Supermarkets Mislabelling of Food Prices

comeandgo

Just back from New Zealand and the supermarkets we went to had given up on the paper shelf prices, it’s little computerised price bars so nobody has to physically change paper, it’s all done in the office or by some shop staff who can change the prices.  Wonder how long it will take UK to catch up.

maman

comeandgo said:

Just back from New Zealand and the supermarkets we went to had given up on the paper shelf prices, it’s little computerised price bars so nobody has to physically change paper, it’s all done in the office or by some shop staff who can change the prices.  Wonder how long it will take UK to catch up.

I posted earlier that I've seen something similar in Aldi locally. The labels look a bit like a digital clock. 🤔

robrymond

The labels in Aldi are now digital like seen on the continent in stores. Problem is the price was still incorrect on the frozen 1kg of chicken breasts. They were labelled at £3.79 but scan at £3.99. my presumption was the new digital labels are fed from a central server and don't need manually updating.

Corum_uk

Just to pick up on Ayrshire_Guy's comment about over scanning and mistakes at the till.
In my example of the Aldi item which had the wrong shelf label (which occurred last week), I first noted the item had gone through 30p over the shelf price, so asked her about it. She rung for the manager, sent someone else to verity the shelf price, then there was a flurry of activity on the till before it was all sorted (allegedly).
When I checked the receipt in the packing area, she'd actually scanned the same item 3 times at full price, processed a full refund for 1, then a partial refund for a second one, which still left 1 item on the receipt at the full price that I hadn't even bought! Quite the fiasco, but she did then refund the extra item as well.

Ayrshire_guy

I never thought I'd say this.  I would like my local Aldi to get self serve machines.
I'm only ever in for half a dozen things and usually queued being someone with a trolleyload.
I'd quite like to process the transaction at my own pace, checking the prices as I go, not duplicating the items and ending up with a printed receipt.

maman

Ayrshire_guy said:

I never thought I'd say this.  I would like my local Aldi to get self serve machines.
I'm only ever in for half a dozen things and usually queued being someone with a trolleyload.
I'd quite like to process the transaction at my own pace, checking the prices as I go, not duplicating the items and ending up with a printed receipt.

Like you, I'm surprised that I now favour the self service machines in Aldi. I was quite adept at packing but there were invariably queues as they couldn't get staff whereas previously they'd been brilliant at opening new tills. 

I do my (almost) full weekly shop there and to begin with the self service bag area was too small, just designed for a small shop. They soon cottoned on and redesigned some machines with a big bagging area, big enough for 3 large bags. 👍

Sadly, our local Lidl opens so few staffed tills that the self service has queues stretching to the back of the shop. Fortunately I rarely go there, just to stock up on a few favourites. 

Longwalker

I think that because we are getting so used to looking at prices now, having to make choices on what we spend on, we are picking up on the errors more then before, IE its always been thus 

Tesco do twice the refund so I quite like when they !!!!!! up My local Tesco is actually really good with shelf labels, but the larger one in the next town is hell on earth. Shelves are so empty that they just throw whatever they do have anywhere to fill the spaces and forget to change shelf labels, and I have been caught out on picking up something thinking its in the 3 for  £12 meat offer - and its not 

Lidl, I check every blooming product with the shelf label and if need be, find a member of staff to clarify the price. Their loo rolls for example, its so hard to match the product to the price, you think you are getting the 5.99 ones and turns out nope - they be the 7.99 ones 

Constantly being over charged in Lidl and yes I do go back to the till, even though it means another dander about the shop and join a queue again ( I usually check the till as walking to the car )

My money is hard got and Im not giving it away !!

Nelliegrace

I have found the more expensive citrus scanned twice at Aldi so the cheaper oranges are overpriced. With catching the groceries and paying it is a moment before I check the receipt. The assistant is doing the next customer so it is a bit of a wait to get it sorted. 

At Sainsbury’s it depends who is on the help desk. I did get the fleece quilt covers half price even though the shelf price offer had ended. I had the yellow sticker fruit free recently when I pointed out I had been charged full price, at other times I get just the difference.

I had a bag of groceries taken when I was shopping with two children. I discovered it when I got home. I phoned Sainsbury’s to see if I had left it there, and the manageress said to mark the missing items on the receipt and they would replace them. I do like our local Sainsbury’s.

A friend lost her entire trolley of shopping as she was paying. She rushed to the door but didn’t see anyone wheeling her stuff out to the car park. It was a quiet morning. The staff member suggested trying the trolley lock-ups by the restaurant and there she recognised her shopping bags. An older man had walked passed the check outs, wheeled her trolleyful casually to the lock-ups and had joined a woman in the restaurant for his coffee. 

At Tesco I was charged full price for yellow stickered meat, and when I pointed it out immediately the person at the till voided the item, said it must be priced wrongly, and wouldn’t let me have it. I was livid. Her supervisor backed her up. 

I check all recipts before leaving, to see if my memory is working.

Corum_uk

My shops at both Aldi and Lidl tend to be quite small, with a handful of items in a basket or small trolley and total spend at each shop ranging from £5 to £30, so you'd expect errors to be quite rare, but that's certainly not the case, especially of late (I've always checked my receipts going back forever).

This week, Lidl had at least corrected the price of their minced beef from £1.99 to £2.49, but still had the wrong price on their wine gums (this has been several weeks now), even though I'd reported it to the cashier last week (who wasn't really interested and said she was about to go and sort out a delivery) and to Lidl directly via email (they responded to say they would sort it, but clearly haven't).

I didn't even bother asking for a refund as I knew the price was wrong when I picked them up. But I did take it up again with a different cashier who said she would sort it out later 'if she remembers'.

Last time i went to Tesco was a few months ago, for a single item, ramekins, just to check the price.
Shelf said £1.99, I thought 'perfect'.
Self-service till said £2,99, I thought 'oh !!!!!!'.
Assistant sent me back to take a photo of the shelf label (like it's my job to do that).
But at least I got them for the advertised price.

sleepymans

Having experienced many of the same issues reported here by others, I now buy my meat from our local butcher and fruit and veg from our local greengrocer(who will deliver free!). I buy milk juice and eggs from my wonderful reliable milkman.

The remaining store cupboard items I need I try to plan ahead so I can make an online order for delivery. I prefer the service, can take as long as possible to check prices against receipts and items delivered against my order. Any refunds required are usually done instantly online too.

 I thoroughly dislike all the supermarket chains and dont trust them at all.

They are also ripping us all off by raising prices as far and as fast as they can get away with and not necessarily because they are having to pay more for their stock.

They charge as much as they can get away with. Their worst offence though, in my opinion, is that all the cheap basic foods that we all buy, and low income families really rely on, are the items that have risen most sharply.

Immoral.