Beware of supermarket fresh produce scales not applying promotional price advertised

Snooper1

Okell said:

Snooper1 said:

powerful_Rogue said:

Snooper1 said:

At a large national supermarket chain which i will not currently name as I have approached Trading Standards, the scale i used near the fresh produce area used an incorrect price for the item. The item was showing as discounted but the discount was not programmed into the scale I used so it issued a sticky label at the standard price: 20% higher. More concerningly, a differnent scale located in another part of rhe store did use the correct pricing information meaning the two scales I was using were not accessing the same central pricing information. If just 20 of this root vegetable were purchased every day in every store nationally the rip off is more than £8,000 per day or nearly a quarter of a million if the price promotion runs for a month. A nice earner for the supermarket indeed. Imagine if it is happening across multiple fresh produce lines? Check the scale you use issues a pricing sticker which has the promotional price £/kg. 

What did the store say when you highlighted the issue?

I emailed non - executive director Zuber Issa at ceo@asda.co.uk on 8 November. I've not yet had a response. I since learned Mr Issa stepped down from his role on 5 November but I do expect a response to the email in any event as it is the executive team which responded to a previous complaint I sent to that email address.

Didn't you point it out to staff instore?

I noticed yesterday in my local Waitrose that they had a product recall notice up against the wrong product.  Yes it was a similar product but it wasn't the one being recalled.

I pointed the error out to staff instore.  I wouldn't think of emailing the ceo

Maybe you would have thought of emailing the CEO if the recall was because of the presence of an undeclared allergen and due to similariy of the products the error those Waitrose staff in your local store made could likely be made by staff in hundreds of other stores potentially leaving the dangerous product on the shelves and consumed by those for whom it might be fatal.

born_again

Snooper1 said:

I don't think my level of excitement or feelings of self importance are relevant. Highlighting it to the supermarket at the time does little to reimburse those who have already been overcharged nor does it incentive the supermarket to treat it as a serious issue and put in place systems and  controls to prevent a repeat. 

No, but it does give them chance to fix the issue straight away. Rather than a email to someone no longer working there. 
The offer might only have started that day.

1st rule. Make sure error is fixed ASAP. Then think about complaining is that is your bag 🤷‍♀️

T/S can't deal with the big rip off's, Let alone send someone to a supermarket to do a random check on scales.

Snooper1

born_again said:

Snooper1 said:

I don't think my level of excitement or feelings of self importance are relevant. Highlighting it to the supermarket at the time does little to reimburse those who have already been overcharged nor does it incentive the supermarket to treat it as a serious issue and put in place systems and  controls to prevent a repeat. 

No, but it does give them chance to fix the issue straight away. Rather than a email to someone no longer working there. 
The offer might only have started that day.

1st rule. Make sure error is fixed ASAP. Then think about complaining is that is your bag 🤷‍♀️

T/S can't deal with the big rip off's, Let alone send someone to a supermarket to do a random check on scales.

Thank you. I wasn't aware Trading Standards was of such limited assistance in these circumstances. I will keep your 1st rule in mind, thank you.

Ergates

Snooper1 said:

Well I thought Trading Standards might conduct a covert investigation to check whether it was a "one off" or more widespread. 

You contacted Trading Standards, not MI5

Ergates

Snooper1 said:
If it was a simple pricing error both scales I used would have used the same wrong price. If you think about the staffed conveyer checkouts, would you expect the same item to scan at different checkouts at different prices? No. You'd expect if the pricing error was simple each checkout would scan at the same wrong price. In that case, a simple rectification could be made in the system to correct it at all checkouts quickly and simultaneously. Different prices in different scales suggests "manual processes" are involved which are prone to error and therefore this sort of error is unlikely to be confined to one scale in one store, one item and one promotion. Had it been rectified on the day who is to say that a busy staff member would have taken the time to convey to a higher up that they needed to identify how many customers (possibly hundreds or thousands) had been overcharged and refund them? 34p for each customer is nothing (for most but a canned meal for some) but having it rectified on the day misses the bigger issue that the supermarket would likely just say "sorry" and keep the money they overcharged prior customers which could be a substantial amount. When banks are found to have overcharged they are eventually forced to refund customers. Why should supermarkets be any different?

You literally describe how it is probably a simple pricing error, right after suggesting it's not one.

TripleH

I suspect, if its right on ine scale but not the other, then human error / laziness is to blame.

If its wrong on both, then you might need to ponder.

If you report the problem and a week later it still exists then I think you have cause for complaint.

If you do see these errors, it's always worth reporting because things do get missed and people can be very much 'leave it for someone else to sort'.

Your enthusiasm is commendable but maybe next time report the issue and give them time to correct before you escalate.

