Beware of supermarket fresh produce scales not applying promotional price advertised

Snooper1

Hopefully this letter setting out the historical context might make things seem less baffling for those who have provided helpful responses. Thank you.

2 October 2024 

Dear Mr Issa

Visit to ASDA Clapham Junction / Battersea on 1 October and the same store on 2 October.

I have been shopping at this particular store since July 2002. I keep coming back because the staff, the store, the selection of products and the overall shopping experience are all second to none.

However, after two incidents over two consecutive days I feel it is necessary to make my experience known to you so that you may take corrective steps if you consider that necessary.

The way the situation was handled on 1 October could not have been more different to how the situation was handled on 2 October.

On the first of October (yesterday), I purchased a number of items for dinner including packs of salmon that I had located in the ‘price drop’ fridge which is located just after the vegetable selection after entering the store.

I couldn't see any shelf marking describing the salmon nor could I see any pricing on the shelves regarding the salmon.

The salmon packs themselves did not contain a markdown price label.

When I went to the scan and go check out area I said to a staff member that I had located this salmon in the ‘price drop’ fridge but could not see a markdown price.

She looked at the items and said that she also couldn't see a markdown price but then commented that the best before date was 3 October.

The third of October was two days away so they would not in fact be marked down yet. She then helpedfully explained that the staff sometimes put items in the price drop fridge even though they have not been marked to go into the price drop fridge, perhaps because they are new staff and cannot locate the correct shelf area. 

She even said she was about to open up her till and would I like to come and be the first customer there. I thanked her for her helpful assistance and said I was happy to check out through the scan and go and confirmed I still wanted the items even at full price: £4.5 each.

Although I was disappointed that the salmon packs were in the price drop fridge when in fact there was no price drop applicable, I accepted the explanation that sometimes staff put things there when they can't find where else to put them.

This staff member whose name escapes me could not have been more pleasant, smiling and helpful.

The interaction with this staff member is in stark contrast to the interaction with a manager, perhaps the store manager, on the following day, 2 October.

Once again I was using scan and go and I located the ASDA tapas selection in the fridge.

When I took the pack out and turned it over in order to scan the barcode I could not locate a barcode on the item.

It did not occur to me at the time to scan one of the other many tapas selection packs that were in the fridge as well.

In fact, I tried to scan the shelf barcode which was invalid according to my scan and go handset.

When I got to the scan and go check out the handset asked me if I had successfully scanned all my items. I think this is the first time I have said no I was not able to successfully scan all items and this was because the ASDA tapas selection had no barcode to scan. 

The handset also said I had been selected for an accuracy check.

After waiting a short time at the scan and go check out a lady in plain clothes came over and scanned my handset and asked me about the ASDA tapas selection which I had put to one side whereas all my other successfully scanned items I had by this stage put in my green flexible carry bag.

I was asked by this person if that was my item and I confirmed that the ASDA tapas selection was my item and I was then asked if I wanted it and I said yes I do want it but I've been unable to scan it as it's got no barcode. 

This person then took the item away and I assumed she was going to go and see if there was a replacement item that did have a barcode. 

I waited what seemed like quite a long time perhaps more than five minutes and the scan and go check out kept asking me if I wished to continue and I kept pressing yes.

Other staff, in ASDA uniforms, came up and asked me if I needed assistance, I assume because I was waiting there for quite a while. 

The store was not very busy and I was not aware other customers were waiting to use the scan and go checkouts. It was about 18:00.

Eventually the lady in plain clothes who I thought was assisting me came back and I asked if she had the item and she said to me it was the last one and I said to her well in that case can you key the barcode in manually so I can complete my shopping and take it? I noticed that she did not have the ASDA tapas selection with her. She said that it was not possible to key the barcode.

At this point having waited at least 8 - 10 minutes in my estimation including time that this person was assisting other customers at the scan and go checkout while I waited, I became very disappointed and did not want to wait any longer and left the store without my items I had wanted to purchase for dinner for my family. I also left behind my carry bag.

I then went and got the items I required nearby at Lidl.

However, I decided to return to ASDA shortly later to retrieve my green carry bag and also to make a formal complaint because I knew that there were many more of the ASDA tapas selection in the refrigerator and the one without the barcode could easily have been swapped and I would have been on my way.

