.

sendit · 03-06-2011 11:26pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Did you not read this post?

I can honestly say I very rarely get overcharged in Tesco. Maybe I frequent a particularly good branch. I do tend to purchase the same products and switch products only if the price is worthy of it. I shop at quiet enough times in the supermarket so take plenty of time checking prices as well.

As for the presumption that you thought I worked for Tesco is laughable, on that basis there are plenty of other retailers that I would be working for as I have defended many brands and stores in the past.

People tend to have hold retailers in a bad light as they are blamed for "ripping off" the poor, decent Irish consumer. Rubbish, if people are stupid enough to fall for the marketing tactics that every single retailer/manufacturer uses then I don't feel any sympathy for them.

Consumers just need to keep their eyes open and be more aware of what they are buying.....a quick example would be potato waffles - I was in Dunnes last night and they had "green isle" potato waffles, 12 pack for €1.64, at the end of the aisle where their "special offers" were located they had "birds eye" waffles with a big "50% extra free" strip on the pack. Same amount of waffles but priced at €1.82. And I'm sure the same pack are in Tesco/SV too and probably priced accordingly.

And as for "boasting to your mates" about an "opportunity" to take advantage of a retailer, you're no better than a shoplifter going in and filling their bags and walking out the door. It's like the bankers transferring assets to their spouses - it's not breaking the rules - just abusing a loophole to look after number 1 in the greediest of ways.

Iv been trying to say that all along, people are on hear all the time saying door-to-door sales people are trying to rob them yet they see noting wrong with taking advantage of a mistake in a price time and time again to get if for free and just try to make it ok by saying ''sure they make plenty money anyway''

CH3OH · 04-06-2011 11:49am

borderlinemeath wrote: »

And as for "boasting to your mates" about an "opportunity" to take advantage of a retailer, you're no better than a shoplifter going in and filling their bags and walking out the door. QUOTE]

As someone who has been overcharged by Tesco many times, I take exception with the comment that this is similar to shoplifting. Reminds me of the comment made by Ryanair about Rosanna Davidson that her comment about the calendar "bordered on racism", and that was found to be defamation of character.
This policy was originally brought in by Tesco in order that consumers would have confidence in Shelf Edge Labelling( SEL). Tesco wasn't forced to bring it in, they did so because they were confident that they they would get their pricing right.
Tesco seduce customers into making impulse purchases based on the signage in front of the product. Many people just pick up an item because it's on "Special" or a "multibuy offer".
Most times when I went back where I had been overcharged, I was the only customer to notice this and the sign would have been up several days.
I always considered I was doing Tesco a service by pointing out their errors.

maclek · 05-06-2011 5:02pm

I was just in dunnes and got overcharged for some cat food, they claimed both prices were on the shelf (I didn't see the other one, who knows) I insisted that I was getting it for free and the manager insisted I was only getting the difference, I won.

Does anyone know if dunnes has an official policy like Tesco? I thought there was a scanning code of practice that said you had to get the item for free but google isn't turning up anything for me.

Remember the idea here is there is a penalty for the shop mis-pricing the goods. Other wise there is no incentive for the shop to get it right since 90% of people don't check their receipts. Regarding this midnight to 4am rubbish, the solution is simple, any prices that are coming down take effect at midnight, any prices going up take effect at 4am. That gives them 4 hours to reprice the shop. It isn't rocket science.

On the question of abuse, again it is the lack of thinking from the shop. The computer in these shops should detect a pricing error refund and then immediately stop selling that item until a manager has confirmed the price has been fixed on the shelf. So Mary is in the till queue with her bag of cat food. I'm at the customer desk getting my cat food refund. The refund goes through, ten seconds later Mary's cat food scans. The system then refuses to scan and sell the cat food, maybe puts up a message saying item is no longer for sale. It would eliminate abuse. Causes Mary and her cat a bit of hassle but nothing's going to be perfect.

Nolimits · 05-06-2011 6:40pm

maclek wrote: »

I was just in dunnes and got overcharged for some cat food, they claimed both prices were on the shelf (I didn't see the other one, who knows) I insisted that I was getting it for free and the manager insisted I was only getting the difference, I won.

Does anyone know if dunnes has an official policy like Tesco? I thought there was a scanning code of practice that said you had to get the item for free but google isn't turning up anything for me.

Remember the idea here is there is a penalty for the shop mis-pricing the goods. Other wise there is no incentive for the shop to get it right since 90% of people don't check their receipts. Regarding this midnight to 4am rubbish, the solution is simple, any prices that are coming down take effect at midnight, any prices going up take effect at 4am. That gives them 4 hours to reprice the shop. It isn't rocket science.

