"We're not allowed to discuss the price of tobacco"

[GarlicBake]

This will have passed by most of you clean-living, sensible people. It's happened to me several times in the past month or so: staff say it's illegal for them to tell me the price of 20g of this or a packet of that. Neither are they allowed to show me the price list, which doesn't show special offers anyway, nor to open the Doors Of Doom so I can see the prices for myself.

This leads to a bizarre situation where I have to ask for a product and do a lightning scan of the shelf while the door's open, change my mind if I want - or ask the assistant for a variety of tobacco products, watch the prices as they go through the till, then cancel my purchase. And then start a new sale of the product I think is best value.

Apart from being very, very and ... doesn't this feel a bit like Orwell, Kafka, and the old USSR? Is speech becoming legally proscribed in other areas too, that I might not know about?

It's not the same as, say, patient confidentiality or corporate details. This is legislation that prohibits a salesperson from giving sales information to a customer. You can't even say it's for the customer's protection, as only addicts smoke these days and we're going to buy the stuff anyway.

AIBU to think this is U and slightly barmy?

www.mysupermarket.co.uk/grocery-categories/Cigarettes_in_Tesco.html Prices clearly displayed, option to chose other supermarkets as well.

Jesus. I don't smoke but this sounds like a nightmare.

You need to befriend someone who travels abroad a lot, get on that duty free thing

I'm pretty sure Trading Standards would be interested in this, as shops are required to tell you how much something costs if you ask them.

92 quid for a carton of fags!!! dh and I used to go through at least a carton a week between us, how does anyone afford that anymore?

We're not allowed to give out the price or inform you of what we have in stock. We have to point you towards the price list. The same as we have to ask for ID if necessary before we open the shutters.

If we transport cigarettes across the shop they have to be covered.

Please don't moan at the shop staff. We only do what we are told to

In Scotland, we can't show you or tell you. We can show you the price list which is updated every Monday.
I work on the desk of a major supermarket & the law regarding tobacco is made VERY clear to us.
Trading Standards & the police will send in people to ensure we are following the law to the letter, not just under agrees either.
The shop staff have literally no control over this at all. They are not jobsworths, they don't want a potential fine, loss of job or criminal record.

Diva, I know it's not your personal decision but ... Price Marking Order 2004

Pricing information must be available - that is, clearly visible to consumers without them having to ask for assistance in order to see it.

Legibility refers to a consumer with normal sight. Traders must also comply with the Equality Act 2010 and take account of the special needs of the elderly and disabled groups.

Goods that are kept out of the consumer's sight are exempt from price marking until an indication is given that they are for sale.

• So, if I ask whether you sell tobacco and you say yes, the pricing information must be instantly available to me. Which it isn't. In fact it's being deliberately withheld.

... and ... The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

Misleading omissions

6.—(1) A commercial practice is a misleading omission if, in its factual context, taking account of the matters in paragraph (2)—

(a)the commercial practice omits material information,

(b)the commercial practice hides material information,

(c)the commercial practice provides material information in a manner which is unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely, or

(d)the commercial practice fails to identify its commercial intent, unless this is already apparent from the context,

and as a result it causes or is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise.

• Which, obviously, it has caused me to do every single time I didn't know Gold Leaf & Pall Mall were cheaper!

Looks like a case of right hand not knowing/caring what left hand is doing.

I might spend tomorrow afternoon writing stroppy letters.

Sorry, that was a right messy post. Should have previewed

Our nearest Waitrose has kiosk doors that are permanently stuck half open. There are big signs on them saying THESE DOORS ARE SELF CLOSING - DO NOT CLOSE MANUALLY.

Norty Waitrose

Us smokers are the lepers of the modern world.
I'm with you on the awkward guessing game entered into with the cashier over which brand they stock/ how much.
Also the fact that quite a few '20' packs contain 17 fags. grr..

Our tiny village shop makes me laugh though. They conformed by covering their tobacco products with a plastic shower curtain hooked up on nails either side and it falls down very often!
They usually have about two packs available and the tobacco is reserved for 'Bob on the corner' (very small village) so hardly worth curtaining off.

Scottish Tobacco selling laws are very different to that. Ours have been like this for a while now.
We do not need to display prices (im sure its not even permitted), but a list must be available. We cannot show the list to anyone who may be under 18, so have to follow think 25 just for the list.
I'm sure England & Wales law is different though, as it is for many things.

Just had a quick google - it is illegal to display tobacco prices in Scotland.

I think all cigarettes should be sold as a lucky dip. You pay £8 and get a packet at random. If you are desperate you'll smoke them anyway. But it could help you give up.

Goldleaf for me from now on!

Toomuch, I am quite sure tobacco has reached its point of demand inelasticity. Anyone who was going to give up because of the cost/unpopularity/difficulty, has given up. I spend 30% of my disposable income on it - and have to do without everything from haircuts to holidays for it!

Goldleaf for me, too, Clue! Hope they don't push the price up following a surge in demand from Mumsnetters

My nearest shop is like this. And to make it worse they hardly ever go to the cash and carry and have very bare shelves. I have to guess what fags they actually have in stock.

"20 lambert and butler"
No sorry there's none left
"10"?
20 Bensons? 10 Benson
20 regal? 10 regal?

And on and on until I remember an obscure brand that no one else has beaten me to. Unsurprisingly I've started driving to a shop further away.

Go to Belgium - goldleaf is about £4.35 for 50g there, so half price. Day return on channel tunnel is £60 - Adinkerke is 276 m from Birmingham (middle of country)

At 40mpg, round trip is 14 gallons, or 63 litres.

At £1 a litre, round trip is £120 - if saving £4 a week, worth doing twice a year

I've not had a fag for about 3 months now since committing to vaping full time. It's so much easier and I'm do glad I don't have to deal with this crap. Smokers I feel your pain! ( but come and join us vapers, it's much more fun. )

If we transport cigarettes across the shop they have to be covered.

That is insane on a level that I cannot even grasp.

I get mine from the corner shop. They are covered up but I just ask for 'the usual'. Have got to know the owner well over the last couple of years and he gives me the heads up if other ones are on special offer. I have never seen a printed price list in there.

Our little corner shop has them in some kind of tardis like dalek safe.

It quite literally is a lucky dip as the owner seems to just press buttons on it and hope for the best until something resembling tobacco is ejected from a little drawer slot in the middle.

I've stopped asking for brands and just say "a small tobacco please" as we'd just stand there with a sort of "computer says no" atmosphere going on as it rejected every request.

I went on a flight today and in the duty free brochure it said they weren't allowed to print the prices for tobacco and to ask the flight attendants for the prices!

I agree it is mad. In tesco I could not remember the name of the cigars for my stepdad. What a farce she would not open the kiosk
to look so I frantically tried to remember some cigarette names on the hope that I could furtively sneak a look at the cigars while her back was turned

The rule about transporting cigarettes across the shop & they have to be covered...

I think they should keep them in a coffin and hum the funeral march whilst processing down the aisle.

With flowers on top from their buddies Fizzy Pop and Doughnuts who know the same fate awaits them sooner or later.

As a non smoker if I suddenly decided I wanted to give it a go and went to the counter. They woulnt tell me what legal stock they had unless I could ask for a brand name? I'm all for not advertising as such but surely I book with photos and prices to over 18s shouldn't be to much of an ask