I was very disappointed that I'd been told it was the last one and it could not be sold to me because it did not have a barcode because this was not correct (at least that it was not the last one).

I also decided to complain because I had never had a negative staff interaction in 22 years of shopping at ASDA and this negative interaction was from the manager, perhaps the store manager on duty.

I spoke to the very helpful staff member behind the cigarettes and lottery counter and I wasn't surprised when I asked him who the most senior manager was on shift and he took me straight back to the lady I had been dealing with. 

I said to her that I had gone to the refrigerator and taken pictures of many packets of the ASDA tapas selection and that I must have been unlucky to select one earlier that had no barcode.

She told me that having not been able to find the item in the fridge earlier she had relied on a colleague who had apparently told her there were no more of the tapas selection left. There is also a possibility she said she understood me to say I did not want the item. However, if that had been the case it would have been unnecessary for her to tell me, incorrectly, there were no ASDA tapas selection packs left. In my view I had made it very clear I wanted the item and had been relying on her to assist me and waiting quite a long time to complete my purchases including that item.

You will see in the pictures attached, which I took on my return to the store to complain, the barcodeless pack had been placed back together with all the other ASDA tapas selections which correctly had the barcode.

I am disappointed that this manager perhaps the store manager on duty has so unfortunately undermined the exemplary attitude and helpfulness I have experienced from your staff with whom I have had the pleasure of dealing for the last 22 years. I felt I owed it to them and your other customers to speak up.

After I complained to the manager directly, I did get a begrudging apology but only after pointing out that the barcodeless item was not in fact the last item of its type in the fridge as I had been told by her.

Unless an apology is genuine and voluntary I tend not to accept it and so in this case my complaint currently remains unresolved.

I think it is extremely poor form for the manager to blame an unidentified member of staff when she should have taken responsibility for this matter herself.

Thankfully, ASDA staff appear not to view this manager's behavior to a customer as an example to be followed.

voluted

Snooper1 said:

voluted said:

Snooper1 said:

Okell said:

Snooper1 said:

Okell said:

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...

I didn't say the store manager cannot be trusted. It's about whether that person has the competencies or the time in a busy store to find a way to alert all.other store managers in the UK to the potential risk of.recalling the wrong product. Whenever I am getting the run around with a business I email the CEO. You might be surprised how effective it is..Try it out. Regarding my home address... that ship sailed when they started delivering my groceries years ago. I read an article about the Issa brothers once and it was a classic rags to riches tale. It was inspiring.

Seems to me that you've gone about this in the worst way you could.

Pointing the error out to staff instore and emailing the executive team are not mutually exclusive.

You could easily have raised it instore and got the defective scales put out of use.  That would immediately have prevented more customers overpaying.

You could also have asked the store manager to make sure that ASDA head office was made aware of the problem.  As other posters have said I have no doubt that Asda have a process for local stores to feed information back to head office to be acted upon.

You could also have emailed the executive team if you were concerned that the local manager would do nothing.  But what do you expect the executive team to do?  They might alert other stores to what might be a potential problem, or they might not.  Even if they tell you they've put steps in place to prevent this, why would you believe them?

More likely they'll just come back to you and say that it was a one-off pricing error and nothing to worry about

And do you really expect ASDA head office to track down people who have overpaid and refund them?  It won't happen.

You've also pointlessly delayed getting the inaccurate scales decommissioned by thinking Trading Standards would be interested and would want to carry out some covert testing rather than you reporting it instore immediately.

As I wrote in response to another post what if I didn't have time in store like many busy people wouldn't? What if I didn't know the practical limits of any potential Trading Standards intervention ahead of time (which it turns out I didn't). With the benefit of hindsight (and having worked for TS in the past!) and having read other posts you are standing in judgment of me and subjecting my behaviour to a fine analysis and applying what you apparently perceive as a perfect template for how to behave in response to coming across this issue only you never have yourself. The purpose of my original post was simply to make customers aware of an issue with discount prices possibly not being loaded in all scales in the store -.in any store which might allow customers to self weigh. Rather than wild speculation about what might be happening in the 1,200 other stores I was merely trying to.emphaise my pont about the mis-pricing and that if it was replicated UK wide the overcharging would be substantial. I have been very discouraged by this interaction and no one (well one to be fair) has acknowledged that I was well meaning. I wasn't out to.destroy my.go to store of 20 years. I feel as though at least some of the responders may be acting on behalf of a supermarket. But that would definitely be wild speculation.
 