On the question of abuse, again it is the lack of thinking from the shop. The computer in these shops should detect a pricing error refund and then immediately stop selling that item until a manager has confirmed the price has been fixed on the shelf. So Mary is in the till queue with her bag of cat food. I'm at the customer desk getting my cat food refund. The refund goes through, ten seconds later Mary's cat food scans. The system then refuses to scan and sell the cat food, maybe puts up a message saying item is no longer for sale. It would eliminate abuse. Causes Mary and her cat a bit of hassle but nothing's going to be perfect.

It would cause Mary and the queue some hassle, cat wouldn't be affected. What would happen is, Mary would still want cat food, so she would leave the till area and go back down to the pet food aisle to get some more cat food.

I know from experience it takes about an hour or so to change the prices if all company prices are centralised. It would take as long to send the message to the tills not to scan certain items as it would to update the prices.

It's just incompetence or laziness to have problems go on for days/weeks at a time, in reality there is no reason for it to take more than an hour or maybe a little more after the first person has pointed it out. If for some reason it can't be rectified that day eg bank holiday meaning there is no one in head office then the item should be removed from sale if there is no other option

littlesthobo · 06-06-2011 8:38pm

mikemac wrote: »

Tesco are far more accurate then Supervalu.

I think its worth pointing out that all Supervalu's are independently owned and as such i think its unfair to tar all of them with the same brush just because your local one allegedly doesn't maintain a high standard.

I suppose the same could be said of any store. Standards will vary depending on the management/ staff

Even with the best will in the world errors will occur with labelling as people make mistakes

wmpdd3 · 06-06-2011 9:15pm

littlesthobo wrote: »

I think its worth pointing out that all Supervalu's are independently owned and as such i think its unfair to tar all of them with the same brush just because your local one allegedly doesn't maintain a high standard.

I suppose the same could be said of any store. Standards will vary depending on the management/ staff

Even with the best will in the world errors will occur with labelling as people make mistakes

True, the difference in standards between the one in Waterford city compared to Tramore are vast.

Remember the idea here is there is a penalty for the shop mis-pricing the goods. Other wise there is no incentive for the shop to get it right since 90% of people don't check their receipts. Regarding this midnight to 4am rubbish, the solution is simple, any prices that are coming down take effect at midnight, any prices going up take effect at 4am. That gives them 4 hours to reprice the shop. It isn't rocket science.

True but the average amount of price increases and decreases are 1-2 thousand per day.

The system updates once between 3am and 5am. No work can be done during this.

Best thing to do is, just stop changing prices.

The only one that get me is' well I presumed all the stuff on that shelf was half price because this one was'... followed by its very misleading....

I wouldn't mund but this is when the shelves are really tidy. i see some supermarkets where you have to travel along the shelf with your finger to find some sort of price for your item.

Glenbhoy · 08-06-2011 11:56am

borderlinemeath wrote: »

I can honestly say I very rarely get overcharged in Tesco. Maybe I frequent a particularly good branch. I do tend to purchase the same products and switch products only if the price is worthy of it. I shop at quiet enough times in the supermarket so take plenty of time checking prices as well.

It may be that you shop at a particularly good branch, I have shopped regularly at 5 different tesco's over my time in Dublin and I've had similar experiences in them all, thus, i presumed the problem was endemic.

borderlinemeath wrote: »

People tend to have hold retailers in a bad light as they are blamed for "ripping off" the poor, decent Irish consumer. Rubbish, if people are stupid enough to fall for the marketing tactics that every single retailer/manufacturer uses then I don't feel any sympathy for them.

Consumers just need to keep their eyes open and be more aware of what they are buying.....a quick example would be potato waffles - I was in Dunnes last night and they had "green isle" potato waffles, 12 pack for €1.64, at the end of the aisle where their "special offers" were located they had "birds eye" waffles with a big "50% extra free" strip on the pack. Same amount of waffles but priced at €1.82. And I'm sure the same pack are in Tesco/SV too and probably priced accordingly.

