MSE News: Tesco told to make Price Check limit clearer in ads

Handsome90

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I hate to say it, but I'm with Tesco on this one.
I can't see a fair (=reasonable) shop being £10 more in Tesco than Asda. I think the only time it would happen is if people were shopping deliberately to get the vouchers, so I think fair use policy is the right place to put it.

This wasn't the point of the article or the advertisement watchdog. Tesco didn't make this clear to the customer that there is a refund limit of £20 in the adverts.

However, they do need a fair usage policy because without it, they will go out of business.

starving_artist

The Price Check symbol also appears against products sold by Tesco Direct. It's supposed to include Amazon but I found the same electrical item priced at £149.97 by Tesco for sale on Amazon (NOT marketplace or 3rd party) for £109.89. When I challenged them about this they claimed that it was a promotion although there is nothing to indicate that it is anything other than normal discounting on the full RRP. So basically the Price Check is pointless and misleading.

pjala

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

My point is that the shop you shop in will always come out better than it would in a simple test.

For example, say both shops sell sausages for £1 and bacon for £1. No difference in who is better value.
Lets say you want sausages and bacon.
Lets say on the day you go, Tesco are doing sausages on BOGOF and Asda are doing bacon on BOGOF. Again, no real difference in who is better value.
You go to Asda. You put two packets of bacon in your basket and one pack of sausages because of the offer you see in front of you.
You pay £2.
The comparrison will say that it would have cost you £3 in Tesco.
This is true, but unfair to say from this that Asda is cheaper.
If you'd been to Tesco you'd have bought two packs of sausages and one packet of bacon - again spending £2 and again the comparrison would say you are £1 better off.

So I don't think this example qualifies as a reasonable shop where Tesco was more than £10 more expensive, because it wasn't a Tesco shop.

But legally and morally the comparison stands. It shows one of two things, either Tesco is stupid by offering the promotion, or that Tesco is very clever by offering a promotion they know will hit the news and give them free advertising. My guess is the latter.

WishI'dReadSooner

pjala wrote: »

But legally and morally the comparison stands. It shows one of two things, either Tesco is stupid by offering the promotion, or that Tesco is very clever by offering a promotion they know will hit the news and give them free advertising. My guess is the latter.

I think a lot of us would disagree that Tesco could ever be clever. The former is more likely.
Their DTD against Asda was a farce & they complained that savvy shoppers were taking advantage.
Their much heralded Price Checker was quickly taken down as they realised that savvy shoppers were using it to check Tesco against Asda prices.
Their latest foray into the realms of stupidity was their 'Price Drop' - they implimented this one by putting the prices of their 'price drop' items up to astronomical heights, sometimes double for a week or so and then dropping the prices, often to above their original cost a couple of weeks back.
They must think we are all really stupid to fall for all this.

You can always tell when a product is going to be 'buy 1 get 1 free' because the price goes up sometimes by double or nearly double. Then comes the BOGOF. Wish they'd just give us all lower prices which are more transparent.

JimmyTheWig

WishI'dReadSooner wrote: »

I think a lot of us would disagree that Tesco could ever be clever. The former is more likely.

The thing is, people do fall for these tricks. People see "half price" or "bogof" and know that it's a good deal without checking.
There was a thread on here last month saying that Tesco was doing their Halloween stuff half price. That's a meaningless concept - the price they sell Halloween stuff for the rest of the year is irrelevant. But because it was "half price" it got posted on here.
Annie Shaw (supposedly an expert) was saying on the radio this morning that she stocks up on cereal and coffee when it's on bogof - no mention of whether it makes it a good deal or not.

Unfortunately, then, I'd say that Tesco are clever.