Super Valu wrong price at till compared to shelves

Homer

Henryhill2 wrote: »

For an example

They had 150g fruit pastilles on the shelf

A €1 sticker under them

However the €1 sticker applies to 120g pastilles of which there were none

So you will get caught if you don't check closely

This is a regular thing

The problem imo with SV is that they can't compete on standard pricing with the likes of aldi so they're resorting to special offer gimmickry

Vote with your feet. You are obviously there often enough to notice these outrageous practices. Stop shopping there?

New Home

Homer wrote: »

Vote with your feet. You are obviously there often enough to notice these outrageous practices. Stop shopping there?

It depends on where in the country you are - in some places you may have to drive the guts of 35km to find a different supermarket chain.

road_high

Thanks for the heads up that SV are still masters at this little con. It's often extremely clever and subtle- perhaps the Colgate Whitening toothpaste is half price but right beside them on the shelf will be the Advanced Whitening tubes which are still full price and so on.
I check exactly that its the same description and size as allegedly on offer and keep an eye on the till and receipt to check. Been caught out too often in the past by them.

road_high

And yes, funny how I've never been undercharged either. Very strange that!

BarryD2

Henryhill2 wrote: »

One thing I notice

They will have special offers all over the place on items of a specific weight or volume

There may be none or few of these specific items on the shelf and there will be a stack of the same items of a slightly different weight or volume in the same place at full price

This is obviously deliberate sales tactics and not illegal of course but will catch you out.

I think this is a standard 'scam' / 'tactic' that many retailers engage in. Unless you check very carefully what's written on the offer and compare against what you pick up, it's really easy to be tricked. I will echo that Aldi/ Lidl don't seem to engage in this, as they separate their special offers from the general items.

The business of labeling shelf items though and charging more at the till is very shady I think. Stand open to correction but there was a time when every individual item had to carry a price label that was indisputable. I think it was legally required? When barcode scanning came in, a dispensation was given I seem to recall to allow traders to just label the shelf. There was a rumpus at the time and I recall (maybe incorrectly) that consumers were assured that it would be illegal to charge more than the shelf marked price.

It's easy for management to update prices on their stock control systems. But it then requires active physical effort to change the shelf price and this is where they are failing the consumer.

Does anyone know what the relevant legislation is now around this issue? It happens so often, that there should be a concerted effort to catch the culprits, make it hurt financially and stamp this out, whether it's deliberate or accidental.

road_high

A few posters were saying that the staff are so busy they don't get around to updating the prices on offers when ended - how come they always find the time to raise the prices back up? I mean surely if that was actually the case then the special offers would get “accidentally” lowered for longer too...I’ve yet to see that!