I notice similar things all the time and across most retailers (not aldi and lidl where pricing is very clear - even if not always the bargain people may think it is). To me that's unscrupulous, the vast majority of people don't notice that type of thing. I was buying mayonaise in Dunnes yesterday (details on pricing and quantity are approx) Special offer on hellmans 400g jar with 50% extra free €2.39. Yet the shelf was stocked with 400g jars without the 50% extra free and priced at the non-special offer price of €3.29. Most people would not notice, if I'd been there with my 2yo running amok, I might not have noticed it, in fact I only noticed it because I was looking for the 50% extra free!! Of course, what they've done was neither illegal nor covered by any refund pledge (I don't think Dunnes actually have one in place btw).

borderlinemeath wrote: »

And as for "boasting to your mates" about an "opportunity" to take advantage of a retailer, you're no better than a shoplifter going in and filling their bags and walking out the door. It's like the bankers transferring assets to their spouses - it's not breaking the rules - just abusing a loophole to look after number 1 in the greediest of ways.

Given the behaviour of retailers in attempting to hoodwink their customers, my conscience is clear. As I said in my earlier post, retailers cost these schemes and they're happy that they make a profit on them. If they weren't, they wouldn't be in place.
There's also the intangible benefit they gain, in that consumers figure that with such price pledges in place, then all prices are accurate and they check their prices even less.

rubadub · 08-06-2011 1:32pm

Glenbhoy wrote: »

To those who feel it is/was wrong to take advantage of tesco's pledge, why do you think they continued with it for so long? As a bean counter myself, I can tell you that organisations do work out the cost over the saving, in their eyes it was worth it....

We don't all pay for it in the long run btw, or no more than those unscrupulous people who take advantage of loss leading products,

Have to agree with this, like my conspiracy theory comments before. It is very similar to loss leaders, they get people in the door and people talking about it online or to mates. It probably did balance it out, the people who overpaid and did not spot the overcharging are probably paying for any supposed loss that others were "paying for in the long run". Tesco should have limited it to one free item and a correct price or full refund on the rest, like they often put limits on fully declared loss leaders (e.g. 2 crates of below cost beer).

And remember tesco have saved a lot of money by not employing staff to check prices

If I have to spend 15mins queueing up and going off checking prices with staff then I want to be paid well for my employment by tescos.

Glenbhoy wrote: »

There's also the intangible benefit they gain, in that consumers figure that with such price pledges in place, then all prices are accurate and they check their prices even less.

These "price promise" things do sway even a cynic like me, I was searching online last night and was pleased to see a price match guarantee on one site.

slave1 · 08-06-2011 2:01pm

I think a distinction has to be made between being overcharged and recognising when you've been overcharged.
I am extreme on checking my receipts and I shop in a combination of Tesco/Lidl/Aldi and get overcharged on a frequent basis.
Tesco's main pitfall is on combo deals or offers on the shelf but not 'in the system'
Lidl/Aldi is that they checkout so quickly they type the wrong code for those items without bar-code (fruit/veg mainly).
In Lidl I find a lot of items are not priced at all so they get less of my business.
Last weekend I was charged in Aldi for two cabbages (which I didn't buy) as the code was close to two bags of apples (which I did buy) and yer man was flying it, it was the manager and when I asked why I was charged for two cabbages he said it was because I bought them, thing is it was him at the till and all my goods were in plain view in the trolley. He said I would have to check the entire purchase to which I replied no, he would have to check the entire purchase and he was so pissed off at having to do so but he did it, a child could see I had no cabbages in my trolley but he was a bit of a tosser about it. I got my refund for the cabbages I didn't buy and then got charged for the two bags of apples which resulted in 41c back to me.
I then went to Tesco and being the BH weekend got one of their €7 meal deals and the discount to bring the individual purchases - somewhere around €12.97 - down to €7 never happened, I had to speak to the manager as at Customer Service they said everything was priced correctly, which it was but they weren't getting the 'get everything for €7' piece. Anyhow got around €12 back for that one.

For those who don't get overcharged that often I'd be checking my receipts more carefully, as a frequent shopper for a family of five than go through food like wildfire the level of overcharging is significant when you get into th regime of detailed checking.

Helps mental maths too!!!

wmpdd3 · 08-06-2011 9:27pm

And remember tesco have saved a lot of money by not employing staff to check prices If I have to spend 15mins queueing up and going off checking prices with staff then I want to be paid well for my employment by tescos.

Trust me they do employ alot of people to display and check every price. When someone gets over charged, the root cause and person responsible are found and performance managed.

I always check my receipt and I have never been overcharged in any supermarket that I can remember. I add up my shopping in my head as I'm doing it and if its more than €2 out I'd re-check it.

The only place I dont do this, is in Aldi / Lidl as I only pick up a few bits and they dont have a display with a running total.

borderlinemeath · 08-06-2011 10:17pm

Glenbhoy wrote: »

It may be that you shop at a particularly good branch, I have shopped regularly at 5 different tesco's over my time in Dublin and I've had similar experiences in them all, thus, i presumed the problem was endemic.