But you obviously did have time, otherwise you'd have raised this point earlier in the thread. There are numerous "What ifs" you can pose but none of them are relevant. You appear to have had the time, and even if you didn't a more appropriate response would have been to report the issue to the store over the phone later, or possibly their Customer Services team. As others have said, if you had reported it to the store directly they'd almost certainly have dealt with it there and then, even if that was simply taking the scales out of service. The last thing they want to deal with is moaning customers complaining about being overcharged by 20p.

Reporting it to the CEO (again why?) and TS to perform some sort of covert investigation for a minor overcharge on root vegetables is baffling.

They would have almost certainly dealt with it on the phone would they? You seem quite confident but not totally confident in that assumption. Before you ask why? again you may want to ponder why? Justin Gutmann sued Stagecoach South Western Trains and won a £25m compensation package for 1.4m customers. I wonder how he got on complaining to his friendly.guard or station manager or calling them on the phone to report overcharging? They almost certainly ignored him it seems. Each customer in the representative action had been overchchrged a small amount. Too small to worry them. Perhaps they thought the idea of complaining about pennies was embarrassing or *absurd*. Perhaps they thought price gouging by big corporations was a fact of life and they were powerless in the face of such corporate high handedness.
Not so for Gutmann. We will lose a courageous campaigner for consumer rights when he is gone.

I didn't say that. I said if you reported it in-store they'd have dealt with it there and then. Either way, going completely OTT and reporting it to the CEO and TS has got you no further, it would appear.

Snooper1

While I am not saying the scale pricing error is intentional, there is no evidence of that, the issue of price reductions although not this particular one, have raised sufficient concern abroad to prompt the regulator to sue. See for example https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-woolworths-and-coles-to-court-over-alleged-misleading-prices-dropped-and-down-down-claims

voluted

Snooper1 said:

Hopefully this letter setting out the historical context might make things seem less baffling for those who have provided helpful responses. Thank you.

2 October 2024 

Dear Mr Issa

Visit to ASDA Clapham Junction / Battersea on 1 October and the same store on 2 October.

I have been shopping at this particular store since July 2002. I keep coming back because the staff, the store, the selection of products and the overall shopping experience are all second to none.

However, after two incidents over two consecutive days I feel it is necessary to make my experience known to you so that you may take corrective steps if you consider that necessary.

The way the situation was handled on 1 October could not have been more different to how the situation was handled on 2 October.

On the first of October (yesterday), I purchased a number of items for dinner including packs of salmon that I had located in the ‘price drop’ fridge which is located just after the vegetable selection after entering the store.

I couldn't see any shelf marking describing the salmon nor could I see any pricing on the shelves regarding the salmon.

The salmon packs themselves did not contain a markdown price label.

When I went to the scan and go check out area I said to a staff member that I had located this salmon in the ‘price drop’ fridge but could not see a markdown price.

She looked at the items and said that she also couldn't see a markdown price but then commented that the best before date was 3 October.

The third of October was two days away so they would not in fact be marked down yet. She then helpedfully explained that the staff sometimes put items in the price drop fridge even though they have not been marked to go into the price drop fridge, perhaps because they are new staff and cannot locate the correct shelf area. 

She even said she was about to open up her till and would I like to come and be the first customer there. I thanked her for her helpful assistance and said I was happy to check out through the scan and go and confirmed I still wanted the items even at full price: £4.5 each.

Although I was disappointed that the salmon packs were in the price drop fridge when in fact there was no price drop applicable, I accepted the explanation that sometimes staff put things there when they can't find where else to put them.

This staff member whose name escapes me could not have been more pleasant, smiling and helpful.

The interaction with this staff member is in stark contrast to the interaction with a manager, perhaps the store manager, on the following day, 2 October.

Once again I was using scan and go and I located the ASDA tapas selection in the fridge.

When I took the pack out and turned it over in order to scan the barcode I could not locate a barcode on the item.

It did not occur to me at the time to scan one of the other many tapas selection packs that were in the fridge as well.

