Petrol station price display legality

coffeehound

Can anyone advise on the legal situation with the prices displayed on the roadside display – do the prices have to be correct?

Petrol station in Bradford was charging 9p (if I recall correctly) more at the pump than the price displayed at the roadside for 95 unleaded.

I reported it on Trading Standards website but the reply wasn't too clear about whether it was an infringement:

For any civil contract to be considered legally binding the elements of offer and acceptance must exist and when a price or offer is advertised on a product, the trader is inviting any potential purchaser to offer that asking price to purchase that specific item. When a consumer makes the offer, the trader can then decide whether they accept that offer or not. A trader can attempt to charge any price they choose and once the price is known to the consumer it is then up to that individual to decide whether they feel the price is acceptable or not, and make the buying decision accordingly.

Once a price is agreed it is deemed reasonable and legally binding.

However, as any misleading pricing is potentially a breach of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, the information you have provided will be passed to Trading Standards for further consideration and, if necessary, further action. Trading Standards may contact you for further information if they deem it necessary.

For one thing, it had distorted the petrolprices website's indication of the cheapest local fuel, which is how I ended up there.

marliepanda

From previous threads I seem to remember as long as the price is displayed correctly on the pump then its legal, however TS may be interested if they are bringing people in with misleading prices constantly, rather than a one off mistake.

neilmcl

coffeehound wrote: »

Petrol station in Bradford was charging 9p (if I recall correctly) more at the pump than the price displayed at the roadside for 95 unleaded.

What was the price at the roadside, I don't know of any petrol stations that price in whole pounds, it's usually always £xx.9 (sometimes xx.7) clearly the .9 had fallen off the sign but it's the price at the pump that counts.

JJ_Egan

coffeehound wrote: »

For one thing, it had distorted the petrolprices website's indication of the cheapest local fuel, which is how I ended up there.

How ?? as i understand its always been Fuel; Card users that supply the data .
Not some guy on a bike looking at signs .

Petrol Prices web site will not always show the same price as the current price on the forecourt .

neilmcl

coffeehound wrote: »

For one thing, it had distorted the petrolprices website's indication of the cheapest local fuel, which is how I ended up there.

What was the PP price and which petrol station was it?

coffeehound

The petrolprices website indicated the same (lower, incorrect) price as the roadside display. The display was electric dot-matrix so not a case of anything falling off.

unforeseen

I normally find that the PP prices are 2 or more days behind for the garages in my area.

It doesn't make a great deal of difference for the big chains but the error is really obvious for the smaller independents where their buying and sale prices are more volatile.

neilmcl

coffeehound wrote: »

The petrolprices website indicated the same (lower, incorrect) price as the roadside display.

So what price (per litre) did you pay?