Currys sale items

CoolHotCold

fozmcfc wrote: »

I don't agree that the OP is entitled to anything, but I agree with Matty they increase it for a few weeks, then reduce it and can claim it is on sale.

Something really should be done about stuff like that. There is small print, which normally mentions, previous sold at current price or even lower!!!, but when going into a shop, it's probably not mentioned at all.

The Argos catalogue sale supplements are full of symbols which indicate such things.

With the offline retail market struggling, I guess, that the government doesn't want to put more pressure on it, by stamping down on things like this.

Perhaps other shops hide it, but the currys and pcworld state clearly on their website what price it was sold between and it also states on the individual tickets instore. At least with Currys and PcWorld they sell that item at that price across all their stores, I've seen DFS and CSC adverts stating "Save £500 (item sold at higher price between X dates in at least 10% of stores) " Which is a tad misleading.

tellmah

The original point of this question was to ask is it legal to do it, yes it may be legal, but it makes of a mockery of so called sale prices, when in reality it is no such thing, it is just another attempt to dupe customers.

The problem is its hard to find like for like comparisons. Although it may have the same model no as another the internal specs vary wildly.

Arcon5, yes it was a serious question, why wouldn't it be. I said they had advertised it at the higher price and then dropped it, but now the price has gone up from the "sale" price and their is no mention either online or in the store that it was ever a price different to the current one displayed, so i am obviously niave in thinking they should honour the lower price..

mattyprice4004

So you'd expect every price in store that's been raised to have the old price displayed next to it?

It's not really naive, just plain bizarre that you'd think they would have to honour any previous price. I suppose every person has their own viewpoint, and that's just mine.

SuperHan

It was on sale, now it isn't. The nature of technology is that as time passes, the item may be worth less or competition arises, so the price after the sale may be lower than before the sale. It isn't necessarily dodgy pricing.

Prices change and sales end. That's the way of retail I'm afraid. As to them not mentioning the sale price, would you rather the ticket said "Unlucky you didn't come last week, you would have saved money"? Displaying old, lower prices doesn't make anyone happy, and serves no purpose!

tellmah

I think you are both misunderstanding what i am saying.
Currys are saying its original price was 500, then dropped it in the "sale" to 350, it has now gone up to 400. It is still lower than its original price, but this is not mentioned, so in effect it is still in the sale but no mention is made of this.

It all comes down to inflated prices to begin with and then lower it to make people think they are getting a bargain.

Actually maybe it is a good idea to have the old lower price next to it, they much a big deal out of it when they allegedly reduce the price, so at least consumers would know what's going on.

unholyangel

Which product was it?

tellmah

Lenovo z580, with the i3 intel processor

unholyangel

tellmah wrote: »

Lenovo z580, with the i3 intel processor

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-g580-15-6-laptop-blue-17056543-pdt.html

This one by any chance? They do have similar ones for £350 but they're not as good processor/memory wise. Although I did find the following on another lenovo laptop:

£399.91
was £799.99 (£799.99 from 20/04/12 to 15/05/12)

Seriously.....was £800 for less than 4 weeks over 7 months ago and THAT is the figure they use for its sale price? What price has it been between may and now? :S

I'd argue its possibly misleading. Whether ASA/TS would agree or not is another matter.....after all they do display the dates it was on sale at that price.


Although a quick google (and a old post on hotdealsUK) shows that the same laptop was being offered 3 months ago @ £479 with a £200 reward pack included.

I have a feeling that consumers knowing it was previously on sale at £479 vs £399 now would get less sales than £799 reduced to £399. Like I said....possibly misleading but it would be up to ASA/TS

tellmah

No its this one.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lenovo-z580-15-6-laptop-metal-17056542-pdt.html

I've looked at some other "bargains" they are offering on half price laptops, 800 down to 400, only available for store collect. i randomly selected different towns around the country and whilst they are advertising it online, none of their stores had it available.

SuperHan

No, I do understand. But maybe it isn't on sale. Its RRP has just dropped. They don't have to declare an item on sale because it once sold for a higher price. Also, IIRC, the higher price has to have been within the past 28 days to be called a "Sale" item - maybe the £500 price point was over this threshold. If not, more fool them for missing out on the "sale" marketing.

Your original question was related to you getting the laptop at £349, wasn't it? The answer is no - they can declare what they like on the ticket, so long as its true, and they can omit whatever pricing info they want.