B & M Stores - charging for 100% free teabags!

l3sl3yd

this may be a small issue to some but it has really niggled at me for the past couple of weeks.

My local B&M store sells Yorkshire Teabags at £1.89 for 80. Right next to them on the shelf are larger boxes which state 100% FREE! 80 + 80 free teabags! Bargain!

But - when I got to the till I noticed that the price for these FREE teabags were actually £2.39 - not £1.89. I asked the assistant why they were more exensive when they were clearly marked as FREE and she just shrugged. I then mentioned it to the Manager - and he just shrugged too and mumbled something about "Head Office"

I emailed their customer service departement and to their credit they did reply, givng me a lengthy explanation of there pricing and purchasing process, comparing their prices to other mainstream super markets but failed to acknowledge that if something is clearly advertised as FREE they should not be charging for it!

Or is it me?

molerat

They are selling 80 at special offer price and 80+80 free at retail price, they probably have to pay more for the 80+80 pack. This is how retail works. Asda and Tesco sell 80 for £2.27.

l3sl3yd

molerat wrote: »

They are selling 80 at special offer price and 80+80 free at retail price, they probably have to pay more for the 80+80 pack. This is how retail works. Asda and Tesco sell 80 for £2.27.

Yes I understand that - BUT these are on the same shelf..there is no "special offer" sign on the 80 packs .....as a customer I think it is totally misleading

sarahg1969

They do the same with packs of Duracell batteries. The 4+4 free are more expensive than the 4 packs.

arcon5

l3sl3yd wrote: »

Yes I understand that - BUT these are on the same shelf..there is no "special offer" sign on the 80 packs .....as a customer I think it is totally misleading

Welcome to the real world! Where nothing worth something is free!

These kind of offers are usually a play on RRPs quoted by the manufacturer. The higher price is probably just the RRP the manufacturer set, whereby the lower price just the price B&M wanted to sell them at to remain competitive. Where these kind of offers are put on, as it will cost them more they will base it on the RRP. Although it may be slightly misleading, it still represents value. It's also a practice used literally everywhere -- from DFS to BHS

peter_the_piper

Asda confuse me, PG tips before xmas were 160 for £4.50, 240 for £4.00.and Sainsburys legs of lamb 1/2 price at £12.00, full price the week before £16.00

texranger

look at the sun newspaper Mon to Fri. 30p on a Sat it comes with a FREE TV mag, but the paper costs 60p. this is how retail works

also mulipacks are supposed to be cheaper than buying singles, but if you look this is not always the case.

aldredd

texranger wrote: »

also mulipacks are supposed to be cheaper than buying singles, but if you look this is not always the case.

according to who?

mttylad

According to all the stores who say the multipacks are better value, read the garbage printed on them.

aldredd

mttylad wrote: »

According to all the stores who say the multipacks are better value, read the garbage printed on them.

*some* do, yes (Sainsbury's 'bigger pack, better value' flashing comes to mind) - but not all

When the packaging indicates its better value / free etc - such as this example, then absolutely this should be the case - but never assume a larger pack = better value - there are a number of reasons why this won't always be the case.

ChrisEvanson

I think most of the posts here are missing the point the op is making. If you are selling a pack of say 80 for £1 and the same pack showing 100% free for a higher price, I suspect legally you are on a sticky wicket. The pack showing extra free shouldn't be costing more than the pack without the extra free.

The other examples are completely irrelevent, eg the Sun on a Saturday is 60p on that day, end of. It isn't being sold at 30p alongside the same issue with a 'free' TV mag for 60p, which would be illegal as you would be claiming something is free when it isn't free, which seems to be the case here. Yes it is 30p on other days but these are different to the one being sold on a Saturday (the difference needs only to be that it is a different issue).