Is there a law regarding an item with 2 prices?

pinkpig08

Dh and I went to buy a cot from our local babycare centre today. We saw a nice one which was £125. However, DH noticed a sticker right down on the bottom of the cot which displayed the type of cot, the RRP and the price. Both the RRP and the price which were on the sticker were both £115. So we approached the salesman and said we were interested in the cot, and that the price said £115. He said that no, actually the price is £125. Then mentioned something about the value of the pound changing against the dollar which is why products were increasing in price. DH said that it was the law that if an item was displayed at a lower price then that is the price that should be charged. The salesman disagreed and said that there was no law on it, and that he could withdraw the item from sale at any time.

Anyway, he agreed to meet us halfway and we got the cot for £120. We have since looked on a seperate website which lists the cot for sale at £125.

My question is - is there a law? I used to work in a supermarket and am sure that if you put the wrong price on an item, you must still sell it for that price, whether it's too low or not?

bookworm1363

No.

The price advertised is an "offer to treat" and until money changes hands, indicating acceptance on both sides, both sides can change their minds and walk away without having formed a contract.

In plain words, they don't have to sell you the cot if it was wrongly priced/had changed prices, although on such a small difference, a decent salesman would have let you have it at the cheaper price rather than take the risk of losing the sale altogether. But he didn't have to in law, and in this instance, obviouly didn't.

HTH

emmell

I think that law changed years ago to stop customers changing price tickets. I remember when I worked in a well known shop we used to see people with tickets stuck to their hands or pram handles ready for them to mistakenly get stuck on some unsuspecting product. This law was helped greatly by the introduction of epos and barcodes. And also a retailer does not have to sell any product to anyone.
But a good professional would always err on the side of a genuine customer.
As the customer is always right, especially when it amounts to 4% of the selling price. In future, if I were you, I would take my business elsewhere.

Bamber19

bookworm1363 wrote: »

No.

The price advertised is an "offer to treat" and until money changes hands, indicating acceptance on both sides, both sides can change their minds and walk away without having formed a contract.

That's "invitation to treat," not "offer to treat." Don't add to the confusion. The offer is made by the individual who wishes to purchase. I'm quite surprised the salesman didn't sell you it for the cheaper price though as it's not a vast difference and well within what i'd expect to be able to negotiate a price cut for.

advent1122

emmell wrote: »

In future, if I were you, I would take my business elsewhere.

Why.
The salesman merely pointed out to the OP that she didn't know the law, which she didn't, and still knocked a fiver off the price.

RobertoMoir

pinkpig08 wrote: »

Anyway, he agreed to meet us halfway and we got the cot for £120. We have since looked on a seperate website which lists the cot for sale at £125.

My question is - is there a law? I used to work in a supermarket and am sure that if you put the wrong price on an item, you must still sell it for that price, whether it's too low or not?

So the salesman's price was accurate.

As for "the law", you're confusing good customer service by the larger stores with what people are required to do. Sorry.

I think - no expert here - that if a place continually "misprices" things that's a different kettle of fish, but an honest mistake is something else.

Hailz86

Im not sure but I was told once that if all of the same items were labelled at a lower price then they had to be sold for that lower price, but not if only one or two were. I could be wrong xx

wickedlyspiced

I used to work in a supermarket as Price Control. I was basically responsible for putting the price tickets out. Price increases always had to be done first, as it is illegal for the store to display the product at a lower price if it is going to scan through the till at a higher price. If the product is displayed at a higher price, but scans at a lower price, that's not so bad

So it is illegal to display a lower price on the ticket than the product will scan as, but as for selling it to you at the lower price displayed, I believe that is more good will, as people have suggested above. The law as I am aware merely relates to the ticketing of the products rather than the actual sale.