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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to feel charity shop pulled a stroke by raising price at till (from that on tag)

60 replies

annoyednow · 14/06/2013 10:22

I picked out a bag at a charity shop yesterday. I wanted to try on some clothes in the changing room, so I gave the bag on the counter and told the person behind the counter that I was going to take the bag but wanted to try on some clothes first and then maybe pay for everything together if the clothes fitted.

While I was in the changing room the manager seemingly had come in and saw the bag. Having been told it was being held for the customer in the changing room, she told the assistant that the price was too low on tag (3.99) and to whack another fiver on it.

When I came out of the changing room the assistant informed me of the revised price. I felt a little bit stung.

OP posts:

StealthPolarBear · 14/06/2013 10:23

Oooh that was naughty of them. I hope hou refused!

SanityClause · 14/06/2013 10:26

The charity shop have to make a profit for the charity.

If they think they can sell the bag for more, they are duty bound to do so. Did you pay the £8.99? In which case, they got £5 more for the charity.

(If you left the bag, I bet someone else paid £8.99 for it, so the charity still got/will still get its money.)

Disappointing for you, but just think of the charity you are supporting.

DuttyWine · 14/06/2013 10:26

What brand was the bag? If that happened in topshop you would have reason to complain and I see this as no different. Terrible customer service! What did you do?

Original poster

annoyednow · 14/06/2013 10:29

I'm ashamed to admit I did get it (despite feeling exploited) as it was perfect with the skirt and scarf I had just tried on. The bag was still under a tenner (just). I'll bring the accessories into the changing room with me in future...and maybe avoid this shop.

OP posts:

StealthPolarBear · 14/06/2013 10:31

Wel in effect what they did was notify you of the higher price at the till. Which is their right but it'll piss a lot of customers off. They could just price everything at ten pence then hand over a £30 bill when you get to the till with four or five items amd a pound coin in your hand.

AmazingBouncingFerret · 14/06/2013 10:31

Are charity shops not bound by the same trading standards laws that regular shops are?

I know I used to have to sell something marked at the lower price if it was marked incorrectly, either that or take all identical products off sale for 24 hours.
Also we were not allowed to put price tickets over existing price tickets if the existing price ticket was a lower price.

piprabbit · 14/06/2013 10:31

I'm not sure that they are allowed to do that, any more than a non-charity shop can choose to increase the price on an item.

If the price was incorrect, then the shop can refuse to sell you the item at that price. But they can't force you pay more and they should honour the ticket price.

SanityClause · 14/06/2013 10:32

A shop, even Topshop, doesn't have to sell you anything at all! Just as you don't have to buy anything from them.

The manager made a decision to try to get more for the bag. Take it or leave it!

(Maybe it was a bad decision, because she won't get the £8.99, and she would've got the £3.99, but that's her lookout.)

Original poster

annoyednow · 14/06/2013 10:38

It was a guy laroche. I'm not familiar with the brand so I don't know if it is 'good' or not. It needs a bit of a clean and there is some fraying where you cannot see it.

The bag had been assessed by the shop and placed on the shelf at this price tag. Nothing new had happened to the bag between this and my going to the counter with it.

The shop is entitled to place whatever price they want on an item. I just feel it was a bit sharp to arbitrarily change the price at the counter.

OP posts:

StealthPolarBear · 14/06/2013 10:41

When they knew you actually wanted it. Exactly. Your cards were on the table and they changed the rules. Its a bit like when you go to buy a car - the trick is to walk away a few times. But in this shop, as most, the expectation is that you will pay the price on the tag. Very bad of him to change te rules.

MorganMummy · 14/06/2013 10:45

They should have had their prices sorted from the beginning. But - charity shops work run mainly by volunteers as manager can't do everything, and they can be useless at pricing, the manager will have seen it was priced too low when s/he noticed it at the till and would I think have changed the price if s/he'd noticed it earlier. I used to volunteer in a charity bookshop and we used the Internet to price rare books, common sense for others but I'm sure we got some wrong. My boss used to say to customers who complained about high prices 'It's not a charity for you!'.

