Disgusting british rip-off culture

HappyUser

Hello


I have noticed an extremely disgusting british culture that spans across the whole range of retail and other shop workers, from coffee shops and restaurants to post office and train ticket stations.


Workers will rip you off in every instance, by:

1. 'forgetting' to apply discounts
2. not informing you about available discounts or or other ways to save money
3. overselling you services and products by suggesting you expensive ones as the standard
4. not informing you that their suggestions incur an additional cost

This is extremely disgusting culture, either at the initiative of the workers themselves or from their management.


I hope this simple threat will raise awareness of this hideous mentality! Expect to be ripped off every time you visit a shop in every possible manner!



As a hideous example, I was even given a USED envelope which the post office worker stapled for me, while he charged me for the cost of a new envelop!


Tell them off about their practices and always complain to their management!

forgotmyname

Never been sold a used envelope. As new or as used.

Overselling services. it may nto be a better product to you but it may to the next person.

You know people in other countries get overcharged and upsold also?



Schools out.

GreyQueen

My thoughts are that if a person is old enough to be out shopping on their own, with their own money, debit or credit card in hand, and assuming that they have mental capacity, that caveat emptor (buyer beware) applies.

There have always been sharp practises in selling, in all forms of trade and commerce, in all parts of the world. Some of them have been immortalised in sayings like 'don't let the cat out of the bag' or 'never buy a pig in a poke' dating from the times when going to market might involve buying a live squirming piglet in a sack - which might be a very cross cat instead. or to 'ginger up' - stuffing a bit of ginger root up the back passage of a tired and jaded horse to make it seem sprightly.

Shop assistants are obliged to attempt to up-sell to customers but we customers aren't being forced to do so. A pleasant no thank-you is sufficient to end any up-selling attempt I've ever encountered.

Britian actually has pretty robust consumer laws and mandatory cooling off periods for many contracts, such as the 14 days I had to bail from a new contract with my ISP.

I've long since noted that when we make what turns out to be a good purchase, we are puffed up and proud and declare I BOUGHT xxxx! and are full of ourselves. We own our actions and are swift to tell others of them, so they can admire our shrewedness.

However, if we make an unsatisfactory or downright poor deal, we become mysteriously powerless in the transaction, we declare that we were SOLD xxx as if we had no say in the matter and the other party has done the dirty on us.

A lot of information about goods and services can be had for free on t'internet, in the public library, or by asking around and sampling the general opinion of X, Y or Z company.

It takes two to tango and two to transact. If you make poor choices, or accept poor offerings, perhaps it would be wise to spend some quiet time thinking about why they were poor, before venturing into the arena of retail again?

Brambleberry

Exactly the opposite experience yesterday, I got a 20% discount on a pair of wristwarmers at M&S because the assistant pointed out there might be an offer on my card to activate.

In the past I had a lovely assistant in Boots open a separate till just to process my purchases to get the maximum discount possible.

If you go into every transaction expecting the best, it's probably more likely you'll get it.

VfM4meplse

HappyUser wrote: »

I hope this simple threat will raise awareness of this hideous mentality! Expect to be ripped off every time you visit a shop in every possible manner!

MSE regulars - OSers in particular! - are likely to be wise to such "scams".

PasturesNew

If you buy a "bag for life" at Aldi ... then re-use it, you have to check the receipt every time that they don't charge you for it just because you have it with you.

The only way to prevent this that I've found that works every time is to not have your bag out/ready and folded under your armpit ... but to wait until the staff member has started scanning the items then let them pile up as you put your bag on the side section, open the zipper, remove your Aldi bag .... then unfold it, rezip your bag, put it back over your shoulder .... then start packing your groceries into it.

coffeehound

^ or use a bag from a different shop

For those of us who aren’t able to think quickly on our feet, it is difficult to spot when we’re being taken for a ride. I can think of a couple of times that I’ve been badly short-changed but have been too flustered to spot it. The tendency to not give receipts now makes the situation even more difficult.

moneyistooshorttomention

I've noticed that quite often I'm not automatically being handed my receipt these days - and I ask for it. At that point it gets printed out and handed over. I will take the time to have a quick look at it too.

There are times when I've thought "Why did they say that wrong thing? Not say that right thing?". Latest example - just a weeny one this week of handing over £1 coin to pay for something costing 55p and I was handed back 40p change. I pointed out my change was short and they still went to hand me back the wrong amount.

My conclusion wasn't "This is a try-on". It was "Duh! They haven't got many brain cells have they - I wouldnt employ someone that daft".

I do know what OP means about try-ons though - and just hope I spot them every time and deal with them and hope none get past me and do feel we shouldnt just shrug and accept they happen - and should get proper service in the first place. It is annoying to "have to keep an eye out" not to get ripped-off all the time and does mean one becomes increasingly cynical over the years (partly from the sheer number of try-ons one has to bat off - and knows you shouldnt have to).

OP omitted to mention the sheer quality (or lack of to be precise:cool:) of many of the goods sold these days. A lot of what is commonly available (clothes, electrical goods, etc) is way worse quality than it was 20/30 years ago (eg many Marks & Spencers clothes are no longer their normal quality). I know part of that is down to other shoppers - who just won't pay what the item "really costs" and expect to get it much cheaper. The shops refuse to lose out to that - and cheapen the quality of the goods they sell to cater for those people and the rest of us then struggle to buy the quality we require. It's other shoppers to blame for that one.

C_Mababejive

I disagree. The UK has one of the most fiercely competitive competitive retail/consumer environments in Europe if not the world. For a small island,we do very well.

Prinzessilein

I shop a fair bit in M&S...(in our little town we don't have much of a choice for food-shopping)….the staff there are always aware of what the current 'Sparks' card offers are and will offer to check your card to see if the offer is activated...the Food Hall staff also take care to point out if something you have bought is on a twofer.

Things are, admittedly, not quite so good in our only other supermarket - a small Tesco...they have been known to have large posters up with details of a promotion...but one item and get a freebie...and when you ask where the freebies are you are told that this store doesn't have any, it's only in the larger stores - so why have the poster up...apparently because 'the area manager told us to'!


Maybe I am lucky...but the shady practices described by the OP don't seem to have happened in any of the towns in which I have lived...sure, you get the odd seller who tires to up-sell or promotes his latest offer, but that is business...and certainly not the bone-deep disease implied in the OP.

Gloomendoom

I'm struggling to see what is peculiarly British about the retail practices that the OP has listed.