Retailer refused to sell goods because they wanted them for other customers

Guardsman

I have a idea... Next time you take one of your staff shopping with you why dont you give them some money so they could use another till.
Did the manager talk to you because it was obvious that you were the one paying for all the goods.
I think the manager deserves credit for standing up to a greedy shopper.

DCFC79

dktreesea wrote: »

So at what point does it become discrimination? In our case we took our items up to the till and the manager told us he didn't want to sell to us because he wanted to "keep the goods for other customers". All apart from the humiliation of being treated like that in front of the other people who were in the store at the time, no restrictions on the quantity that could be bought were advertised in the store.

dktreesea wrote: »

If indeed that was usually the case. But we have bought these particular items from this retailer over a number of years and not always from the same store, and there has never been any restrictions on the quantity we could by. Quite the contrary; the more the merrier is their usual modus operandi, and I note we recently bought a large quantity of a similar item from them on line, far larger than we were attempting to buy from the store.

If the manager didn't mean the goods were being kept for other customers, then why say that he wanted to keep the goods for other customers?

Going back to the limit, if no limit is advertised, then on what basis can a shopkeeper arbritrarily apply a limit? And surely to apply it to some customers but not others is discriminatory.

dktreesea wrote: »

Say you go into a supermarket and load up the trolley with 20 jars of coffee, or 100 packs of soft drinks, simply because the item is a good price. If the retailer doesn't advertise any restrictions, can they refuse to sell to you once you reach the till on the basis that they want to keep the items in question for their other customers?

Is that discrimination, or is the retailer within his or her rights to impose any restriction they choose, and maybe only targeted at you and not others, even if they haven't advertised any such restriction?

Lol the discrimination card always has to crop up when it involves a supermarket. Sounds like the manager was doing what they're paid to do.

ThumbRemote

missile wrote: »

Similar thing makes my blood boil, is when I see shoppers waiting to hoover up all the discounted food stuff near sell by date will be discounted.

You get wound up about that?

Anyone can hang around the fridge waiting for the mark downs. It's not like you're prevented from waiting there yourself.

In any case, most supermarkets reduce gradually throughout the day, so you can always pop in earlier and get your bargains.

arcon5

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=280544

Seems ops not satisfied of the answer wherever he goes..

Ich_2

Oh dear! ............

missile

ThumbRemote wrote: »

You get wound up about that?

Anyone can hang around the fridge waiting for the mark downs. It's not like you're prevented from waiting there yourself.

In any case, most supermarkets reduce gradually throughout the day, so you can always pop in earlier and get your bargains.

In my local supermarket they discount the food at a regular time twice a week and the vultures gather blocking the isle waiting for the staff to mark down the items and scoop them up.

Thus the choice is to hover there and block the isle before them, or wait for their left overs.

vikingaero

Supermarkets and retailers often impose limits for the reasons that the others have posted above:

If you really want a quantity of a particular item then your option is to visit a wholesaler or cash & carry.

Loads of smaller retailers such as corner shops try to buy some promotional stock from supermarkets but more often than not they find that with all the time and effort taken to purchase small quantities then their only option for a reliable supply is to go wholesale.

RosiPossum

I hate going in for a promotion and it not being there!
By other customers, the manager would mean that maybe other people would like the promotion too. It isn't just the promotion that they make money from, people usually get the rest of their shopping there too. If the shop is often out of promotional items, a lot of people would be annoyed and quite possibly shop there less.

If you're so angry about this, put in a complaint to the supermarket and tell them you felt discriminated against (although there is nothing suggesting this!)

I've been in some very 'white only' areas and I've never seen people of different ethnicities being treated differently.

RosiPossum

Lol, just looked on that other thread on another forum - OP claimed that the person they were with wasn't even thought of as a person due to their ethnicity!
No, love. The manager counted you as one person because you were buying together. Obviously you were splitting the shopping between you to take advantage of the offer. My friend and I were both asked for ID when only she was buying alcohol. In that case, they had to class us as one customer even though I wasn't handing over any money.

Give it up - you've not been discriminated against, it has nothing to do with Christmas presents, and I'm fairly sure that if two white Christians were to act in exactly the same way, they'd also be refused.

shocky_2

Of course they can do this. Your behaviour is selfish and impacts other customers.

If you want to make a large order then simply speak to the manager in advance. I am sure the manager will be more than happy to order extra stock for you, they may even offer a discounted price. I know of catering businesses that order large quantities of cooking oil and soft drinks of Tesco, its very common.