Okell

Snooper1 said:

born_again said:

Snooper1 said:

I don't think my level of excitement or feelings of self importance are relevant. Highlighting it to the supermarket at the time does little to reimburse those who have already been overcharged nor does it incentive the supermarket to treat it as a serious issue and put in place systems and  controls to prevent a repeat. 

No, but it does give them chance to fix the issue straight away. Rather than a email to someone no longer working there. 
The offer might only have started that day.

1st rule. Make sure error is fixed ASAP. Then think about complaining is that is your bag 🤷‍♀️

T/S can't deal with the big rip off's, Let alone send someone to a supermarket to do a random check on scales.

Thank you. I wasn't aware Trading Standards was of such limited assistance in these circumstances. I will keep your 1st rule in mind, thank you.

Back in the 1980s I was a trainee Trading Standards Inspector.  I left because I was sure I could find better ways to spend my time.  By all accounts on this board, they are of no more use now that they were then.  In fact they are probably less use now as at least back in the 1980s it was possible for the public to contact them directly.

Out of interest, how did you manage to make a complaint to them this time?  I'm curious to know.

Incidentally, I always check all my receipts to ensure that offers etc have been correctly applied, and I also always check the instore scales before using them to make sure they are zeroed correctly.  (And I sometimes check purchases against my own scales)

Okell

Snooper1 said:

Okell said:

Snooper1 said:

powerful_Rogue said:

Snooper1 said:

At a large national supermarket chain which i will not currently name as I have approached Trading Standards, the scale i used near the fresh produce area used an incorrect price for the item. The item was showing as discounted but the discount was not programmed into the scale I used so it issued a sticky label at the standard price: 20% higher. More concerningly, a differnent scale located in another part of rhe store did use the correct pricing information meaning the two scales I was using were not accessing the same central pricing information. If just 20 of this root vegetable were purchased every day in every store nationally the rip off is more than £8,000 per day or nearly a quarter of a million if the price promotion runs for a month. A nice earner for the supermarket indeed. Imagine if it is happening across multiple fresh produce lines? Check the scale you use issues a pricing sticker which has the promotional price £/kg. 

What did the store say when you highlighted the issue?

I emailed non - executive director Zuber Issa at ceo@asda.co.uk on 8 November. I've not yet had a response. I since learned Mr Issa stepped down from his role on 5 November but I do expect a response to the email in any event as it is the executive team which responded to a previous complaint I sent to that email address.

Didn't you point it out to staff instore?

I noticed yesterday in my local Waitrose that they had a product recall notice up against the wrong product.  Yes it was a similar product but it wasn't the one being recalled.

I pointed the error out to staff instore.  I wouldn't think of emailing the ceo

Maybe you would have thought of emailing the CEO if the recall was because of the presence of an undeclared allergen and due to similariy of the products the error those Waitrose staff in your local store made could likely be made by staff in hundreds of other stores potentially leaving the dangerous product on the shelves and consumed by those for whom it might be fatal.

If that were the case I would have insisted on speaking to the store manager on the spot - not just alerting a member of staff to the problem.

If you think the store manager can't be trusted, what makes you think you can trust the ceo?

If it's just the tip of some company wide criminal conspiracy I doubt they'll let your email stop them.  Hope you didn't give them your address...

sheramber

Snooper1 said:

la531983 said:

I mean, talk about going nuclear, this is clearly a simple pricing error that could have been rectified there and then, on the day.

You are very trusting. I don't agree it is "clearly a simple pricing error". If it was a simple pricing error both scales I used would have used the same wrong price. If you think about the staffed conveyer checkouts, would you expect the same item to scan at different checkouts at different prices? No. You'd expect if the pricing error was simple each checkout would scan at the same wrong price. In that case, a simple rectification could be made in the system to correct it at all checkouts quickly and simultaneously. Different prices in different scales suggests "manual processes" are involved which are prone to error and therefore this sort of error is unlikely to be confined to one scale in one store, one item and one promotion. Had it been rectified on the day who is to say that a busy staff member would have taken the time to convey to a higher up that they needed to identify how many customers (possibly hundreds or thousands) had been overcharged and refund them? 34p for each customer is nothing (for most but a canned meal for some) but having it rectified on the day misses the bigger issue that the supermarket would likely just say "sorry" and keep the money they overcharged prior customers which could be a substantial amount. When banks are found to have overcharged they are eventually forced to refund customers. Why should supermarkets be any different?

We did have a case where the till  we went through did not give us a discounted price.

A supervisor put i the item through another till and it did give the discounted price.

She explained the pricing on the tills is set by head office , not the shop, and that particular till must have been missed.

sheramber

By not advising the store and waiting for however long until trading standards get round to investigating, if the do, many more people could be overcharged.

By alerting staff in store they could have put the scales out of use until the matter was delt with.