In fact, I tried to scan the shelf barcode which was invalid according to my scan and go handset.

When I got to the scan and go check out the handset asked me if I had successfully scanned all my items. I think this is the first time I have said no I was not able to successfully scan all items and this was because the ASDA tapas selection had no barcode to scan. 

The handset also said I had been selected for an accuracy check.

After waiting a short time at the scan and go check out a lady in plain clothes came over and scanned my handset and asked me about the ASDA tapas selection which I had put to one side whereas all my other successfully scanned items I had by this stage put in my green flexible carry bag.

I was asked by this person if that was my item and I confirmed that the ASDA tapas selection was my item and I was then asked if I wanted it and I said yes I do want it but I've been unable to scan it as it's got no barcode. 

This person then took the item away and I assumed she was going to go and see if there was a replacement item that did have a barcode. 

I waited what seemed like quite a long time perhaps more than five minutes and the scan and go check out kept asking me if I wished to continue and I kept pressing yes.

Other staff, in ASDA uniforms, came up and asked me if I needed assistance, I assume because I was waiting there for quite a while. 

The store was not very busy and I was not aware other customers were waiting to use the scan and go checkouts. It was about 18:00.

Eventually the lady in plain clothes who I thought was assisting me came back and I asked if she had the item and she said to me it was the last one and I said to her well in that case can you key the barcode in manually so I can complete my shopping and take it? I noticed that she did not have the ASDA tapas selection with her. She said that it was not possible to key the barcode.

At this point having waited at least 8 - 10 minutes in my estimation including time that this person was assisting other customers at the scan and go checkout while I waited, I became very disappointed and did not want to wait any longer and left the store without my items I had wanted to purchase for dinner for my family. I also left behind my carry bag.

I then went and got the items I required nearby at Lidl.

However, I decided to return to ASDA shortly later to retrieve my green carry bag and also to make a formal complaint because I knew that there were many more of the ASDA tapas selection in the refrigerator and the one without the barcode could easily have been swapped and I would have been on my way.

I was very disappointed that I'd been told it was the last one and it could not be sold to me because it did not have a barcode because this was not correct (at least that it was not the last one).

I also decided to complain because I had never had a negative staff interaction in 22 years of shopping at ASDA and this negative interaction was from the manager, perhaps the store manager on duty.

I spoke to the very helpful staff member behind the cigarettes and lottery counter and I wasn't surprised when I asked him who the most senior manager was on shift and he took me straight back to the lady I had been dealing with. 

I said to her that I had gone to the refrigerator and taken pictures of many packets of the ASDA tapas selection and that I must have been unlucky to select one earlier that had no barcode.

She told me that having not been able to find the item in the fridge earlier she had relied on a colleague who had apparently told her there were no more of the tapas selection left. There is also a possibility she said she understood me to say I did not want the item. However, if that had been the case it would have been unnecessary for her to tell me, incorrectly, there were no ASDA tapas selection packs left. In my view I had made it very clear I wanted the item and had been relying on her to assist me and waiting quite a long time to complete my purchases including that item.

You will see in the pictures attached, which I took on my return to the store to complain, the barcodeless pack had been placed back together with all the other ASDA tapas selections which correctly had the barcode.

I am disappointed that this manager perhaps the store manager on duty has so unfortunately undermined the exemplary attitude and helpfulness I have experienced from your staff with whom I have had the pleasure of dealing for the last 22 years. I felt I owed it to them and your other customers to speak up.

After I complained to the manager directly, I did get a begrudging apology but only after pointing out that the barcodeless item was not in fact the last item of its type in the fridge as I had been told by her.

Unless an apology is genuine and voluntary I tend not to accept it and so in this case my complaint currently remains unresolved.

I think it is extremely poor form for the manager to blame an unidentified member of staff when she should have taken responsibility for this matter herself.

Thankfully, ASDA staff appear not to view this manager's behavior to a customer as an example to be followed.

