Beware of supermarket fresh produce scales not applying promotional price advertised

Pollycat

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.

TLDR ^^^^
As an effective complaint, the above is way short of the mark.
Complaints should be concise and to-the-point.
But it does go a long way to explain why you took the action you did, rather than the action that most of the responders would have taken regarding the inaccurate scales.

Re the bit in bold, I'd guess that the non-reduced salmon was in the 'price drop' fridge because a customer (not staff) had picked up a pack of full price salmon, then found a reduced pack in the 'price drop fridge' and dumped the full price one there instead of returning it to the full price shelf.

Snooper1

boobyd said:

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.

Everything's so much clearer in hindsight right? Two reasons, I thought the staff member assisting me had offered to do it given it was ASDA's mistake and second my purchase at the scan and go was almost complete and rhe session would have timed out if the terminal wasn't attended. 

Snooper1

Pollycat 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.

TLDR ^^^^
As an effective complaint, the above is way short of the mark.
Complaints should be concise and to-the-point.
But it does go a long way to explain why you took the action you did, rather than the action that most of the responders would have taken regarding the inaccurate scales.

Re the bit in bold, I'd guess that the non-reduced salmon was in the 'price drop' fridge because a customer (not staff) had picked up a pack of full price salmon, then found a reduced pack in the 'price drop fridge' and dumped the full price one there instead of returning it to the full price shelf.

Nope. There were many packs of salmon in there so the staff member's explanation that new staff sometimes put product in that fridge when they cannot find the correct place made sense. Whether she was correct in that view I don't know. The letter...yeah I was bored and fancied a yarn. I think it was a way of processing the most negative interaction I had had with a shop employee for a long time. I also hope the letter reveals that contrary to what one unkind responder stated I did not, by choosing not to complain in store, make a decision to be part of some sort of overcharging conspiracy. While my contacting the ceo may seem to some to be extreme/unnecessary/unhelpful/a waste of time at least i have not leveled a baseless accusation of conspiracy against any member of this group. Particularly a new member.