Tesco, overcharging, and copious amounts of bovine faeces?

Schamansky

The story goes like this:

Chapter 1

Late Thursday evening this week I snatch two salad bags from the reduced shelf, original price 1.00, reduced to 10p, going through the till at 1.00 each.

As an avid receipt checker, I spot the error and make it to customer service, where a 20ish blonde trainee section manager, L. H., "deals" with the issue. And here is how:

She refunds me the difference, 1.80 (2 * 90p). I point out the overcharge policy on the board straight behind her: that according to company policy, I should be refunded double the difference, thus 3.60.

She's having none of it and waffles about "human error", in this case a cashier error, original barcode scanned, which would not constitute an overcharge.

I argue that I should have paid 20p and was charged 2.00, thus having been overcharged bythe very definition of the word overcharge. She just grins in my face and insists 1.80 is all I'm going to get. I ask her to read the policy section straight behind her; she replies, smarmily grinning, that she has already read it.

I ask her to get the duty manager. She insists the duty manager doesn't outrank her at that very time of the day, that she's not going to get her and that her decision is final, still smarmily grinning in my face.

I'm about to blow my top because of that stinking attitude, but reason prevails and I take the 1.80 and leave the store, with the exact words "To be continued".

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Chapter 2

Saturday afternoon, 13:30ish, I call Tesco Customer Service in Dundee (0800 505555) and lo and behold, they give me the same waffle about a human error (cashier scans wrong barcode) not constituting an overcharge.

I mention to Dundee that the policy as published doesn't say a thing about any possible sources of errors leading to discretionary results and that the policy clearly states that an overcharge due to the price on the shelf edge label or on the product (in my case) will be doubly refunded.

There's no movement on either side, so the Lady in Dundee promises that she'd get the store to phone me back and discuss the matter.

To be continued.

---

Now I have a few questions to you Moneysavers:

a) is being charged 2.00 instead of 20p an overcharge or not?
b) does it matter (policy-wise) where the overcharge stems from?
c) are Tesco, in this case, in breach of their own policy on overcharging as published?

d) or who's got a problem with simple logic?

taxiphil

An overcharge is an overcharge is an overcharge. You're right, they're wrong.

Unfortunately these farcical attempts to reinterpret their own policy are par for the course with Tesco.

I heard every excuse and lie known to man during my R&R days. There's a nice list of their "greatest hits" on Tescoripoff.com:

"You noticed we'd overcharged you before you'd left the premises, therefore the policy does not apply"

"We'll refund the price you paid and then sell it back to you at the correct price" (an old favourite of many staff)

"The policy doesn't apply to multisave discounts" (i.e. Buy 2 Save 50p, or Buy 1 Get 1 Free)

"The policy only applies to food items" (when overcharged on a non-food item)

"The policy only applies to non-food items" (when overcharged on a food item)

"The policy only applies to items under £10/£20/£50/£100 (insert random figure here)"

"You've bought two of the same item and broken our Bulk Buy policy, therefore the policy does not apply" (even though offers such as Buy 1 Get 1 Free and 5% Off 6 Bottles of Wine actually invited customers to buy multiples of the same item)

"The expiry date was printed on the shelf-edge label, and it's the customer's responsibility to check this, not ours"

"It's not our fault, an outside company does the promotional displays, therefore the policy does not apply" (a trusty old favourite on electrical items and books)

"You've been overcharged in this store before, and the policy can be used a maximum of once per customer"

"You probably knew the actual price before you bought it, therefore you're trying to commit fraud"

dbs31

i got charged full price on a reduced item and got double the difference no probs, didnt even have to ask, the very nice cs lady just did it. get onto their head office.

wirehair

dbs31 wrote: »

i got charged full price on a reduced item and got double the difference no probs, didnt even have to ask, the very nice cs lady just did it. get onto their head office.

