MSE News: Tesco fined £300,000 for strawberries 'sale' offer

Broadwood

Money-Saving-King wrote: »

I predict you'll be wrong!

Time will tell.

Doc_N

Lynsey wrote: »

*** It's not just supermarkets who try to "hoodwink" you, I remember my earliest experiences of this with probably MFI. Carpetright, DFS etc, etc, etc. - when did they last not have a sale on?
Lynsey

I think you need to add M&S to that list now - their sales are almost every other week, and their prices about as believable as the other companies you mention.

Confusing customers with fake prices may win in the short term, but the danger is that once you've lost consumers' trust (like Tesco?) they could decide not to go back. Which is why all the items we used to buy from Tesco now come from Aldi at at least 25% less.

Broadwood

Doc_N wrote: »

Confusing customers with fake prices may win in the short term, but the danger is that once you've lost consumers' trust (like Tesco?) they could decide not to go back. Which is why all the items we used to buy from Tesco now come from Aldi at at least 25% less.

We've done similarly but now with no fixed loyalty. We regularly shop at Lidl and Aldi for the basics, but make occasional trips to Morrisons Sainsburys and very rarely Tesco. We take advantage of the offers and bargains.

Non are perfect but some are much less perfect than others.

In 2013 Britain, loyalty rarely pays.

scootw1

At the end of the day, if you consider the price reasonable then buy it, ignore the big promotions. If you don't then don't buy it. There are far more important things to worry about than store promotions. People have got far too much time on their hands if they go to court over this

Doc_N

scootw1 wrote: »

At the end of the day, if you consider the price reasonable then buy it, ignore the big promotions. If you don't then don't buy it. There are far more important things to worry about than store promotions. People have got far too much time on their hands if they go to court over this

That's a very simplistic view which ignores altogether human nature and the power that retailers have to take advantage of it.

It might be fine for you to take that line, and those who are intelligent and logical enough to do so, but most people aren't, and they need protection against traders who cheat.

Tesco have shown how far they're prepared to go to cheat customers, and if the case hadn't been taken to court they'd have got away with it.

Would you advocate taking the same approach with door to door salesmen who lie in order to sell their products?

Broadwood

Doc_N wrote: »

That's the joy of shopping at Aldi and Lidl. Much lower prices, same, if not better, quality, and none of the Tesco fake pricing.

Aldi/Lidl prices are genuine - they don't manipulate them in the way that Tesco do theirs. And that even applies to the wines.

While that may be true in general, my nearest shop is a Lidl and we use it twice weekly but I have zero trust in the staff. I can't prove whether they deliberately scam customers or if they are "only" guilty of carelessness and incompetence but I can recall many instances where I've had to return to the till after checking my receipt because price reductions or multibuys haven't been applied by the computer system. The staffs usually appear sheepish at having been caught out. I've also had instances where my receipt has shown more items than were in the trolley.

It really is "Buyer Beware" wherever you shop. Stores use CCTV because they can't trust all customers, and customers should check their receipts because stores can't be trusted either.:(

scootw1

Doc_N wrote: »

That's a very simplistic view which ignores altogether human nature and the power that retailers have to take advantage of it.

It might be fine for you to take that line, and those who are intelligent and logical enough to do so, but most people aren't, and they need protection against traders who cheat.

Tesco have shown how far they're prepared to go to cheat customers, and if the case hadn't been taken to court they'd have got away with it.

Would you advocate taking the same approach with door to door salesmen who lie in order to sell their products?

What are they taking advantage of? People's stupidity? If you are prepared to pay 2 pounds for strawberries then buy them if not, don't. It really is that simple. Are you really saying that people are that blinkered that they see the yellow half price stickers and nothing else? I think human beings are a bit more intelligent than you give them credit for. As for door to door salesmen I don't like them anyway. People these days can easily go on the Internet and most do.

Doc_N

scootw1 wrote: »

What are they taking advantage of? People's stupidity? If you are prepared to pay 2 pounds for strawberries then buy them if not, don't. It really is that simple. Are you really saying that people are that blinkered that they see the yellow half price stickers and nothing else? I think human beings are a bit more intelligent than you give them credit for. As for door to door salesmen I don't like them anyway. People these days can easily go on the Internet and most do.

You're overestimating the intelligence of the average Tesco customer - it really isn't as simple as you seem to think it is.

If you don't believe me, take a look at the judge's comments:


Judge Michael Chambers QC said:

“The effect on turnover of this promotion was dramatic. The figures speak for themselves. The promotion was not a genuine bargain. It was false and misleading. The offer should never have been made in the first place by a national retailer. It was patently wrong.

It is said people would have bought strawberries anyway. I am not persuaded they would have bought strawberries on this scale had it not been for this promotion.”

senileturtle

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Thats nothing! A couple of years ago I saw a whole crate of punnets at Sainsbos, reduced to just 10p each and perfect. I bought 7, ate 2 and washed and froze the rest for smoothies. Now that was a good deal

I've got jars of pears in juice before for 1p, and they weren't even at a reduced price! Their price label on the shelf was set to such.

Also managed to get 1p veg in reduced section near closing time on a Sunday.

scootw1

Doc_N wrote: »

You're overestimating the intelligence of the average Tesco customer - it really isn't as simple as you seem to think it is.

If you don't believe me, take a look at the judge's comments:


Judge Michael Chambers QC said:

“The effect on turnover of this promotion was dramatic. The figures speak for themselves. The promotion was not a genuine bargain. It was false and misleading. The offer should never have been made in the first place by a national retailer. It was patently wrong.

It is said people would have bought strawberries anyway. I am not persuaded they would have bought strawberries on this scale had it not been for this promotion.”

And if the judge says it, it's obviously right.I am a Tesco customer and I consider myself fairly intelligent. Bit insulted by your comments really.