Specsavers 2 for 1 illegal?

jon81uk

Manxman_in_exile said:

sheramber said:

So instead of paying £100 for one pair the OP is upset that he was offered a discount on that price.

No - the OP is upset that Specsavers are misleading people into believing thet the purchase price of one pair of specatcles is £100 when in fact it is only £50.   (Or whatever the appropriate prices and discount are)

Do you not see?      

The OP never mentioned £100. Someone else used that as a misleading example.

Someone has confirmed that Specsavers regularly offer 20% off vouchers on leaflets and even if you don't have the leaflet the staff will offer the 20% to try and get the sale.

The OP only stated they were offered £48 off instead of the 2for1, in a later post they mentioned they were looking at varifocals at around £250, so we can assume the £48 discount is indeed the 20%.

So it seems you can either get 2for1 or 20% off one pair. Choose well and 2for1 will be a discount of around 50% compared to buying two pairs. Or if you have the leaflet or are offered the discount by the staff you get 20% off one pair.

The terms clearly state you can't combine offers so you can't get the lower price and the 2for1.

Maybe they should be more upfront about the availability of the 20%, but from the sound of it as soon as you say you aren't interested in 2for1 the 20% is offered instead if they think they can make the sale so it doesn't seem like its too hidden.

Would people be happier if only those who got the leaflet with the voucher in their letterbox got 20% off?

born_again

spakkaman said:

sheramber said:

So instead of paying £100 for one pair the OP is upset that he was offered a discount on that price.

Im rather disappointed you are not reading the thread.  If you go to a car dealer and they are offering 0% and the dealer offers you a lower price for a non finance deal then thats a no no.

 So get a grip.

Since when....

Why would I take out a 0% deal. instead of paying cash and getting a nice discount for that?

Even ML advises bartering to see if you can get a better deal for cash.

user1977

born_again said:

spakkaman said:

sheramber said:

So instead of paying £100 for one pair the OP is upset that he was offered a discount on that price.

Im rather disappointed you are not reading the thread.  If you go to a car dealer and they are offering 0% and the dealer offers you a lower price for a non finance deal then thats a no no.

 So get a grip.

Since when....

Why would I take out a 0% deal. instead of paying cash and getting a nice discount for that?

Since decades ago. You're not allowed to kid on a deal is 0% APR if you're giving cash buyers discounts.

born_again

user1977 said:

Since decades ago. You're not allowed to kid on a deal is 0% APR if you're giving cash buyers discounts.

Got some links?
As plenty of car deals with 0%, but you can still get cash discounts.

spakkaman

If a car dealer is advertising 0% but also offering same car for less money if not on 0% then get the cash offer in writing.  You can then insist if you want on 0% finance with the cash price.  Its a legal obligation.

user1977

born_again said:

user1977 said:

Since decades ago. You're not allowed to kid on a deal is 0% APR if you're giving cash buyers discounts.

Got some links?
As plenty of car deals with 0%, but you can still get cash discounts.

An authoritative link would probably involve wading through lots of regulations on the FCA site and the like, but the point is that the APR has to take into account the "total charge for credit", so fees as well as interest, and that includes the "discount you would have got for paying cash" (or the "surcharge for paying credit" if you want it to put it that way).

Here's a previous thread with people referencing the same thing:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2166377/can-you-haggle-at-dfs/p2

I'm sure many places will still give you a cash discount. But they shouldn't.

born_again

I can see nothing in the above thread that mentions it is illegal, other than a retailer DFS saying it as a excuse to not give discount. No links to anything official.
And lets be fair here. DFS are not exactly well known for being up of legal rights for the consumers...

Sure a retailer can not surcharge for using a card over cash.

lemondrops69

Unfortunately the OP couldn't read the small print due to lack of glasses. 

user1977

born_again said:

I can see nothing in the above thread that mentions it is illegal, other than a retailer DFS saying it as a excuse to not give discount. No links to anything official.

Here we go then: from the Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations 2010:

Restrictions on certain expressions in credit advertisements

10.—(1) A credit advertisement shall not include—

...(b) the expression “interest free” or any similar expression indicating that a customer is liable to pay no greater amount in respect of a transaction financed by credit than he would be liable to pay as a cash purchaser in relation to the like transaction, except where the total amount payable by the debtor does not exceed the cash price

and if you're wondering what "cash price" means in that context:

“cash price” in relation to any goods, services, land or other things means the price or charge at which the goods, services, land or other things may be purchased by, or supplied to, the debtor for cash, account being taken of any discount generally available from the dealer or supplier in question;

born_again

Thank You.