I have had DTD on many many reduced items and never had to ask either.

traceys9062

Just before christmas I bought a mobile phone which I was supposed to get £25 off if I spent over £50. As it was my Christmas shop I spent much more than this & only noticed after that the £25 hadn't been taken off!
went to customer services where I was told that I would only get the £25 back as it was not an overcharge but a human error (the person on the till hadn't pressed a button!!!)
I argued for quite a while stating "how have I not been overcharged?" but she would not budge!
Phoned customer services & was told the same so emailed them.
The first email back also said I was not overcharged!
Sent a second email stating "if I paid £25 more for the phone than I should have how can that not be an overcharge? & that it clearly states on the big blue board behind the desk that their policy is to refund double the difference!"
Got another reply to say that I HAD been overcharged & to take the email with my receipt back to the shop where they would give me another £25!
The original woman I had argued with was at customer services! She apologised & gave me back my money:T

Schamansky

Chapter 3

This time, the Missus and I go back to the store around 18:00 hours, presenting the receipt to a different member of staff. That's a bloke we know and who's always been ok with refunds.

He calls the duty manager. Turns up another Tesco logician around 25. Who doesn't budge either, but gives us another load of bull along the lines that the DTD policy is at the store management's discretion (yeah sure, tell yo' grandma) and backs up his trainee, who is lurking from behind the customer service desk.

We point out that a trainee manager is not a manager, to which he replies that he would not discuss company training procedures with us. (For a good reason, I'd say...)

We make it known that we're going to write to Tesco HQ Cheshunt. Now he really tries it on by on telling us we can't do that and we'd have to take it up with Customer Services in Dundee (yeah sure, yo' great grandma). We leave the store saying we'd complain about him, too.

Going to write to HQ now.

To be continued...

chuckley

i fort reduced stock had reduced barcodes?!

Schamansky

chuckley wrote: »

i fort reduced stock had reduced barcodes?!

Well, yes! Both salad bags (still got the bags) have big yellow reduced stickers on them with a reduced barcode, stuck over the original barcode. So someone enlighten me and tell me where the "human error" is supposed to have occurred, when the cashier scanned the yellow reduced sticker?

It probably takes Tesco Middle Management Wisdom to grasp their most lucid exegesis. Ordinary mortals like us, with that old school logic along the lines of "2 + 2 = 4", cannot possibly be expected to catch up with this.

Coupon-mad

Schamansky wrote: »

Well, yes! Both salad bags (still got the bags) have big yellow reduced stickers on them with a reduced barcode, stuck over the original barcode. So someone enlighten me and tell me where the "human error" is supposed to have occurred, when the cashier scanned the yellow reduced sticker?

It probably takes Tesco Middle Management Wisdom to grasp their most lucid exegesis. Ordinary mortals like us, with that old school logic along the lines of "2 + 2 = 4", cannot possibly be expected to catch up with this.

I like your style, Schamansky, see it through on principle!:T

Re the barcode issue, I have had this happen before and the human error lies with the person who put the reduced stickers on. They are supposed to ensure the new barcode completely covers the lines of the old barcode. If there is a full strip of the old barcode lines showing (along the edge or bottom of the new sticker) then the till can read that first and bob's your uncle (or your great great Grandma...:rolleyes::D).

Cashiers are also considered 'at fault' if they miss this, as they are supposed to check specifically that reduced items scan as shown...

Of course you were overcharged matey!

Schamansky

There we go. Having the pack here, I can clearly see that the old barcode is visible, full line for the scanner to pick up, and all.

But...do I give a damn? I was overcharged as a matter of fact, which even Tesco isn't denying. For cases like these they have a publicly displayed company policy, which is worded in an unambiguous way, without any backdoors or ad-hoc conditions, and that's that.

Or so I thought. Now it seems that this policy, as published in every single store, is not worth jack excrement, and at the end of the day it's entirely up to some pathetic manager wannabe going "Policy? Know what, mate, I just don't feel like it. Sod off."

Clowance

are there any lawyers out there who could let us know the legality of displaying the dtd sign and then not honouring it? I'm with everyone else, why should the customer be penalised by the method in which the overcharge happened - are tescos not responsible for the actions of their staff in the course of their job?