Selling items listed as free

neilmcl

OP, if you're that concerned then why not contact head-office or whoever is offering the promotion and explain what's going on.

paddyrg

mandragora wrote: »

We had an odd experience, buying a new tv. My OH was delighted to be allowed to buy a new telly before the old one had collapsed and died (don't ask, it's a bone of contention between us!), so he did the deal while I was at home, having discussed it with me over the phone first. It was ex-display, and not a bad price (£500, I think). The salesman offered him a three year warranty for the 'special price' of £30 rather than £150, and he was tempted, and bought it (not something we usually do with electric goods), so a total purchase price of £530.

When he came home, he was leafing through the various bits of paperwork, and realised that the warranty was covered under 'cooling off period' laws that meant that if you changed your mind, you could cancel the waranty and get a full refund. As I said, we don't usually bother with warranties, so he was tempted to call in and cancel the deal. At that point he picked up the receipt from the shop, and examined it in more detail. The salesman had done some sort of 'fiddle' - he'd reduced the price of the tv down to £380, and listed the price of the warranty as £150. We weren't entirely sure why he'd done this - presumably, something to do with making his commission off the warranty sale, but it felt like we'd had a fast one pulled on us, and on paper at least, it reduced the value of our tv by £120 on the paperwork, and left a bad taste in the mouth.

That little trick didn't go down well as it wasn't clear what he was doing, or why he was doing it - moreover, he did it without explaining to my OH what he was doing or why - so it came across as sneaky. I have to confess, did influence our decision to cancel the warranty in the cooling off period.:o

Not that unusual - the warranty is an insurance product that the store staff are not allowed to discount, the only way they can offer the deal is to package the warranty with the goods, discount the goods, and sell you the two together. I suppose you could try getting funny about it, but in fairness they certainly did you a decent deal, it may be churlish.

mandragora_2

Sagz wrote: »

I hope you went ahead and cancelled and got your £150 back.

naturally


.... and, sorry, Paddy, but no, not 'churlish' nor 'getting funny about it' - just not happy that we hadn't been dealt with transparently.

misssarahleigh

If you informed your head office that this shop was doing this, would they not investigate. After all, they will be going against head office instructions will they not?

RadoJo

paddyrg wrote: »

Not that unusual - the warranty is an insurance product that the store staff are not allowed to discount, the only way they can offer the deal is to package the warranty with the goods, discount the goods, and sell you the two together. I suppose you could try getting funny about it, but in fairness they certainly did you a decent deal, it may be churlish.

But what if there had been a fault with the TV and it had been returned to the store for a refund and the OP was only able to get the lower price back? The receipt should reflect the correct price of the product purchased, or at least the customer should be made aware of any reason why it does not before purchasing so that they can make an informed decision.

paddyrg

RadoJo wrote: »

But what if there had been a fault with the TV and it had been returned to the store for a refund and the OP was only able to get the lower price back? The receipt should reflect the correct price of the product purchased, or at least the customer should be made aware of any reason why it does not before purchasing so that they can make an informed decision.

As the store can refund, repair or replace, I guess they'd have opted for repair or replace. Not saying it is 'right', just saying how/why it probably happened that way.

pmduk

Phone shops and ethical are not normally concepts you'll see in the same paragraph.

Techhead_2

I don't see how this could go undetected. As soon as stock is checked there will be too many of the £15 item and too few of the free item. This will knock their discrepancy budget for six and be easily spotted.

visidigi

ahh you are assuming the £15 units stay on the shelf...not likely.

tomwakefield

visidigi wrote: »

ahh you are assuming the £15 units stay on the shelf...not likely.

Possible scenario.

Shop assistant scans £15 item.
Gives free item to customer and takes £15 charge.
They are now free to pocket £15 item and the tills/logs will tally as far as that item is concerned.

The one problem will be the lack of any receipt logs of free items being given to customers, while still having fewer free items than expected. However, this will be zero value on any accounts.

Head office should definitely be notified, in case this is taking place.