Build a bear - misleading prices whose in the wrong?

mycatstealschicken

My daughter had been begging us to let her go to build a bear so this morning we gave in and took her on condition she paid for half of it using her birthday money.

She chose a toy which appeared to be clearly priced at 13.50 (one of the cheaper ones). She stuffed it, named it and registered it and chose it some clothes. When we got to the till they tried to charge us £16.50 for it.

When we queried it they told us the black version of the toy was £13.50 but the white one was £16.50. Both toys were on the same shelf next to each other with a clear price of £13.50 displayed.

They told us that WE made a mistake because there was only a photo of the black version on the price display so it should have been obvious that the white one was a different price! We asked them to show us where the price for the white one was and eventually after we'd asked the manager 3 times he said "I'll see if I can find the price display in the stock room". He did eventually find the £16.50 ticket. I suggested he put it up on the shelf with the white toy but when we left the store they still hadn't done it.

The staff were rude to us, tried to blame other customers for the mix up and told us we should have known there was a problem. As far as I could tell the black and white toy were identical except for colour.

They very begrudgingly gave us a 10% discount for the toy and accused us of "forcing them into a corner because we didn't bother checking the price properly and were obviously just out to get a discount". I even heard hte manager say to a member of staff "they obviously just moved it to cause trouble".

Were build a bear LEGALLY (obviously not morally) in the right and is it worth referring them to trading standards? Is there anything else we can do or just put it down to experience.

Sorry its so long and thanks for reading

mije1983

No they don't have to sell you any item if they don't want to.

Have a look here at Do shops have to sell at the advertised price?.

Did the price ticket specify the colour of the bear (I know you mentioned a picture but was there a description)?

It doesn't sound like they handled the situation very well though. Maybe a letter to the head office just saying how disappointed you were etc may lead to some goodwill.

At least your daughter got her bear, and no doubt that is the most important thing for her now :T

halibut2209

Faultless response from mije1983

(out of interest was your name meant to be mike1983 cos I just typed that by mistake!)

mo786uk

You could report to TS for lack of pricing compliance but looks liek it was 'one of those things' that is unlikely to be replicated on a random visit.

mycatstealschicken

No the shelf display didn't mention teh colour of the bear.

I expect you're all right and it was one of those things though I found it odd that i had to ask so many times to see the actual price tag and they didn't put it up.

Thank you all for your time. Was upset for daughter because she'd carefully budgeted her money to the penny (she had £11 so with the accessories she'd chosen was bang if it had been priced properly). She is cuddled up in bed with it now

whitewing

I wouldn't report to trading standards, but I would email head office and ask why there is a price difference anyway, and briefly outline your visit.

Coopdivi

As mije1983 said, legally they were right. Not morally though. To make a song and dance over three quid is terrible customer service.

I suggest you post your story, with the exception of the last two paragraphs, on the Praise, Vent and Warnings board and name the store and its location.

mycatstealschicken

I've just had a look on the site. It appears that the white version is 3cm taller than the black version though I can't say I noticed! Clearly toys are priced at £1 per cm

My husband has phoned the head office who have said they'll look into it. We will await developments