SUPERQUINN thinks we're fools

marrm

Superquinn "Special Offer" - Buy 1 pack of frozen scampi for €11.79, get one free

Bargain? NOT! :mad:

Usual price for one pack is €6.00. :eek:

So when avail of the BOGOF, you save 21c!

Who do they think they are.

Who do they think we are - Fools?

ejmaztec

marrm wrote: »

Superquinn "Special Offer" - Buy 1 pack of frozen scampi for €11.79, get one free

Bargain? NOT! :mad:

Usual price for one pack is €6.00. :eek:

So when avail of the BOGOF, you save 21c!

Who do they think they are.

Who do they think we are - Fools?

Is it because they're now owned by Musgrave?

bigjoe

ejmaztec wrote: »

Is it because they're now owned by Musgrave?

It has nothing to do with that. They were aleays rip off merchants long before Musgraves owned them.

ejmaztec

bigjoe wrote: »

It has nothing to do with that. They were aleays rip off merchants long before Musgraves owned them.

They'd be even better at it now then after a bit of re-training by the masters.:(

marrm

ejmaztec wrote: »

Is it because they're now owned by Musgrave?

No,they've been doing it for years, ever since Fergal left.

For instance, a couple of years ago they were selling these same frozen scampi @ "Was €18.00, now only €6.00, save €12.00". I wrote to them ("Write to the Chief Executive on this form and he will reply personally") but they never got back to me about it. :mad: :mad:

When they're not on "Special offer" they regularly cost €6.00.

Same with Strawberries: Whenever they start selling them in Spring, Superquinn "reduce" them from some ridiculous high price which they never sold them at.

I never believe the "was" prices or "half price" offers anywhere. :cool: :cool:

"Half Price" is aka "Half the Price we'd like to sell it at if we could get away with it" in all shops. :eek: :eek:

We do most of our shopping in Aldi & Lidl, then Tesco, last of all Superquinn if we really have to. Pity, it used to be a good place to shop.

Corruptedmorals

There is a law about 'was X price now y price'- legally they have to have been sold at the higher price in the first place. It's in one of the consumer laws. You should challenge any retailer you find guilty of that..difficult enough to prove though. I will say though that Dunnes sell all their sale stock at full price first. I can't speak for grocery but I can't imagine grocery breaking the laws right left and centre about offers and deals while drapery is perfect in that regard. It's no use complaining to individual stores though- everything is done centrally from Head Office, stores have no say or control.

Davidth88

Lads ... always always check prices .


The amount of times I find things like washing powder on ' Special offer ' but if you buy two smaller packs its still cheaper !!!

Oryx

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

There is a law about 'was X price now y price'- legally they have to have been sold at the higher price in the first place. It's in one of the consumer laws. You should challenge any retailer you find guilty of that..difficult enough to prove though. I will say though that Dunnes sell all their sale stock at full price first. I can't speak for grocery but I can't imagine grocery breaking the laws right left and centre about offers and deals while drapery is perfect in that regard. It's no use complaining to individual stores though- everything is done centrally from Head Office, stores have no say or control.

That law only applies to 'sale' items. If they say 'special offer' (which they do here) they can mention any price they like. This offer technically breaches no laws. They are asking you to pay €11.79 for a bag of scampi, then get one free, not saying its reduced. Its still a sneaky trick and should be banned. But just saying, you cant get the law onto them for it.

looksee

Dry cat food is the same, sometimes in the same store the 2k bag is cheaper and sometimes its better to buy 2 x 1k boxes. Also multipacks of tomatoes and beans, they are not always cheaper. You really have to keep an eye on what you are buying.

On the other hand I don't worry about it, I feel its my responsibility to get the best value I can, and if I don't bother to look at prices, well its my loss.

MyKeyG

Davidth88 wrote: »

Lads ... always always check prices .


The amount of times I find things like washing powder on ' Special offer ' but if you buy two smaller packs its still cheaper !!!

Absolutely! Superquinn aren't the only ones to pull a fast one that way.

Last year I was in Dunnes doing some merchandising work early morning. I decided to pick up a 2litre bottle of coke and was sifting through my change. It occurred to me I had just enough change for two bottles and figured I might as well buy the two. Then my eye caught a double pack and reasoned it would be handier. I was surprised to find that the double pack was 35c more than two single bottles. I brought it to the attention of a staff member who said 'They're unit prices'.

