Are supermarkets scamming online customers into paying Sugar Tax when they don't need to?

darrenforster99

We got our Sainsbury's click and collect order today and every time we get the Sainsbury's shop we always seem to have one substitute in the basket and it seems that Sainsbury's and other supermarkets may be taking the mick a bit.  I think the only one that hasn't caught on to this trick is Asda - although it wouldn't work for Asda as they promise to match the price of the substituted item.

We quite often order full sugar Coke (with the Sugar Tax added) - and funny enough whenever we receive our order - guess what is usually substituted - yes the "full-sugar Coke" - with Coke Zero - yeah the "no-sugar" Coke.  The only thing I've noticed though is that despite being sent the "no-sugar" Coke the price is still the same price.  They don't remove the sugar tax from the Coke - is this not then unfair on the consumer?  I'm being made to pay a tax for a product that shouldn't have been taxed in the first place - Sainsbury's don't pay tax on it though as the item they've sent is the sugar free version.  I'm just wondering how many people have supermarkets done this to in online shopping and how much are they raking in from pulling this tax scam on the shopping.

If I was to go into the shop myself and pick up the bottle of Coke Zero instead of Coke because they'd "sold out" then I wouldn't still be charged the sugar tax, but because I've chosen to have a home delivery the coke isn't in stock but I still have to pay the tax just for ordering it even though I didn't receive it.

I did point this out to Sainsbury's and their attitude was just I could refuse the substitute at the door - but that's totally missing the point - yeah I could refuse the substitute but then I'd have no Coke until the next click and collect (as at the present time I'm still not feeling 100% confident in entering an actual shop with everything that's going on.

Also I wonder where Sainsbury's and other supermarkets stand legally on this by wrongly charging a tax on a substituted product?  No doubt they are pocketing that money - and yeah it might seem like only a couple of pennies in sugar tax but how many bottles of Coke do the supermarkets do that with every week and how much are they making on this issue?

k3lvc

I'm out of touch with delivery/click & collect substitutions as I've been shopping in store - are you suggesting they swap for an alternative of lower retail price (because of sugar tax) but don't refund to the lower price ?

I can't honestly imagine that it's in any retailers interest (or financial advantage) to operate this as a wide-ranging 'scam'

[Deleted User]

As always, it won't be a scam. 

If you're receiving a cheaper product, then the difference should be refunded to you. But on the Sainsbury's site, the prices are often the same, with the difference being in the pack size, so check to see exactly what is happening.

p3ncilsharpener

darrenforster99 said:

We got our Sainsbury's click and collect order today and every time we get the Sainsbury's shop we always seem to have one substitute in the basket and it seems that Sainsbury's and other supermarkets may be taking the mick a bit.  I think the only one that hasn't caught on to this trick is Asda - although it wouldn't work for Asda as they promise to match the price of the substituted item.

We quite often order full sugar Coke (with the Sugar Tax added) - and funny enough whenever we receive our order - guess what is usually substituted - yes the "full-sugar Coke" - with Coke Zero - yeah the "no-sugar" Coke.  The only thing I've noticed though is that despite being sent the "no-sugar" Coke the price is still the same price.  They don't remove the sugar tax from the Coke - is this not then unfair on the consumer?  I'm being made to pay a tax for a product that shouldn't have been taxed in the first place - Sainsbury's don't pay tax on it though as the item they've sent is the sugar free version.  I'm just wondering how many people have supermarkets done this to in online shopping and how much are they raking in from pulling this tax scam on the shopping.

If I was to go into the shop myself and pick up the bottle of Coke Zero instead of Coke because they'd "sold out" then I wouldn't still be charged the sugar tax, but because I've chosen to have a home delivery the coke isn't in stock but I still have to pay the tax just for ordering it even though I didn't receive it.

I did point this out to Sainsbury's and their attitude was just I could refuse the substitute at the door - but that's totally missing the point - yeah I could refuse the substitute but then I'd have no Coke until the next click and collect (as at the present time I'm still not feeling 100% confident in entering an actual shop with everything that's going on.

Also I wonder where Sainsbury's and other supermarkets stand legally on this by wrongly charging a tax on a substituted product?  No doubt they are pocketing that money - and yeah it might seem like only a couple of pennies in sugar tax but how many bottles of Coke do the supermarkets do that with every week and how much are they making on this issue?

https://help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/terms-and-conditions/Substitution-promise-T-Cs

4. Our Sainsbury’s (Substitutes Price Promise) applies to substitutes you decide to keep and works like this:

a. If we offer a substitute costing more than the grocery item you ordered and you keep it then we’ll give you a voucher (up to a maximum voucher value of £99.99 per order) for the difference to be used against a future Sainsbury’s online grocery order.  We’ll email you an evoucher code and will pop a copy in your online voucher wallet.  You can find your voucher wallet at online checkout.  The voucher can be used for online groceries only and won’t expire for 6 months.

So, did you get a voucher code or not?

pumpkin89

You as a consumer are not paying any sugar tax.  The Soft Drinks Industry Levy is charged to the manufacturer (in your example, Coca-Cola European Partners).  There is no tax on the price they charge to Sainsbury's or, in turn, the price Sainsbury's charges to you.

In reality, of course, the tax is a cost to Coke and therefore they will pass it on in the form of higher prices.  But all this means is you are potentially getting substituted a cheaper product - the same situation as if you ordered a Taste The Difference product and were sent a By Sainsbury's equivalent.  The sugar tax itself is irrelevant to your scenario.

mr._prude

My understanding of how the sugar tax was supposed to work is as follows.

I go to buy a 2 litre bottle of 7up, the full sugar one is £2 and the sugar free one is £1.50. This encourages me to buy the sugar free one, hence saving £s and LBs.😁

But what I have always seen is both bottles are the same price, so what is the point?

pumpkin89

mr._prude said:

My understanding of how the sugar tax was supposed to work is as follows.

I go to buy a 2 litre bottle of 7up, the full sugar one is £2 and the sugar free one is £1.50. This encourages me to buy the sugar free one, hence saving £s and LBs.😁

But what I have always seen is both bottles are the same price, so what is the point?

Full sugar 7up has not existed for several years.  It was reformulated to fall below the threshold for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (threshold is 4.9g sugar per 100ml liquid - 7up has 4.6g).  So both 7up Regular and 7up Sugar Free are exempt from the tax and will be the same price.

There are very few "full sugar" soft drinks remaining, most notably Coca Cola.