carrier bag charge for packaged raw meat

d123

unholyangel wrote: »

Its not that they can't charge, its that they don't have to. Although I do agree they shouldn't be telling people its the law.

Agreed, I'm saying if they want to refuse a free bag, then they they must just say so, and not try and hide behind an "it's the law" excuse. They can charge what they like for bags, but they cannot charge the 5p bag tax in a case like this.

The shop staff need educating and that will only happen by getting their head office involved via a complaint.

Telling a lie to a customer is never acceptable, whether it's over 5p, £5 or £50.

peachyprice

italiastar wrote: »

I totally agree, but these were impulse purchases, not planned. As i said, the packaging was wet, leading me to believe it was leaking. My question was about whether the shop could charge, not a question about my own stupidity. Thankfully, some people have provided answers to the question, and even pointed out that a retailer can carge for anything.

Next time just grab one of the small loose fruit and veg bags for your leaking meat as you're passing. Problem solved.

visidigi

italiastar wrote: »

Sadly it was the duty manager who said id have to pay. My actual concern is because i had bought pork and chicken along with bread which would have soaked any juices up.

So you had bread in the bag too.

The rules are clear that if you ONLY have fresh meat at the point when you check out the bag should be given free.

If there are any other items in the bag other than fresh meat products, say like bread. Then the bag should be charged for.

xHannahx

They can still charge if they want.. Lidl Aldi have always charged for bags and there is no requirement to give free bags, they are just exempt from compulsory charging

robatwork

Supermarkets aren't consistent in this.

I did a very unscientific experiment last week. M&S wouldn't provide me with a thin "fruit and veg" type bag to put some packaged chicken in when I asked at the checkout. Tesco a day later did.

Le_Kirk

visidigi wrote: »

So you had bread in the bag too.

The rules are clear that if you ONLY have fresh meat at the point when you check out the bag should be given free.

If there are any other items in the bag other than fresh meat products, say like bread. Then the bag should be charged for.

I think bread would come under "unwrapped food for human consumption" provided it was unwrapped, i.e. from the bakery section and not a bagged sliced loaf.

visidigi

Le_Kirk wrote: »

I think bread would come under "unwrapped food for human consumption" provided it was unwrapped, i.e. from the bakery section and not a bagged sliced loaf.

That's an assumption that it was a bakery bread loaf (and a less likely one at that).

But it still doesn't change the fact here based on the information provided thus far.

marliepanda

Le_Kirk wrote: »

I think bread would come under "unwrapped food for human consumption" provided it was unwrapped, i.e. from the bakery section and not a bagged sliced loaf.

I've not yet seen a supermarket bakery that doesn't put the bread in a paper bag. That's the bag they don't have to charge for.

If you want a carrier for it, you do.

Anyway I assume the op wanted an additional bag to keep it separate from the bread. But I agree he has no right to it for free still.

unholyangel

visidigi wrote: »

So you had bread in the bag too.

The rules are clear that if you ONLY have fresh meat at the point when you check out the bag should be given free.

If there are any other items in the bag other than fresh meat products, say like bread. Then the bag should be charged for.

I read that as OP saying he/she wanted a bag for the meat because they had bought bread also and didn't want it soaking up any potential leaking liquids being in the same bag for life/reusable bag.

sheramber

Why would you buy a meat package that was leaking? That would mean it was not properly sealed and the meat could already be deteriorating.