MalenkyRusskyDrakonchik · 14/06/2013 10:47

Um ... I will say, sometimes charity shops know they get targeted by people who change the labels. Were they the sort of labels someone could have done that easily? It might be that, and they didn't want to make it sound as if they worried you'd done it (they probably know who the 'regular' is but can't prove it), so they just said it'd been mis-labelled?

I don't think this has to be what happened, just suggesting it as a possibility.

MorganMummy · 14/06/2013 10:48

We didn't ever change price at till,by the way, where I volunteered. However, at normal charity shops so many volunteers are elderly and they often do really underestimate prices.

Crinkle77 · 14/06/2013 10:52

I think if something has been priced incorrectly then the shop is not under any obligation to give it to you for that price. They can refuse to sell it to you although most places will give it to you at the advertised price purely as a good will gesture and to keep your custom. I know it was a charity but I do think that was a bit mean of the manager. It's not like they had to pay for the item in the first place and would make a loss.

olidusUrsus · 14/06/2013 10:55

I work in a charity shop and we would never ever do this. Volunteers don't price unsupervised in our shop unless they are very good precisely because things do go out at too low prices.

If something is priced too low, we wouldn't correct the price at the till: the line manager for that volunteer would be told to make sure everyone knows what price should go where. This ensures that someone can always be held accountable and we don't scare volunteers off.

In fact, I just last week gave someone a bollocking for letting branded stuff go out too cheap. A Guy Laroche wouldn't have been out at £3.99 in our shop because it is designer, so if I were that manager I would have been sorely tempted to change the price in their situation.

You were just unlucky that it was spotted, in essence

PunkHedgehog · 14/06/2013 10:59

Piprabbit is correct.

If they make a mistake on the price they can refuse to sell it to you, but once you've seen the price and said you will pay it they have to either sell it to you at that price or not sell it to you at all; they can't legally increase it at that point, it's a breach of contract.

NicknameIncomplete · 14/06/2013 11:01

I think u were silly to pay for the bag. Id have refused or tried to haggle the price.

I worked in a charity shop. The manager was the only one who priced things. They were a person who would over price things and would never drop prices and resulted in things not being sold.

They used to try & sell tesco basic jeans for £10 when u could get the new in tesco for cheaper.

starfishmummy · 14/06/2013 11:06

A price tag is not legally binding if I remember correctly. However I have could that many big name stores will honour the tag price if it is their error - so where tags are not easily switchable/item in a display case.
Things did get nasty in one shop where the customer in front of me had something with the wrong sticky label on it and they were accusing her of changing it....

PunkHedgehog · 14/06/2013 11:30

The tag is an legally an 'invitation to treat' rather than an offer. By saying 'I want to buy this' you are making an offer at that price (unless you specify a different price). If they accept the offer by starting the transaction (or putting the item behind the till for you) they have created a contract to sell to you at that price. Once the contract is formed they can't legally change the price or back out of the transaction.

If you make the offer but they spot that the price is wrong before they accept, there is no contract so they can reject the offer and not sell it to you.

Scholes34 · 14/06/2013 11:45

You can't incorrectly price an item in a charity shop. The shop wouldn't be making a loss had they charged you only £3.99, as they hadn't bought the goods in. They would have just lost the opportunity to get more money out of you. The most important thing for a charity shop is to have a good turnover of items, which encourages people to come in more often and consequently spend more money.

RoooneyMara · 14/06/2013 11:49

Has no one asked what bag it was?!

Morgause · 14/06/2013 11:53

I wouldn't shop there again so the fiver they rudely added on wouldn't amount to what they'd lose by me never buying anything there again.

GrendelsMum · 14/06/2013 11:57

I've occasionally pointed out at the till that I think something's been mispriced - you do sometimes get high quality, expensive goods that are priced ridiculously cheaply, and I don't think it's fair either on the charity or on the person that donated a high quality good.

QueenStromba · 14/06/2013 11:57

Having a quick look on Ebay, you still got a great deal OP. Second hand Guy Laroche bags are going for £50 on there.,

RoooneyMara · 14/06/2013 12:05

Oh sorry - when you said 'it was a guy laroche' I thought you were talking about the sales assistant being a guy...and talking to someone called laroche.

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