No wonder the CEO didn't respond. Nobody is going to read war and peace over a bit of tapas. Don't see any reference to the root vegetables being overcharged via the scales either but given how much text there is I suppose I could have missed it.

powerful_Rogue

Snooper1 said:

While I am not saying the scale pricing error is intentional, there is no evidence of that, the issue of price reductions although not this particular one, have raised sufficient concern abroad to prompt the regulator to sue. See for example https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-woolworths-and-coles-to-court-over-alleged-misleading-prices-dropped-and-down-down-claims

What has Woolworths in Australia got to do with anything? Different rules and regulations in different countries.

powerful_Rogue

Snooper1 said:

Hopefully this letter setting out the historical context might make things seem less baffling for those who have provided helpful responses. Thank you.

2 October 2024 

Dear Mr Issa

Visit to ASDA Clapham Junction / Battersea on 1 October and the same store on 2 October.

I have been shopping at this particular store since July 2002. I keep coming back because the staff, the store, the selection of products and the overall shopping experience are all second to none.

However, after two incidents over two consecutive days I feel it is necessary to make my experience known to you so that you may take corrective steps if you consider that necessary.

The way the situation was handled on 1 October could not have been more different to how the situation was handled on 2 October.

On the first of October (yesterday), I purchased a number of items for dinner including packs of salmon that I had located in the ‘price drop’ fridge which is located just after the vegetable selection after entering the store.

I couldn't see any shelf marking describing the salmon nor could I see any pricing on the shelves regarding the salmon.

The salmon packs themselves did not contain a markdown price label.

When I went to the scan and go check out area I said to a staff member that I had located this salmon in the ‘price drop’ fridge but could not see a markdown price.

She looked at the items and said that she also couldn't see a markdown price but then commented that the best before date was 3 October.

The third of October was two days away so they would not in fact be marked down yet. She then helpedfully explained that the staff sometimes put items in the price drop fridge even though they have not been marked to go into the price drop fridge, perhaps because they are new staff and cannot locate the correct shelf area. 

She even said she was about to open up her till and would I like to come and be the first customer there. I thanked her for her helpful assistance and said I was happy to check out through the scan and go and confirmed I still wanted the items even at full price: £4.5 each.

Although I was disappointed that the salmon packs were in the price drop fridge when in fact there was no price drop applicable, I accepted the explanation that sometimes staff put things there when they can't find where else to put them.

This staff member whose name escapes me could not have been more pleasant, smiling and helpful.

The interaction with this staff member is in stark contrast to the interaction with a manager, perhaps the store manager, on the following day, 2 October.

Once again I was using scan and go and I located the ASDA tapas selection in the fridge.

When I took the pack out and turned it over in order to scan the barcode I could not locate a barcode on the item.

It did not occur to me at the time to scan one of the other many tapas selection packs that were in the fridge as well.

In fact, I tried to scan the shelf barcode which was invalid according to my scan and go handset.

When I got to the scan and go check out the handset asked me if I had successfully scanned all my items. I think this is the first time I have said no I was not able to successfully scan all items and this was because the ASDA tapas selection had no barcode to scan. 

The handset also said I had been selected for an accuracy check.

After waiting a short time at the scan and go check out a lady in plain clothes came over and scanned my handset and asked me about the ASDA tapas selection which I had put to one side whereas all my other successfully scanned items I had by this stage put in my green flexible carry bag.

I was asked by this person if that was my item and I confirmed that the ASDA tapas selection was my item and I was then asked if I wanted it and I said yes I do want it but I've been unable to scan it as it's got no barcode. 

This person then took the item away and I assumed she was going to go and see if there was a replacement item that did have a barcode. 

I waited what seemed like quite a long time perhaps more than five minutes and the scan and go check out kept asking me if I wished to continue and I kept pressing yes.

Other staff, in ASDA uniforms, came up and asked me if I needed assistance, I assume because I was waiting there for quite a while. 

The store was not very busy and I was not aware other customers were waiting to use the scan and go checkouts. It was about 18:00.

Eventually the lady in plain clothes who I thought was assisting me came back and I asked if she had the item and she said to me it was the last one and I said to her well in that case can you key the barcode in manually so I can complete my shopping and take it? I noticed that she did not have the ASDA tapas selection with her. She said that it was not possible to key the barcode.

At this point having waited at least 8 - 10 minutes in my estimation including time that this person was assisting other customers at the scan and go checkout while I waited, I became very disappointed and did not want to wait any longer and left the store without my items I had wanted to purchase for dinner for my family. I also left behind my carry bag.

I then went and got the items I required nearby at Lidl.

