Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To have a moan...pricing in icecream Parlour

32 replies

ghostspirit · 27/04/2015 12:16

I took my kids to an ice cream parlour i good couple of months back ice creams all fine.. orded drinks on menu said they were 1.50 each. got to till and they charged 1.95 each. this was for coke. i complained about it. i questioned how can it be allowed to say 1.50 on menu but then you charge me 1.95 at till. they were really rude. but anyway said we could have j2o for 1.50. so i done that. They had not long been open so i thought maybe it was teething problems... me and my daughter went again a few days ago same thing happend again coke says 1.50 on menu but then they charge 1.95 at till.

AIBU to make a compliant?

OP posts:
seaoflove · 27/04/2015 12:18

Did you show them the menu saying £1.50?

kinkyfuckery · 27/04/2015 12:18

Of course you complain, or at least mention to manager. Did you pay it?

2rebecca · 27/04/2015 12:19

I would refuse to pay more than the price on the menu and would complain to office of fair trading.

Mrsmorton · 27/04/2015 12:19

A couple of months back? You might need to just put it behind you...

Original poster
ghostspirit · 27/04/2015 12:25

the first time when i had kids with me i complained and asked to see manager apprently manager was not there... as i said they were really rude and there was 3/4 members of staff kind of ganging up on me verbly and it was scarying my kids so i backed down and just had the j20.

when i went the other day with just my daughter.my baby was only few days old and i really could not be hassled with an agument. so i thought i might contact head office

OP posts:
londonrach · 27/04/2015 12:26

Id have refused to pay extra and left.

juneybean · 27/04/2015 12:26

If it's anything like our local it'll be privately owned and they won't give a shit if you complain unfortunately :(

Original poster
ghostspirit · 27/04/2015 12:26

mrsmorton it happend a couple month back. i thought it might have been a one off.but then happend again friday just gone

OP posts:
fredfredgeorgejnr · 27/04/2015 12:28

You complain to trading standards, not the shop...

Original poster
ghostspirit · 27/04/2015 12:31

ah thankyou fred

OP posts:
Pipbin · 27/04/2015 12:32

If I was spoken to in a shop in such a manner that I felt threatened then I wouldn't even go back and nor would my family.

whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 27/04/2015 12:34

This one again. The price on the menu is not a formal contract, and they don't have to honour it. Though if you weren't made aware of the different price, say if you weren't paying until afterwards and had already had the drink, then I think you could refuse to pay the higher price. (Or if you didn't notice at the time and only noticed after you'd had the drink it would be reasonable to ask for the cheaper price. You can't exactly give the drink back then can you). It's nothing to do with the Office of Fair Trading unless they make a habit of doing it and it is believed to be false advertising rather than a mistake.

Most decent places would still give the lower price once pointed out, because they don't want to annoy their customers. I had this recently where a pub charged £4.75 for a drink listed at £3.95 and when I queried it they just said the menu was wrong. No apology or anything. I just haven't been back since. Life is too short for making complaints about such petty things, just vote with your feet.

jerryfudd · 27/04/2015 12:35

Like pipbin I wouldn't have returned and would have also told anyone that ever mentioned the place about their dishonest pricing policy and appalling service

whatsthatcomingoverthehill · 27/04/2015 12:37

Actually ignore me, in restaurants and the like they do have to charge what is listed.

OnlyLovers · 27/04/2015 12:42

Life is too short for making complaints about such petty things

I don't think it is. Yes, sure, vote with your feet/wallet, but I believe in pointing out stuff like this so maybe, hopefully, the next customer doesn't have to deal with it.

I probably wouldn't have gone back after the first time, OP, and would certainly be making complaints in your position now. Even if it were your mistake, not theirs, there's no excuse for being rude to customers.

glittertits · 27/04/2015 12:44

Sounds like the menu purposefully left off VAT.

Pipbin · 27/04/2015 12:54

It might be like Giraffe that have small print at the bottom of the menu which says they add on 10% to everyone's bill as a tip. If you want the charge removed you have to ask.

GottaFeeling · 27/04/2015 13:03

Surely the most effective way to deal with this is to stop going back

OrlandoWoolf · 27/04/2015 13:05

Daily Mail sad face.

I can see the article - and the picture now.

unlucky83 · 27/04/2015 13:32

I would complain to trading standards - things like that really aren't on.
I wish I had years ago (or at least to the council) when we were buying ice creams at the seaside from a shop.
They had a sign out 'ice cream £1' when we came to pay we were charged almost £20 for 5 ice creams Shock - pretty standard ice cream cones (no sauce/flakes/sprinkles). My dad was paying and it was embarrassing but we did ask - it was £1 for a scoop of 'basic' cheap looking vanilla ice cream and then £1 for a basic cone/tub (unless you ate a scoop from your hands the cheapest would be £2!) - the rest - a whole counter of different flavours were £2 a scoop, waffle cones were about £1.75 each. (We had one vanilla and got asked if we wanted luxury - that came from a separate freezer from the rest - labelled luxury ice cream £2!)
There was no other prices on display and I think they choose who to try it on with. We would never go there again -but we were obviously only visiting so she knew we are unlikely to do anyway...a real rip off Sad.
Worse we had already got them in our hands and were eating them before paying ...and in retrospect she was eager to hand them to us - rather than put them in the stand.until we paid...

NotNowBono · 27/04/2015 13:35

Was the menu perhaps showing a takeaway price, and you were charged an eat-in price, with VAT on?

fredfredgeorgejnr · 27/04/2015 16:58

Misleading menu prices where you are charged something different may well be a criminal matter under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

if it contains false information and is therefore untruthful in relation to any of the matters in paragraph (4) or if it or its overall presentation in any way deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer in relation to any of the matters in that paragraph, even if the information is factually correct; and ... it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise.

The invitation to treat stuff with prices not forming a contract is indeed true, but that doesn't mean shops can show any price they want and then charge a different one.

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 27/04/2015 17:08

The only thing I can think of is the vat is not added to the price.

Feminine · 27/04/2015 17:13

Is it because you sat down?
In the shop?
Were those prices for take out?

TedAndLola · 27/04/2015 17:17

My favourite restaurant has a board outside advertising the £6 lunch menu. It's been £6.50 ever since I started going 2.5 years ago. I've never given it much thought before because £6.50 is still amazing value, but I assume they just haven't got round to arranging for another board to be made. I don't think they are being deliberately sneaky.

Swipe left for the next trending thread