Tesco misprice policy discussion area part III

obsessive_2

Sparky67 wrote:

CS then wheeled out a manager who said that I had already had a refund yesterday, and the policy was not a legal obligation, but one of goodwill (which he obviously thought I was misusing). On this occasion they would honour the misprice and give me an R & R, but in future I would only get the difference refunded.


Speaking as a layer, I'm not so sure that Tesco's r+r 'policy' is not a legal obligation.

Admittedly, the law does not itself impose a r+r rule on a retailer. And the potential criminal liability of Tesco where it applies a misprice, to which many posters on here refer to a good deal, does not impose a legal obligation on Tesco to r+r. Thus, if say Asda misprices, but does not make a r+r promise, they may be criminally liable but they are under no legal obligation to give a r+r to a customer who is the victim of a misprice (although even here, Asda probably is legally liable for more than just the payment of the difference - eg. if a customer had to return to the store to reclaim the excess they were charged, or had to wait an excessive length of time to be dealt with by CS, these 'costs' to the consumer would (in theory at least) be recoverable, I think).

However, returning to Tesco, if its promise (to r+r) is held to have become one of the terms of the contract between a customer and Tesco, then Tesco is (as a matter of contract law) bound to fulfill that promise. (Or, more precisely, Tesco can be held liable in damages if it fails to fulfil its promise. And the damages would essentially equal Tesco's obligation under the policy.) This assumes that Tesco is indeed promising to refund the purchase price to a customer in the event of a misprice. I've not read the promise carefully enough to know precisly what Tesco is promising and whether there are any 'exceptions' or 'get outs' for Tesco.

It would be rather interesting to take a case against Tesco, through the small claims court, where they failed to honour the r+r promise. What do any other lawyers who follow this site think?

Obsessive.

obsessive_2

Speaking as a layer,

Actually, I was speaking as a lawyer . . . .who cannot type.

jumpingjackd

Being new to the Tesco misprices board can I ask a stupid question. PS2 games, cd's and dvd's are reduced by 20%. Lifted Harry Potter PS2 and a cd. Went to scanner and game came up @ £29.97, CD @ £14.97 (same as SEL). Poster says reductions made at checkout.

Should the scanner have shown the reduced price?

I decided to leave them as it was almost closing time.

Thanks

diamond57

NETTYB3 wrote:

HI

Just been down to do my weekly shopping at Tescos, I buy fruit shoots for my childrens lunch boxes and the label on the shelf (underneath all the flavours) stated 2 for £3.50 then there was one large sign stating 2 for £4.00. I was charged £4.00 but when I queried it with a member of staff she said as it states offer ends 31.1.06 in tiny writing on the label I couldn't get a refund - is this right?

Thanx

Netty

I had cs trying a similar thing, but the £3.50 was only under the flavour that I bought - dd would have said that it is her favourite (which it is) if asked.

Also, with the diet coke packs of 24 cans was told the bar code did not match the bar code on the box so must have been for previous stock or another special offer.

By this time dd was running around loopy, and I said what are people supposed to do use a magnifying glass to try and read the small print and leave children running wild - after retrieving dd for about the 20th time after she had run off again. Dd is sn, and too large for trolley so we never do a weekly shop - my nerves would not last it - and last night was the drinks shop.

Was given full R&R at the end, but took nearly 30 mins with her going back repeatedly to the shelf asking other staff etc - wish I could have been paid for my time waiting, stress etc. Other people came up with queries including R&R were seen and finished while we were left waiting.

Willsnarf1983

jumpingjackd wrote:

Being new to the Tesco misprices board can I ask a stupid question. PS2 games, cd's and dvd's are reduced by 20%. Lifted Harry Potter PS2 and a cd. Went to scanner and game came up @ £29.97, CD @ £14.97 (same as SEL). Poster says reductions made at checkout.

Should the scanner have shown the reduced price?

I decided to leave them as it was almost closing time.

Thanks

the self scanner doesn't show it. I tried it on a cd that i wanted and it showed the SEL price but when i went to the till it took the 20% of

Will

Brenny

Thought you might be interested in (part) of a conversation I overheard this morning:

George: What would you do in this scenario: A customer comes up to you with a receipt for these two DVDs and says that his 20% wasn't taken off. What would you do?