However, I decided to return to ASDA shortly later to retrieve my green carry bag and also to make a formal complaint because I knew that there were many more of the ASDA tapas selection in the refrigerator and the one without the barcode could easily have been swapped and I would have been on my way.

I was very disappointed that I'd been told it was the last one and it could not be sold to me because it did not have a barcode because this was not correct (at least that it was not the last one).

I also decided to complain because I had never had a negative staff interaction in 22 years of shopping at ASDA and this negative interaction was from the manager, perhaps the store manager on duty.

I spoke to the very helpful staff member behind the cigarettes and lottery counter and I wasn't surprised when I asked him who the most senior manager was on shift and he took me straight back to the lady I had been dealing with. 

I said to her that I had gone to the refrigerator and taken pictures of many packets of the ASDA tapas selection and that I must have been unlucky to select one earlier that had no barcode.

She told me that having not been able to find the item in the fridge earlier she had relied on a colleague who had apparently told her there were no more of the tapas selection left. There is also a possibility she said she understood me to say I did not want the item. However, if that had been the case it would have been unnecessary for her to tell me, incorrectly, there were no ASDA tapas selection packs left. In my view I had made it very clear I wanted the item and had been relying on her to assist me and waiting quite a long time to complete my purchases including that item.

You will see in the pictures attached, which I took on my return to the store to complain, the barcodeless pack had been placed back together with all the other ASDA tapas selections which correctly had the barcode.

I am disappointed that this manager perhaps the store manager on duty has so unfortunately undermined the exemplary attitude and helpfulness I have experienced from your staff with whom I have had the pleasure of dealing for the last 22 years. I felt I owed it to them and your other customers to speak up.

After I complained to the manager directly, I did get a begrudging apology but only after pointing out that the barcodeless item was not in fact the last item of its type in the fridge as I had been told by her.

Unless an apology is genuine and voluntary I tend not to accept it and so in this case my complaint currently remains unresolved.

I think it is extremely poor form for the manager to blame an unidentified member of staff when she should have taken responsibility for this matter herself.

Thankfully, ASDA staff appear not to view this manager's behavior to a customer as an example to be followed.

I got as far as the salmon being in the wrong fridge and gave up.

You're starting to come across as a serial complainer.

Pollycat

Snooper1 said:

I didn't consider customers who pay cash. So in that case.the misleading and deceptive practice which overcharged you by 20% goes unpunished/unrefunded. This is more reason to escalate the complaint in my view. To try and have ASDA implement better controls and checks to protect those who otherwise would be forever out of pocket because you paid cash. Highlighting it to the personnel in that one store does nothing to address potential systemic issues which may be affecting the loading of fresh produce discounts onto some scales at all 1,200 stores. So the cash customers of 1,200 stores are the most severely affected as there is no way to refund them directly.
  

But not in my view.
I'm thinking about those people who are paying more than they should whilst you are 'escalating the complaint'.
Just report it to management and let them sort it out.

If I went in a week later with the promotion still on and the scales are still incorrect, I'd escalate it.

Pollycat

Snooper1 said:

Okell said:

Snooper1 said:

Okell said:

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...

I didn't say the store manager cannot be trusted. It's about whether that person has the competencies or the time in a busy store to find a way to alert all.other store managers in the UK to the potential risk of.recalling the wrong product. Whenever I am getting the run around with a business I email the CEO. You might be surprised how effective it is..Try it out. Regarding my home address... that ship sailed when they started delivering my groceries years ago. I read an article about the Issa brothers once and it was a classic rags to riches tale. It was inspiring.

Seems to me that you've gone about this in the worst way you could.

Pointing the error out to staff instore and emailing the executive team are not mutually exclusive.

You could easily have raised it instore and got the defective scales put out of use.  That would immediately have prevented more customers overpaying.

You could also have asked the store manager to make sure that ASDA head office was made aware of the problem.  As other posters have said I have no doubt that Asda have a process for local stores to feed information back to head office to be acted upon.

You could also have emailed the executive team if you were concerned that the local manager would do nothing.  But what do you expect the executive team to do?  They might alert other stores to what might be a potential problem, or they might not.  Even if they tell you they've put steps in place to prevent this, why would you believe them?

