Tesco misleading prices? Need some advice

baz995

Hi all

I was in my local tesco tonight and saw the Technika 22" tv with freeview & dvd built in was on the shelf at £160 reduced from £185. i decided it was perfect for me. At the checkout it scanned in at £185. I said it was marked at £160 so a member of staff came to help and she took me to the end of aisle section where the TVs were £160. This was a promotion end, the TV i had came from the AV section so i took her there to show her. She explained that the one i had was white and the black ones were £160. I said i couldnt beleive being white made it £25 more so she said she would do it at £160 and took me to the electrical desk.

She told the staff at the electrical desk the problem and said to put it thorugh at £160 and left, i thanked her for her help. The staff at the counter was unsure once the women left and spoke to the duty manager over the phone who said no its £185. I asked to speak to the manager and she called her back, she explained the situation again and shook her head at me, again i politely asked to speak to the duty manager and after some reluctance and time, the duty manager came down. I explained what had happened and I took her to the shelf where it was marked as £160 with 5 more sets there and was told she didn’t have to sell it at £160 as the label was in the wrong place. I explained that the sets were identical in spec and the only difference was it was white, she said that it was ‘stupid’ to cost more in white but that’s the way it is. I explained that i had been told 15 minutes before that it would be sold to me at £160 and asked why the colour of it warranted another £25 of my money, she said she didnt know why and it was £185. I said it was disappointing and a shame as i was leaving with my money and left the store.

I am going to write a letter to tesco to ask why, as their website only lets you enter 1000 characters which isnt enough for this complaint. So in summary, it was on the shelf for £160 with plenty more of the same model so its not like someone left one there by mistake, both labels for black and white do not mention the colour and the description is identical, is she right in saying she doesnt have to sell it to me?

Kurtis_Blue

Yes she is right, they do not need to sell you it at that price, the prices were marked wrong or stock was placed in the wrong place as explained to you.

malky39

She is correct. The price on the shelf is classed as an invitation to treat, that is the shops invitation to you to select the item, when you get to the till they are within there right to refuse to sell the item to you if they dont want to. As to the difference in price between colours from my experience in retail the price difference will be down to the fact that one colour may sell better than the other so to get rid of the ones not selling they will reduce the price.

macman

Technika TV = very bad news, it will probably last until about a month out of warranty. Just do a search on this board if you doubt it. So Tesco have actually done you a favour.
Go to Richer Sounds and get yourself a decent brand from people who know their product.

jb66

If you paid the £185 then went to the customer service desk, they should have gave you double the difference back. Because you alerted them to the pricing error before purchase they do not have to honour the price.

Technika is a poor brand anyeay

spannerzone

A number of years back a TV manufactuering sales rep told me that making white TV's or any electrical products always used to cost manufacturers more money as moulding in White is harder to perfect that moulding in grey or black as white shows up defects more than black/grey. So they have probably more rejects in white. Of course if they actually spray the white colour then it probably doesn't make any odds but many white coloured items are moulded in white.

A retailer always has the right to wirhdraw a product from sale if they so wish but shame you get jerked around but Tesco.... agree that you might well be better off getting a real brand rather than a Tesco own name stuck on a product.

baz995

thanks for all the replies ;-)

looks like i am in luck and she did do me a favour, either that or tesco actually read my email lol went back in today and blow me if the white ones arent down to £148, result.

I am not too fussed about longevity or brand as it has a 15 month guarantee plus it was for the bedroom so the mrs can retreat when she is tired and watch hallmark and the likes and i can get the PS3 flashed up on my Samsung downstairs.

McKneff

Just as an aside, I have had 2 Technica TVs for at least 5 years and not a moments bother with them, they look good too.