I notice similar things all the time and across most retailers (not aldi and lidl where pricing is very clear - even if not always the bargain people may think it is). To me that's unscrupulous, the vast majority of people don't notice that type of thing. I was buying mayonaise in Dunnes yesterday (details on pricing and quantity are approx) Special offer on hellmans 400g jar with 50% extra free €2.39. Yet the shelf was stocked with 400g jars without the 50% extra free and priced at the non-special offer price of €3.29. Most people would not notice, if I'd been there with my 2yo running amok, I might not have noticed it, in fact I only noticed it because I was looking for the 50% extra free!! Of course, what they've done was neither illegal nor covered by any refund pledge (I don't think Dunnes actually have one in place btw).

Given the behaviour of retailers in attempting to hoodwink their customers, my conscience is clear. As I said in my earlier post, retailers cost these schemes and they're happy that they make a profit on them. If they weren't, they wouldn't be in place.
There's also the intangible benefit they gain, in that consumers figure that with such price pledges in place, then all prices are accurate and they check their prices even less.

That's a huge generalisation about retailers. Most retailers are lucky to keep their heads above water at the minute. Whatever your views about Tesco you shouldn't tar all retailers with the same brush. If you think everybody is out to "hoodwink" you, you wouldn't buy anything ever again.

Btw I was in Tesco this evening, and there was an error in pricing on "tesco brussels pate". I noticed when I scanned it into the self scanner - the shelf edge price was €1.85 but it scanned €1.10:D

Glenbhoy · 08-06-2011 10:47pm

borderlinemeath wrote: »

That's a huge generalisation about retailers. Most retailers are lucky to keep their heads above water at the minute. Whatever your views about Tesco you shouldn't tar all retailers with the same brush. If you think everybody is out to "hoodwink" you, you wouldn't buy anything ever again.

Btw I was in Tesco this evening, and there was an error in pricing on "tesco brussels pate". I noticed when I scanned it into the self scanner - the shelf edge price was €1.85 but it scanned €1.10:D

So do you think that the type of scenario I described comes about by accident? I am fairly happy that at least the major retailers, dunnes and tesco engage in sharp practices with a view to taking advantage of consumers who don't check the small print so to speak. We all also know that even some of those 'quality' retaliers like superquinn aren't exactly a pleasure to deal with from the p.o.v of small suppliers.
I don't think any of the larger multiples are finding it that tough out there to keep their heads above water either and certainly haven't heard of any of them struggling.

Btw, would it have been chancing your arm to look for double the difference in the two products, or does the new policy specify overcharging only;)

Poor auld tesco quickly pulled their UK offer anyway:

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=217753

borderlinemeath · 09-06-2011 5:06pm

Glenbhoy wrote: »

So do you think that the type of scenario I described comes about by accident? I am fairly happy that at least the major retailers, dunnes and tesco engage in sharp practices with a view to taking advantage of consumers who don't check the small print so to speak. We all also know that even some of those 'quality' retaliers like superquinn aren't exactly a pleasure to deal with from the p.o.v of small suppliers.
I don't think any of the larger multiples are finding it that tough out there to keep their heads above water either and certainly haven't heard of any of them struggling.

Btw, would it have been chancing your arm to look for double the difference in the two products, or does the new policy specify overcharging only;)

Poor auld tesco quickly pulled their UK offer anyway:

http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=217753

So now instead of "retailers" it's just "major retailers" that are trying to hoodwink you?
Every company from retail to insurance to computer companies will engage in what you describe as "sharp practice" but they call it "marketing & advertising"
How about Ryanair? SALE SALE SALE!!! €2 FLIGHTS!! taxes €99, baggage, €30, administration €24.

Everybody is aware of how Ryanair "hoodwink" their customers, try getting the difference back from a Ryanair flight!! Yet people play dumb and act all hurt when Tesco or Dunnes use ambiguous signage or pricing.

It's not that difficult to look at a product on a shelf and find the corresponding price.
Brand? Check.
Size? Check.
No shelf price? No problem, just head around to the price checker. Done. in the trolley. No drama.

IMO people get themselves worked up over their own stupidity. I overheard a woman telling her mother in the supermarket to pick up 2 packets of yogurts because they were "buy one get one free". The mother corrected her and said no they say "100% extra free, it's in the packet". The mother was right. Had the mother not pointed out the daughters stupidity I can just imagine the scene at the customer service desk with the daughter.

Tesco No Quibble Guarantee changing

Comments