Price match issues -help and advice needed from lovely MSE people :)

skellious

Hello, MSE! I have a bit of a problem.

I went to a Tesco Extra store and bought a cheap (£6) pair of headphones, one that comes in one of those rip-open packets. I got home only to find that they didnt fit my head (they are the behind the head type ones and I have a big head) I took them back but elt guilty returning them in a ripped packet and decided id like to get some nice headphones anyways. I know sennheiser are good and I did something rather stupid, I grabbed a pair of sennheisers without looking at the internet first. They charged me £50, on the internet I have found the same pair from as little as £16, with a standard price of £25. Now, I am not happy with paying twice the amount of money I should have done for my headphones, what can I do?

All advice appreciated,

Many thanks,

Skellious

Helix

Unless you can take the headphones back for a refund (they would need to be unopened and with the receipt), then nothing. There is no law forcing companies to price match (or even refund unless faulty) that would be crazy and Tesco don't offer a price match policy.

skellious

yes I did realise this unfortunately but I was hoping someone might be able to tell a success story in this area. I am going to go in to tesco tomorrow and attempt to ask them for store credit for some of the difference. You never know, they MIGHT do it. it's certainly not like they are in financial difficulties...

fluffnutter

skellious wrote: »

yes I did realise this unfortunately but I was hoping someone might be able to tell a success story in this area. I am going to go in to tesco tomorrow and attempt to ask them for store credit for some of the difference. You never know, they MIGHT do it. it's certainly not like they are in financial difficulties...

That would be an interesting business model! Appeal to their sense of fairness. "Tesco, you have more money than me. Please refund me"... "Oh, go on then. Have some free petrol whilst you're at it".... Not meaning to tease honestly! Good luck with returning them.

skellious

You would be surprised how often pleading a limited budget works. And remember tesco like you to be loyal to them for life, that's why they will do things like this, they are worried you will embargo them for life which could mean a loss of several thousand a year if you are a family.

I am certainly one of these people who maintains a company blacklist. Once a company gets on my list the only way to get off is for them to make right what was done wrong. Not many companies are on my list yet, but I am quite young. Admittedly Tesco would probably be split into two sections, being so big. There is no reason to blaccklist food tesco because of something electrical tesco did.

I certainly do consider pricing something at more than double the going rate to be profiteering and that is something I highly disagree with and actively fight. And yes i know they are a company but that is no reason why they shouldn't have morals.

somethingcorporate

skellious wrote: »

You would be surprised how often pleading a limited budget works. And remember tesco like you to be loyal to them for life, that's why they will do things like this, they are worried you will embargo them for life which could mean a loss of several thousand a year if you are a family.

I am certainly one of these people who maintains a company blacklist. Once a company gets on my list the only way to get off is for them to make right what was done wrong. Not many companies are on my list yet, but I am quite young. Admittedly Tesco would probably be split into two sections, being so big. There is no reason to blaccklist food tesco because of something electrical tesco did.

I certainly do consider pricing something at more than double the going rate to be profiteering and that is something I highly disagree with and actively fight. And yes i know they are a company but that is no reason why they shouldn't have morals.

But you offered to buy it at twice the price, you didn't have to!!

cyberbob

skellious wrote: »

I am certainly one of these people who maintains a company blacklist. Once a company gets on my list the only way to get off is for them to make right what was done wrong.

I expect companies are shaking in their boots.

skellious wrote: »

certainly do consider pricing something at more than double the going rate to be profiteering and that is something I highly disagree with and actively fight. And yes i know they are a company but that is no reason why they shouldn't have morals.

The going rate is more likely to be the Tesco one. Tesco have overheads of stores and more staff in comparison to most internet sellers. I really cant see that they have no morals for selling you an item at a price you were willing to pay. They actually did you a favour as they were well within there rights to refuse the return of the original headphones as you had no statutory right of return.

You had a choice buy the headphones, not buy them or do some research before buying. Just because you were to lazy to research does not make it Tesco's fault you were willing to buy the item.

skellious

somethingcorporate wrote: »

But you offered to buy it at twice the price, you didn't have to!!

But they didn't tell me it was twice the price and on this occasion I did it out of guilt becuase I opened their packaging on a lower priced product (in one of those rip-open packets) before finding it unfit for purpose. I know to most of you this must sound stupid, and yes I agree it was a bit stupid, but I saw it as morally the right thing to do. Being an atheist, morals are all I have to guide me and I belileve in them very strongly. Normally, I would have checked on the internet first, and if I think about it logically the amount of money i normally save far outweighs the amount i lost here. However, I feel that regardless of whether or not I get any money back, they should NOT be ripping people off. It's the same as a cowboy builder who does a good enougth job but charges way over the odds.

skellious

cyberbob wrote: »

I expect companies are shaking in their boots.

The going rate is more likely to be the Tesco one. Tesco have overheads of stores and more staff in comparison to most internet sellers. I really cant see that they have no morals for selling you an item at a price you were willing to pay. They actually did you a favour as they were well within there rights to refuse the return of the original headphones as you had no statutory right of return.

You had a choice buy the headphones, not buy them or do some research before buying. Just because you were to lazy to research does not make it Tesco's fault you were willing to buy the item.

Excuse me, I was not LAZY, I was feeling GUILTY. I actually had no reason to feel guilty since the headphones did not fit my head and did not say on the outside how big the neckband was. That makes them unfit for purpose.

Argos online sells these for £25.99, as does play.com. normally these companies are only £5-10 cheaper than a store at maximum.

unholyangel

skellious wrote: »

But they didn't tell me it was twice the price and on this occasion I did it out of guilt becuase I opened their packaging on a lower priced product (in one of those rip-open packets) before finding it unfit for purpose. I know to most of you this must sound stupid, and yes I agree it was a bit stupid, but I saw it as morally the right thing to do. Being an atheist, morals are all I have to guide me and I belileve in them very strongly. Normally, I would have checked on the internet first, and if I think about it logically the amount of money i normally save far outweighs the amount i lost here. However, I feel that regardless of whether or not I get any money back, they should NOT be ripping people off. It's the same as a cowboy builder who does a good enougth job but charges way over the odds.

Sorry but i've yet to see any business say "oh btw, you can get these £x cheaper at xxxxxxxxx". Its just not good business sense.

While i do agree that companies should always offer the best deal possible to their customers, as cyberbob said......tesco have much larger overheads than online retailers. I wouldnt call it ripping off people exactly..........remember, its only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Obviously you thought they were worth what you paid or you wouldnt have bought them. It was only later when you found them cheaper you felt ripped off.........moral of the story is, if you buy something without checking where is cheaper first.....dont check the price of it elsewhere afterwards as ultimately you'll always find it cheaper and feel ripped off again.

Not much help i know, just merely offering a different viewpoint from your own

somethingcorporate

skellious wrote: »

But they didn't tell me it was twice the price and on this occasion I did it out of guilt becuase I opened their packaging on a lower priced product (in one of those rip-open packets) before finding it unfit for purpose. I know to most of you this must sound stupid, and yes I agree it was a bit stupid, but I saw it as morally the right thing to do. Being an atheist, morals are all I have to guide me and I belileve in them very strongly. Normally, I would have checked on the internet first, and if I think about it logically the amount of money i normally save far outweighs the amount i lost here. However, I feel that regardless of whether or not I get any money back, they should NOT be ripping people off. It's the same as a cowboy builder who does a good enougth job but charges way over the odds.

Doesn't matter - it is your responsibility to check it out first.

When you took the headphones to the counter you offered to buy them - you offered Tesco £50 for them. You only have yourself to blame.