Inaccurate Discounting ?

jdybnsn

I bought some duty free recently whilst flying with Virgin - I  pre ordered some perfume as it advertised 10% off. I was told I could only pay by card - but that was OK

After I paid (all done by machine including the discount being applied)   I realised the machine hadn't knocked the full 10% off but rounded up the figure to the nearest whole number. It was only 10p extra than it should have been BUT that wasn't really the point as I wonder over the year how many extra 10p (or maybe more) they end up with across every flight ? I pointed this out to the cabin crew but they shrugged their shoulders and said they couldn't refund me the difference  (though that wasn't really my issue) as they don't have any cash on board these days all transactions are by card.

Not fussed about my 10p but is this practice legal ?Or are they going to claim that as they are in the air they are not bound by any consumer law ?

k3lvc

So what were the values ? Given all their fragrances are prices in round pounds (e.g. £35) then it should be a simple calculation. Are you suggesting they charged £31.60 instead of £31.50 in this case ?

user1977

Do you mean rounded up in the course of currency conversion? Or did they start with a rounded-up price? At most it's something Trading Standards could prosecute for - if they have any jurisdiction for stuff in the air!

k3lvc

 At most it's something Trading Standards could prosecute for - if they have any jurisdiction for stuff in the air!

It's a very grey area - each govt dept chooses whether 'duty free' falls inside or outside it's jurisdiction

jdybnsn

k3lvc said:

So what were the values ? Given all their fragrances are prices in round pounds (e.g. £35) then it should be a simple calculation. Are you suggesting they charged £31.60 instead of £31.50 in this case ?

Yes that was basically the gist of it. 
I was just surprised that they either hadn't ever noticed before or they hadn't ever been challenged. I'm not a scrooge but I am old school when it comes to maths and expect calculations to be exact - especially when it comes to a computer doing it.!

May be computers aren't being as educated, as well as they used to be, these days ?

jdybnsn

user1977 said:

Do you mean rounded up in the course of currency conversion? Or did they start with a rounded-up price? At most it's something Trading Standards could prosecute for - if they have any jurisdiction for stuff in the air!

It was all in GBP as far as I was aware - from advertised price to the currency I was charged in.

k3lvc

jdybnsn said:

k3lvc said:

So what were the values ? Given all their fragrances are prices in round pounds (e.g. £35) then it should be a simple calculation. Are you suggesting they charged £31.60 instead of £31.50 in this case ?

Yes that was basically the gist of it. 
I was just surprised that they either hadn't ever noticed before or they hadn't ever been challenged. I'm not a scrooge but I am old school when it comes to maths and expect calculations to be exact - especially when it comes to a computer doing it.!

May be computers aren't being as educated, as well as they used to be, these days ?

But it's not guaranteed to be a computer doing it - depending on the system being used many promotions/prices are input manually. Depending how you feel about it then probably worth a complaint/comment to Virgin (or whichever 'retailer' operates on-board which will be shown on your receipt)

jon81uk

Did you definitly pre-order? The websitre suggests payment is taken online and that shows the correct discount in the basket.

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