At this stage I tried to screech to a halt but couldn't hide myself behind the isle quick enough to hear the reply. BUT I bet it wasn't "Take him/her to customer services and refund the money and tell him/her to keep the goods"!!!! :rolleyes:

Dnew_2

After being overcharged for a number of items (before I found this site and located the in store sign clearly showing this policy). I used to wait in line to be given a refund of the price difference, never at these times did the customer service staff mention this policy. I therefore feel cheated by Tesco.

I used to work in retail and understand that POS (signs) and pricing is a difficult pressured job. However I would be more than happy to argue for an R&R because of the ease that Tesco's has taken my money in the past.

RufusA

NETTYB3 wrote:

Just been down to do my weekly shopping at Tescos, I buy fruit shoots for my childrens lunch boxes and the label on the shelf (underneath all the flavours) stated 2 for £3.50 then there was one large sign stating 2 for £4.00. I was charged £4.00 but when I queried it with a member of staff she said as it states offer ends 31.1.06 in tiny writing on the label I couldn't get a refund - is this right?

IMHO some CS will always try and wriggle out of an R+R wherever possible.
In situations like this I usually quote a section from the "Price Marking Order 2004" (worth scribbling this on the bottom of your shopping list). Which states that prices MUST be:

"unambiguous, easily identifiable and clearly legible"

Where CS use the small offer ends arguement you can say that this doesn't meet the requirement of the price marking order as it's not unambiguous and the offer end isn't "clearly legible".

Where they use the "Barcode is different" argument then ask them if that meets the requirements of having "Easily Identifiable" prices.

If they still refuse then a point out that unless you leave the store with the R+R you'll be contacting xxxx Trading Standards (helps if you know the name of your local TS office as this puts the wind up them), asking them to inspect the store as you have evidence they have breeched the "Price Marking Order 2004".

Haven't been refused an R+R to date, though it does help if you pick your battles!

HTH - Rufus.

Sparky67

obsessive wrote:

Speaking as a layer,

Actually, I was speaking as a lawyer . . . .who cannot type.

Actually I am a lawyer too (with a w!). To get technical, the "invitation to treat" is the display in the shop (ie goods and price tickets), which you then take to the till to conclude a contract (you offer top buy the goods and the shop accepts your offer). Contract complete.

But, contract was induced by price label on the shelf - misrepresention if you relied on it, or at the very least misleading (contrary to the Consumer Protection Act).

So, although they do offer as a goodwill gesture a full refund on those (and I quote Tescos own words here) "unusual" occasions when things don't add up, that doesn't mean they are not liable for prosecution by trading standards for misleading consumers with inaccurate pricing, if they are not taking reasonable care to get them right. As this mistake was clearly drawn to their attention over 24 hours previously, and they chose not to rectiy their mistake (how many others had bought the item in the meantime relying on the lower price and not realised they were charged higher...??) I don't consider they did take reasonable care. And it wasn't difficult to rectify either, it wasn't like it was hanging on a swing sign from the ceiling - it was just a sign standing on a display - would have taken 10 seconds to take off! And - the vaseline dermacare is STILL wrong, despite me telling them about that on 2 separate occasions - attidude was "yeah, we know its wrong, just do a refund" - but the point is, how many people have picked this item up thinking they have got it at one price and don't check their receipts well enough to realise they have been mislead.... I have to say, I might look at prices on the shelf when going round so I know what I'm paying, but I haven't got a photographic memory to check a full week's shopping receipt to make sure every item was charged as I thought...

To sue for damages on misrep, you would need to prove reliance on the price ticket inducing the contract, which I couldn't do, because I was aware it was incorrect as soon as the till registered the sale. And whether you can bring a civil action based on the Consumer Protection Act would depend on the wording of the act - but as the manager said they would still give me any difference if overcharged in future, that probably lets them of the hook anyway.

And, whatever I have had on R & R has been for me personally or my family, its not like I'm stocking up a trolley load to flog!!

Sorry - still miffed!

NETTYB3

RufusA - Many thanks, I have been back to Tescos this morning as I had the coke 24 cans aswell (forgot about that one) SEL £6.75 and charged £6.95!

Went to customer services - different lady. I politely showed her my receipt and explained problem and she gave me full refund for fruit shoots and coke no problems! Must depend on the CS.

I then went and got the Mcfly CD (posted on misprice thread) and got a refund for that aswell. I Mentioned to her that I never used to check my receipts but always do now as I keep getting charged wrongly and she said she never checked her receipts either so she will check her own from now on!

Netty x