More likely they'll just come back to you and say that it was a one-off pricing error and nothing to worry about

And do you really expect ASDA head office to track down people who have overpaid and refund them?  It won't happen.

You've also pointlessly delayed getting the inaccurate scales decommissioned by thinking Trading Standards would be interested and would want to carry out some covert testing rather than you reporting it instore immediately.

As I wrote in response to another post what if I didn't have time in store like many busy people wouldn't? What if I didn't know the practical limits of any potential Trading Standards intervention ahead of time (which it turns out I didn't). With the benefit of hindsight (and having worked for TS in the past!) and having read other posts you are standing in judgment of me and subjecting my behaviour to a fine analysis and applying what you apparently perceive as a perfect template for how to behave in response to coming across this issue only you never have yourself. The purpose of my original post was simply to make customers aware of an issue with discount prices possibly not being loaded in all scales in the store -.in any store which might allow customers to self weigh. Rather than wild speculation about what might be happening in the 1,200 other stores I was merely trying to.emphaise my point about the mis-pricing and that if it was replicated UK wide the overcharging would be substantial. I have been very discouraged by this interaction and no one (well one to be fair) has acknowledged that I was well meaning. I wasn't out to.destroy my.go to store of 20 years. I feel as though at least some of the responders may be acting on behalf of a supermarket. But that would definitely be wild speculation.
 

I wondered how long it would take for you to trot that old chestnut out.
You've just lost any credibility you had...
It IS wild (and incorrect) speculation.
Can't you see that very few responders agree with the course of action you've taken?
Aren't you wondering why?
And the answer isn't that we're all ASDA employees.

boobyd

Your "Novel" of complaint will most likely be a quick turnaround,A Gift Voucher for a few quid,,with a thank you for bringing this to our attention etc ,next time your in store speak to the manager etc.
There will be no inquiry,
Why didn't you go and get a Tapas selection with a barcode on? would have been much quicker.

Snooper1

voluted said:

Snooper1 said:

Hopefully this letter setting out the historical context might make things seem less baffling for those who have provided helpful responses. Thank you.

2 October 2024 

Dear Mr Issa

Visit to ASDA Clapham Junction / Battersea on 1 October and the same store on 2 October.

I have been shopping at this particular store since July 2002. I keep coming back because the staff, the store, the selection of products and the overall shopping experience are all second to none.

However, after two incidents over two consecutive days I feel it is necessary to make my experience known to you so that you may take corrective steps if you consider that necessary.

The way the situation was handled on 1 October could not have been more different to how the situation was handled on 2 October.

On the first of October (yesterday), I purchased a number of items for dinner including packs of salmon that I had located in the ‘price drop’ fridge which is located just after the vegetable selection after entering the store.

I couldn't see any shelf marking describing the salmon nor could I see any pricing on the shelves regarding the salmon.

The salmon packs themselves did not contain a markdown price label.

When I went to the scan and go check out area I said to a staff member that I had located this salmon in the ‘price drop’ fridge but could not see a markdown price.

She looked at the items and said that she also couldn't see a markdown price but then commented that the best before date was 3 October.

The third of October was two days away so they would not in fact be marked down yet. She then helpedfully explained that the staff sometimes put items in the price drop fridge even though they have not been marked to go into the price drop fridge, perhaps because they are new staff and cannot locate the correct shelf area. 

She even said she was about to open up her till and would I like to come and be the first customer there. I thanked her for her helpful assistance and said I was happy to check out through the scan and go and confirmed I still wanted the items even at full price: £4.5 each.

Although I was disappointed that the salmon packs were in the price drop fridge when in fact there was no price drop applicable, I accepted the explanation that sometimes staff put things there when they can't find where else to put them.

This staff member whose name escapes me could not have been more pleasant, smiling and helpful.

The interaction with this staff member is in stark contrast to the interaction with a manager, perhaps the store manager, on the following day, 2 October.

Once again I was using scan and go and I located the ASDA tapas selection in the fridge.

When I took the pack out and turned it over in order to scan the barcode I could not locate a barcode on the item.

It did not occur to me at the time to scan one of the other many tapas selection packs that were in the fridge as well.

In fact, I tried to scan the shelf barcode which was invalid according to my scan and go handset.

