Grrrr shops that can't do maths.

heretolearn_2

Went into a high street womens clothing shop yesterday - not a shop I normally go into as all a bit old lady but I wanted to browse round the sales stuff to see if there way anything for work.

They had a sales rail of 70% off clothes. But the prices weren't 70% off. their maths was wrong on every single item. God knows how they'd worked it out, but every item was a few pounds too much. For example there was a coat originally £38.99 so the 70% off price should have been £11.70 (30% of the original price) but it was priced up as £18odd. They simply refused to listen to me about it - presumably they are quite happy that they've worked it out correctly.

I gave up and didn't buy anything but do you think I should complain/report them to trading standards? They can't say they are giving a % off and then not give it...

System

should have been £11-76 !

biscit

Did it say 70% off everything or something like "Up to 70% off"

ShaneUK

Was it definitely 70% off? Or was it (very small print) "up to" 70% off.

If the former, complain to head office.

davetrousers

It gets on my nerves when shops say "Up to Half Price Sale", now surely that means less than half price, but the stuff is for sale for more than half price.

For example if something was full price at £10, then half price would be £5, so by saying up to half price sale, then the sale price would/should be up to £5.

biscit

CHRISSYG wrote: »

should have been £11-76 !

No £11.697 (which round up to £11.70)

prowla

SALE

up to
70% OFF

Azari

prowla wrote: »

SALE

up to
70% OFF

or

SALE

up to
70% OFF

vyle

davetrousers wrote: »

It gets on my nerves when shops say "Up to Half Price Sale", now surely that means less than half price, but the stuff is for sale for more than half price.

For example if something was full price at £10, then half price would be £5, so by saying up to half price sale, then the sale price would/should be up to £5.

Yeah, that gets me too. If something is up to half price, to me, it implies the prices range from 1% to 50%, so something that was £100 could be anything from £1-£50 but no more than that.

If I said to somebody I would pay up to half price of something costing £100, using advert logic, I'd pay anywhere between £51-£99.

fluffnutter

This 'up to' business is quite interesting because it almost borders on misleading advertising. I suppose the litmus test is whether the majority of people are savvy about the little 'up to' and realise that the prices quoted are unlikely to offer the maximum reduction. At which point then... this type of advertising becomes pointless. It needs to fool a fair proportion of people to be worthwhile, but, if it does, it then becomes misadvertising. For it to be fair, everyone has to ignore it!

Why do shops bother??

Pollycat

Could their pricing be based on the RRP instead of the price they were selling at?

I know some stores do this and the signs are clear that the sale price is, for example, 70% of the RRP not the ticket price.

Before complaining to Trading Standards you'd need to be sure of your facts.