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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To say it's time supermarkets were stopped from doing this.

190 replies

cupidsgame · 07/06/2016 10:48

It's the way they try and fool us into buying the dearer product rather than the ones on special offer. Tesco does it blatantly, they put certain products on special offer but the product immediately below the "special offer" is not the one being reduced,

Its more or less the same product but for example, if it's for shampoo the offer might be only for dry hair, but the price tag has the "dry hair" bit in very small letters. So you pick up the shampoo for "greasy hair" thinking you're getting a good bargain only to find at the checkout that it's the full price.

It's legal I know but I wonder how much they make from duping their customers this way. The trouble is as well the staff always try and blame you for not reading the offer properly and imply you're being a bit dim. Anyone else get annoyed at this. Surely they shouldn't be allowed with getting away with it.

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 07/06/2016 11:29

It's tesco I'm talking about there as they are the ones with self scanners in our area (the ones you take round the shop with you)

BertieBeats · 07/06/2016 11:30

I always make sure the barcode is the same as the one on the reduced shelf edge label. Don't work in a supermarket, but still retail ,and we've never been instructed to make if difficult for customers to see. In fact ,we've always been told to make it as clear as possible as it wastes time at the checkout when customer points it out ,and also we want happy customers over the sake of a few quid. I doubt it's much different in supermarkets tbh.

dementedpixie · 07/06/2016 11:31

It's not always basic maths they ask you to do, it's complicated!! Some are priced per item, some per sheet, some per 100ml, some per litre. I sometimes use the calculator app on my phone to work out which is the best deal

Minisoksmakehardwork · 07/06/2016 11:33

We had this in pound world of all places the other day. 2 for £1 in a strip across the whole shelf with a buy 2 get 3rd free sign on the shelf. Both offers seemly applying to the same product. So we did it. Then the cashier had to call the manager when we pointed out their blatant mis-advertising. We did get the 3 items for £1 in the end, and the manager was rearranging their promotional signs as we left.

clarrrp · 07/06/2016 11:34

Tbh I think people should just read the damn sign.

I agree.

Original poster

cupidsgame · 07/06/2016 11:34

"Damn supermarkets expecting people to be able to read and dobasic maths". Next they'll be expecting them to wipe their own backsides"Ahh so it's all our fault.....They're purposely misleading us, most people are living busy lives, damn us for not having the time to see how supermarkets are conning us.

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 07/06/2016 11:36

The sign isn't always clear as to which products are not included. I think they are set out to be deliberately misleading and that they hope people won't quibble about a couple of pence but all those tiny amounts soon add up

RainbowsAndUnicornss · 07/06/2016 11:39

I fuckin hate Tesco, I feel conned in there, like I'm under a spell

CantSleepClownsWillEatMe · 07/06/2016 11:40

I actually agree with Op and no, I'm not some fool who simply can't read. Im also not paranoid about big business but I, family members, friends and colleagues have all experienced this with Tesco. Numerous times and in a variety of stores, so much so that I can't help but think this is deliberate and it often comes up as a talking point in work because people experience it so regularly.

While I no longer go to Tesco very often, when I do I watch as amount adds up at till and immediately query when offer doesn't seem to have been applied. Generally I can get no clear explanation and staff member also gets befuddled trying to work it out!

kerbys · 07/06/2016 11:41

I bought some hair dye recently in Asda, there was a reduced price sign under all the colours, good value so I bought two.

Was charged full price, went back and checked the shelf. One particular colour wasn't reduced, mine naturally, but the sign for full price wasn't under my product, it was under one further along. Who has the time to read every tiny bit of small print on a whole shelf? I went to customer services and returned them.

I have the same problem with cat food, mine will only eat a particular variety of a particular brand. I have to put my glasses on and have a good read to see which ones are reduced. Been caught out a few times.

I'm really quite careful, but someone like my DH doesn't have a clue, he always gets it wrong.

Sometimes it does appear to be deliberately misleading.