When I got to the scan and go check out the handset asked me if I had successfully scanned all my items. I think this is the first time I have said no I was not able to successfully scan all items and this was because the ASDA tapas selection had no barcode to scan. 

The handset also said I had been selected for an accuracy check.

After waiting a short time at the scan and go check out a lady in plain clothes came over and scanned my handset and asked me about the ASDA tapas selection which I had put to one side whereas all my other successfully scanned items I had by this stage put in my green flexible carry bag.

I was asked by this person if that was my item and I confirmed that the ASDA tapas selection was my item and I was then asked if I wanted it and I said yes I do want it but I've been unable to scan it as it's got no barcode. 

This person then took the item away and I assumed she was going to go and see if there was a replacement item that did have a barcode. 

I waited what seemed like quite a long time perhaps more than five minutes and the scan and go check out kept asking me if I wished to continue and I kept pressing yes.

Other staff, in ASDA uniforms, came up and asked me if I needed assistance, I assume because I was waiting there for quite a while. 

The store was not very busy and I was not aware other customers were waiting to use the scan and go checkouts. It was about 18:00.

Eventually the lady in plain clothes who I thought was assisting me came back and I asked if she had the item and she said to me it was the last one and I said to her well in that case can you key the barcode in manually so I can complete my shopping and take it? I noticed that she did not have the ASDA tapas selection with her. She said that it was not possible to key the barcode.

At this point having waited at least 8 - 10 minutes in my estimation including time that this person was assisting other customers at the scan and go checkout while I waited, I became very disappointed and did not want to wait any longer and left the store without my items I had wanted to purchase for dinner for my family. I also left behind my carry bag.

I then went and got the items I required nearby at Lidl.

However, I decided to return to ASDA shortly later to retrieve my green carry bag and also to make a formal complaint because I knew that there were many more of the ASDA tapas selection in the refrigerator and the one without the barcode could easily have been swapped and I would have been on my way.

I was very disappointed that I'd been told it was the last one and it could not be sold to me because it did not have a barcode because this was not correct (at least that it was not the last one).

I also decided to complain because I had never had a negative staff interaction in 22 years of shopping at ASDA and this negative interaction was from the manager, perhaps the store manager on duty.

I spoke to the very helpful staff member behind the cigarettes and lottery counter and I wasn't surprised when I asked him who the most senior manager was on shift and he took me straight back to the lady I had been dealing with. 

I said to her that I had gone to the refrigerator and taken pictures of many packets of the ASDA tapas selection and that I must have been unlucky to select one earlier that had no barcode.

She told me that having not been able to find the item in the fridge earlier she had relied on a colleague who had apparently told her there were no more of the tapas selection left. There is also a possibility she said she understood me to say I did not want the item. However, if that had been the case it would have been unnecessary for her to tell me, incorrectly, there were no ASDA tapas selection packs left. In my view I had made it very clear I wanted the item and had been relying on her to assist me and waiting quite a long time to complete my purchases including that item.

You will see in the pictures attached, which I took on my return to the store to complain, the barcodeless pack had been placed back together with all the other ASDA tapas selections which correctly had the barcode.

I am disappointed that this manager perhaps the store manager on duty has so unfortunately undermined the exemplary attitude and helpfulness I have experienced from your staff with whom I have had the pleasure of dealing for the last 22 years. I felt I owed it to them and your other customers to speak up.

After I complained to the manager directly, I did get a begrudging apology but only after pointing out that the barcodeless item was not in fact the last item of its type in the fridge as I had been told by her.

Unless an apology is genuine and voluntary I tend not to accept it and so in this case my complaint currently remains unresolved.

I think it is extremely poor form for the manager to blame an unidentified member of staff when she should have taken responsibility for this matter herself.

Thankfully, ASDA staff appear not to view this manager's behavior to a customer as an example to be followed.

No wonder the CEO didn't respond. Nobody is going to read war and peace over a bit of tapas. Don't see any reference to the root vegetables being overcharged via the scales either but given how much text there is I suppose I could have missed it.

Well thankfully the executive support person who called me didn't share your negative view. She agreed with me it was unacceptable and specifically said the item's barcode could have been keyed to complete my purchase and send me on my way. She sent me a £10 ASDA gift card as an apology. 

The mention of the scale mispricing complaint is not in the 2 October letter as it hadn't happened then.
.