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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

77 replies

GarlicBake · 06/02/2016 14:42

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 Confused and Hmm ... 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?

OP posts:
GarlicBake · 11/02/2016 19:04

Oh this is interesting! I'm not sure what to do next. Admittedly, my brain's not working well atm. Maybe a more on-the-ball MNer can organise some thoughts.

Pasting the whole reply. It's long:-

Thank you for your email to the Citizens Advice consumer service dated 08/02/2016.

Your reference number for this case is AW- 13334207. It would be helpful if you could quote this reference number in any future contact with our service, regarding this specific issue so we can record all the information and advice offered.

We understand from your email that you are not seeking contractual advice, but you do wish to report a potential breach of the Price Marking Order 2004 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

I would like to clarify that the Citizens Advice consumer service is only one of the services offered by the charity, Citizens Advice. The role of the general consumer section is to provide first stage consumer advice, and to also collect data for most of the Trading Standards authorities throughout the UK. This is because, different Trading Standards authorities offer different range of services, meaning not all offer civil assistance and instead concentrate on enforcement and/or weights and measure issues.

Therefore, because most people contacting Trading Standards are looking for civil advice; Trading Standards direct the majority of contacts to the Citizens Advice consumer service so we can provide advice and collect data.

Criminal Offence:

Therefore, because a trader’s failure to supply full information could be considered a criminal offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, the information you have provided will be passed to [my county] Trading Standards for further consideration. The case details will also be placed on a central data base that can be accessed by all the other Trading Standards throughout the UK.

Please note, although we work closely with Trading Standards, we are not an enforcement agency. As such, we pass complaints of this nature to Trading Standards for them to evaluate whether or not action can or should be taken. Individual complaints do not necessarily lead to immediate enforcement action as sometimes a number of complaints are needed to take effective action. The information is, however, valuable intelligence allowing Trading Standards to properly prioritize their activities.

With this in mind, Trading Standards would usually only contact you or this service if they needed further information for their enforcement purposes.

If you require any further information about this case; or the remit of this service please do not hesitate to contact the Citizens Advice consumer service by return email or on 03454 04 05 06 quoting the case reference number.

(my emphasis)

I think it's worth giving the case ref so that other smokers can use it when making their own complaints. If you have access to the CAB or Trading Standards databases, I trust you not to post my real name!

OP posts:
ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 11/02/2016 19:36

I'm impressed that you have been proactive about your complaint rather than just whingeing about it like I do!
It seems as though they have to receive multiple complaints relating to a specific trader before they will act upon them.

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