"Innocent" smoothies! Carton rip-off

snakehips916

I went into my local Sainsburys and saw that there was an offer of buy 2 Innocent smoothies for £4. This offer normally comes around every 2 months or so. I purchased said cartons and went home. On putting them in the fridge i noticed something was wrong......eek! They have shrunk...by 25%. A subtle change and one that was not mentioned at point of sale or anywhere else for that matter.
As far as I am concerned that is deception. Both Sainsburys and Innocent know what has gone on but have failed to mention it. I therefore returned the cartons and got a refund as I was really unimpressed. A)with the small cartons but mostly B)The underhand methods used.
I will be writing to Sainsburys and not purchasing any more Innocent products as I don't like the way they conduct their business.
A case of not-so innocent!

geordieracer

Did you read the label on the shelf edge? What did it say? Bet you any money it mentioned the size of them.

If you didnt then how can they have decieved you? Why should they shout about it in the press - every other manufacturer of food and drinks have just about done the same with one or two products in their line up and havent said so..

Oh well

globalds

Coca Cola bought a stake of Inocent drinks a year or two ago.

Seems the corporate boys are taking control.

crystaltipps

This was on Radio 4 Today programme (I think) about 2-4 weeks ago. They were interviewing the head honcho about it - he said the pricing had changed too and they were introducing new sizes and prices...made is sound very plausible - I think he was just a good marketer though...who thinks it is a good idea to charge more for less unless they own a financial interest!

crystaltipps

http://innocentdrinks.typepad.com/innocent_drinks/2011/06/big-and-slightly-smaller-change-is-afoot.html

DCFC79

snakehips916 wrote: »

As far as I am concerned that is deception. Both Sainsburys and Innocent know what has gone on but have failed to mention it. I therefore returned the cartons and got a refund as I was really unimpressed. A)with the small cartons but mostly B)The underhand methods used.
I will be writing to Sainsburys and not purchasing any more Innocent products as I don't like the way they conduct their business.
A case of not-so innocent!

You are free to check the carton size before you buy and check the sel. And what do you want sainsburys to do ? its not they're place to say anything and any case its not their product(even if it was i dont think they would tell the customers). Writing to sansburys wont do much except might give the HO staff a right old laugh, please tell me what exactly you would put in the letter to sainsburys.

Not sure where you have been but food stuffs have been reduced in size for years, first 1 i remember is the mars bar i think, other stuff has also reduced due to rising costs no doubt.

snakehips916

DCFC79. If one were to check every item for weight, volume etc one would be in the supermarket all day. When something has only been available in one size for 6 years and suddenly changes, it is only fair to make it obvious to customers that there has been a significant change -unless you are hoping they will not notice. Following your logic; maybe we should check the size of the engines in new cars before we buy them in case the manufacturers have decided to change them from a 1.6 to a 1.4 without telling us. The fact other companies have made things smaller doesn't make it right.
Sorry to mention this but it should be 'their' not "they're".

DCFC79

snakehips916 wrote: »

DCFC79. If one were to check every item for weight, volume etc one would be in the supermarket all day. When something has only been available in one size for 6 years and suddenly changes, it is only fair to make it obvious to customers that there has been a significant change -unless you are hoping they will not notice. Following your logic; maybe we should check the size of the engines in new cars before we buy them in case the manufacturers have decided to change them from a 1.6 to a 1.4 without telling us. The fact other companies have made things smaller doesn't make it right.
Sorry to mention this but it should be 'their' not "they're".

im quite aware i made an error but theres more important things in life for me to worry about,

it's not hard to look at the sel when you pick the item up. Before i put stuff in the trolley i check the sel to see how much it is per 100ml/100g it is and if theres a cheaper alternative and it doesn't take that long to check the sel.

MamaMoo_2

snakehips916 wrote: »

DCFC79. If one were to check every item for weight, volume etc one would be in the supermarket all day. When something has only been available in one size for 6 years and suddenly changes, it is only fair to make it obvious to customers that there has been a significant change -unless you are hoping they will not notice. Following your logic; maybe we should check the size of the engines in new cars before we buy them in case the manufacturers have decided to change them from a 1.6 to a 1.4 without telling us. The fact other companies have made things smaller doesn't make it right.
Sorry to mention this but it should be 'their' not "they're".

I thinkthe obvious part is reducing something in size by 25% and putting the new size on the packet. I think that would make it clear enough to me, anyhow. I'm amazed you managed to get a refund, tbh, as it's not like the goods were misrepresented in any way.

snakehips916

Dcfc79 You are missing the point. It is underhand selling and should not be condoned.

Gleeful

It could be worse. The one we had this evening had unmashed banana in it! Lumpy, not 'smoothie!'