Now I accept that nowhere is it written that multi-packs are required to be less or even that they can't be more money. But I firmly believe shopping centres bank on the customer perception that multi-packs are promotional items and that the assumption is made that it will be less. I mean who really has the time to cross check unit prices for the same product?

marrm

Oryx wrote: »

That law only applies to 'sale' items. If they say 'special offer' (which they do here) they can mention any price they like. This offer technically breaches no laws. They are asking you to pay €11.79 for a bag of scampi, then get one free, not saying its reduced. Its still a sneaky trick and should be banned. But just saying, you cant get the law onto them for it.

Scampi update:

They are now on sale as "Reduced, were €11.79, now only €6" - bunch of dishonest, cheating so & sos!. "Were €11.79"? That's bending the truth. :mad::mad::mad:

Time to contact the Consumer Association, methinks.

MyKeyG

Oryx wrote: »

That law only applies to 'sale' items. If they say 'special offer' (which they do here) they can mention any price they like. This offer technically breaches no laws. They are asking you to pay €11.79 for a bag of scampi, then get one free, not saying its reduced. Its still a sneaky trick and should be banned. But just saying, you cant get the law onto them for it.

Is that what they call 'invitation to treat'? I heard about this recently.

And you're right it is sneaky.

Oryx

All shop prices are invitation to treat. The price is only finalised when you go to pay. The sale thing is an actual law. You can't say an item is reduced using the word sale unless it has actually been on offer at the full price for I think 30 days. But I've heard of chain stores getting around that by putting it at full price for the set time in one store only. If they use the words special offer, the rule does not apply.

To be honest this is only one of a litany of tricks that stores use to make you think you are getting a bargain when youre not. A trip to a supermarket is like an exercise in sneaky psychology.

rubberdiddies

They've had that very same offer on their frozen tiger prawns for the last few years. I know this cos I have been buying them for years.

Whilst i think it's very annoying I wouldn't really consider it a rip off but it's very misleading.

If you keep a close eye on a lot of special offers, particularly the full page spreads in the Sunday papers you'll realise that many of the half price offers were never full price in the first place.

How do they get away with it? I've no idea

psychward

The same behaviour generally occurs in most of the supermarkets e.g bogof for Pringles in Tesco while in Dunnes down the road Pringles are advertised at ''Half Price'' meaning that if you buy 2 at both stores you are paying the same price per tube. I've seen a lot of these types of promotions occur nationwide across many stores for the same product at once but some will apply a bogof deal and some will discount it directly so it has an atmosphere of artificiality about it.

Cantona's Collars

Panorama on BBC1 at 8.30pm should make interesting viewing,it regards supermarkets so called 'deals'.

Fighting Irish

So many people buy into this, why wouldn't superquinn be sneaky, it's a business after all. fair play to anyone who makes money

psychward

Fighting Irish wrote: »

So many people buy into this, why wouldn't superquinn be sneaky, it's a business after all. fair play to anyone who makes money

And why wouldnt' people want to talk about it ? Threads and discussions such as this are all about the balance of power between retailer and consumer. Retailer is free to be sneaky and consumer is free to take their cash elsewhere.
The best retailers with a future will listen to and respond to consumer demand and consumer sentiment so threads like this can do both retailer and consumer a favor in providing information useful to making money.

marrm

marrm wrote: »

Scampi update:

They are now on sale as "Reduced, were €11.79, now only €6" - bunch of dishonest, cheating so & sos!. "Were €11.79"? That's bending the truth. :mad::mad::mad:

Time to contact the Consumer Association, methinks.

SUCCESS:

In my local Superquinn today - Scampi €5.89. No Half Price Scam, no Special Offer Scam.

I had spoken to the manager last week, he tried to convince me that the €11.79 was the "Supplier Recommended Retail Price". Told him it was a scam, since the item was in Superquinn packaging, not Bird's Eye or some real "Supplier". :mad: :mad:

He promised to call me back - never did - but the price is down.

One small victory for the consumer. :cool: :cool: :cool: