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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be upset that the shop didn't honor their mistake ?

68 replies

Babieseverywhere · 13/04/2015 15:53

My friend told me there was a shoe sale on sketchers with lights, at a local big sports shop.

We went and asked a staff member to help..he did and we got a lovely pair of shoes to fit after trying on three sizes.

The shelf had a shop insert label of £12.99 reduced from £30.

I had even commented to the staff member, that is was a great price as we never buy expensive shoes (outside school shoes), when we were trying them on and was happy that we could get them.

When we got to the till they came up full price of £30. Turns out the staff had put the wrong label on that shelf.

I asked them to honour the price, as it was their mistake and he checked with the manager and he said no, so we left without them. Sad

What upset me most is that the shoes were for my 2.9yo DD who was with us and loved trying the shoes on and didn't hear the discussion about not buying them (held away from her)

She doesn't talk much yet and is a bit behind in a few ways and I didn't know how to explain to her that we hadn't bought the shoes and I knew she would look for them when we got home and get upset.

I took her to Asda to see if I could something twinkly in shoes to replace them...but she started melting no and screaming....so we came home without anything.

I am probably more upset about the fact she doesn't understand why she didn't get the shoes in the end...not really about the shoes at all. So I now have a very upset and confused child who does not understand where those pretty shoes went.

It is so hard to communicate with a pretty much non - verbal child.

Was the shop wrong not to honour their mistake ?

ps. I understand this is minor firar world issue and she is lucky enough to have boots etc at home that fit fine. Just upset that their mistake caused me a lot of meltdowns and screaming to deal with.

OP posts:
Pootles2010 · 13/04/2015 15:56

Um - no i don't think they were wrong at all! Bit of a pain, but no I don't think they were unreasonable at all. I'd maybe have knocked a few quid off for you, but not the full amount, sorry.

FarFromAnyRoad · 13/04/2015 15:58

The law is on their side so you were never going to 'win' this one - and anyway - it wouldn't have been right to continue to insist. I get that it's awkward with your DD being so upset though.

ShatnersBassoon · 13/04/2015 15:59

The shop was right to stick with the correct price. They can't be punished for making a mistake. These things happen, another offer will come up.

SergeantJarhead · 13/04/2015 16:01

I don't think the shop was U for honouring their mistake Op but I have had this sort of thing happen to me all the time and it pisses me off. It happens so often to me that I'm actually slightly paranoid that they stick the wrong labels on things on purpose :/

Nolim · 13/04/2015 16:01

My non legal opinion is that the store should suck it up and accept the price they invorrectly advertised.

Totality22 · 13/04/2015 16:02

If the shoes were advertised at the wrong price, you should have been given the lower price. However if you misread the price then that is not the stores fault. You don't explain exactly about the price? Was it inside the shoe or was the shoe on a shelf with a price underneath?

The issue of your daughter being non verbal / having a melt down etc is not really relevant.

seekingthesun · 13/04/2015 16:02

They are in no way obliged to lower the price for you, even if the mistake was theirs - some might have done it as a gesture of good will, but they aren't unreasonable to refuse.

Original poster
Babieseverywhere · 13/04/2015 16:03

I won't be going back to that shop again !

I am surprised as Tesco, Asda and M &S etc DO honour mistakes (Over last twenty years of shopping...not all together)

OP posts:
beatofthedrum · 13/04/2015 16:03

I thought shops had to honour the price they have advertised a product at? Certainly I have benefitted from this before. Poor you, can quite understand you don't want your dd to be sad about the shoes. You would have been quite within your rights to have asked to speak to the manager I think.

seekingthesun · 13/04/2015 16:06

Shops definitely don't legally have to honour the price if it is advertised incorrectly, though of course it is often in their best interest to do so as to not lose the customer's business.

CitySnicker · 13/04/2015 16:06

I agree. I thought shops had to stand by prices they displayed.

Original poster
Babieseverywhere · 13/04/2015 16:06

My daughter being non verbal is VERY relevant. As it prevented me from helping her understand why things changed. If it was one of my other girls, they would of understood and not got so upset.

OP posts:
TTTatty · 13/04/2015 16:06

Many shops will but legally they DO NOT have to

ohmyactualgiddyaunt · 13/04/2015 16:08

They don't have to honour any price at all. Legally they can withdraw items from sale, they should remove them all from the shop floor.

I always make sure the ticket I'm reading matches the item I'm looking at because of this.

GooodMythicalMorning · 13/04/2015 16:09

Shops have 24 hours to correct their mistake, they do not have to honour it but quite a few will.

ApocalypseNowt · 13/04/2015 16:09

The price you see in shops is legally known as an 'invitation to treat'. However the contract (offer, acceptance, remuneration) isn't complete at that point so they do not have to honour the 'invitation' legally.

Sorry to hear your DD was upset though.

justbatteringon · 13/04/2015 16:10

They are in no way obligated to honor the price humans make mistakes even in retail.
Perhaps you should take her back and buy her the trainers obviously if funds allow.

Put yourself in her place you've been taken to a nice shop promised something nice and then suddenly your taken from the shop sans the lovely item you've spent time trying on and cooing over.

SnotQueen · 13/04/2015 16:10

I worked at the jewellery counter in Argos and someone labelled a diamond ring incorrectly - a customer noticed and bought it for £700 less than the actual price. Our manager said we had to sell it for the price advertised.
Mind you, this was a long time ago.

Pootles2010 · 13/04/2015 16:11

Its relevant to you that she's having a tantrum, not the shop.

Original poster
Babieseverywhere · 13/04/2015 16:13

Funds do not allow Sad But I am watching a few similar pairs on eBay and if one stays low enough, I will get one for her.

That is it, I feel awful I took my daughter to a shop as a treat and she was so happy to have sparkly shoes and I had to say no to buying them as the full price was too much.

OP posts:
Lj8893 · 13/04/2015 16:14

Legally a shop doesn't have to honour a mistake in pricing. Obviously a lot of the time they will honour it as it helps ensure return custom.
Perhaps email head office, they may decide to be more helpful?

NeedABumChange · 13/04/2015 16:16

Sorry but they can't do that as otherwise customers would start switching labels themselves. I've seen a teenage girl try this in new look with shoes.

wheresthelight · 13/04/2015 16:19

legally I believe they have to honor the price or withdraw from sale so it's a dicey situation

CatthiefKeith · 13/04/2015 16:20

Dm used to work for for Royal Doulton. People were always swapping price tags on things to try to gt them cheaper.

Of course the shop doesn't have to sell it to you. Look at it this way, of you put your car up for sale and accidentally wrote £500 instead of £5000 in the advert or on the piece of paper you stuck in the window, would you be happy to let it go for £4500 less than the asking price?

I'm sorry your dd was upset, my dd is a similar age. Maybe not giving in to a shoe obsession at such a young age is actually a positive thing, you don't want a 5yo Imelda Marcos on your hands after all! Wink

ComposHatComesBack · 13/04/2015 16:22

a customer noticed and bought it for £700 less than the actual price. Our manager said we had to sell it for the price advertised.

Your manager was wrong. I think the principal of a price tag only being an 'invitation to treat' was established back in the 1950s.

I used to work in a record shop and we would forever get shysters claiming they'd pulled a full priced CD out of the bargain bin and that we were legally obliged to sell it to them for 99p.

It never worked and they'd go off chuntering about going to see their solicitor. Of course it came to naught.