The other annoying one is frozen food, most people expect larger packs to be better value and it's often not the case. I always read the price per Kilo on the ticket bit, especially peas.

So OP, UANBU.

BertieBotts · 07/06/2016 11:44

No, I do believe they do it. I'm just saying look past the big red and yellow sign to the individual shelf edge price labels. These usually state whether a product is included in a deal or not.

Liiinooo · 07/06/2016 11:44

You cannot legislate against stupid.

People need to read the signs, do the maths, check the cost per 100g as shown in Tescos and other supermarkets. You cannot just assume that because something is on a big stand with large lettering it is the best value. This has been a problem for thousands of years - hence the Latin adage 'Caveat emptor' - Buyer Beware. If you want the best deal look for it. Ultimately supermarkets need to make money, not save us money. We don't have to make it easy for them!

My own DH is a very clever man, highly skilled at his job which involves analysing and assessing financial risk but when he enters a supermarket, all his critical faculties fall away and he is drawn like a child to the biggest box or the shoutiest sign. I will never forget the day he went out shopping and came back with 6 jars of caraway seeds - an item we had never used and never did use - because they were 'a bargain'.

NewLife4Me · 07/06/2016 11:47

YANBU and I totally agree with you.
The customer shouldn't have to spend time reading the small print to realise that what they say is on offer isn't.
Yes, they do it on purpose, as they don't remove the signs when the particular items have sold out. They just put the products on that are not on the offer.
According to my future dil, who replenishes stock and picks.

BluePitchFork · 07/06/2016 11:48

yanbu
tesco seem the worst for it...

price per 'unit' (without specifying what a 'unit' in a pack is)
price per biscuit (without information of how many in a pack)
price per 100g

all next to each other for different packs of same biscuit! so no way you could knowingly get the best deal!

Original poster

cupidsgame · 07/06/2016 11:50

I actually agree with Op and no, I'm not some fool who simply can't read.
I hate to say this but I think it's the ones who deny it happens or think the ones it happens to are dopey......are the actual ones it happens to. A fool and his money are easily parted they say.......
Tbh it's a bit naive to deny that supermarkets arent renowned for shady practices.

OP posts:

Original poster

cupidsgame · 07/06/2016 11:57

kerbys that is exactly my point, it happened to me with hair dyes too. Knowing what Tesco are like for special offers on hair dyes I spent ages checking I'd got the one on special offer. Then when I was satisfied I'd got the one included in the offer(which was nowhere near the sign) I was charged full price at the till. The con there was in the very slight difference in the wording of the "shade" of hair dye. I know it's deliberate, and it shouldn't be allowed.

OP posts:

MackerelOfFact · 07/06/2016 11:57

I don't think this is a 'tactic' at all, and the BBC link you gave doesn't mention it either.

Sure, there are loads of questionable pricing tactics that supermarkets use, which are explained in that article and on this thread: inconsistent price/weight measurements, artificially inflated 'full' prices, multibuy offers that work out the same price/more expensive than buying individually, etc etc etc.

But how can a sign telling you something be misleading? If it says '2 for 1' on the shelf label, it will say 'includes X, Y and Z' and 'excludes A, B and C' underneath, in case there's any confusion. It's not a secret!

Sometimes it's a faff when you realise that it applies to the 250ml bottles of shampoo and not the 400ml ones, and actually it's still cheaper per ml to buy the 400ml bottles - but an offer is an offer, it's not a promise of being the cheapest possible way to buy the product, and sometimes you only want a 250ml bottle anyway (for holiday or the gym or something).

kerbys · 07/06/2016 12:02

The thing with hair dye is very annoying, when the one that's not reduced is the most popular colour. I bet they don't pay the supplier more for that particular colour.

user1465023742 · 07/06/2016 12:03

It's really not a supermarket's fault if their customer is too thick to read labels or understand pricing.

MackerelOfFact · 07/06/2016 12:03

"Then when I was satisfied I'd got the one included in the offer(which was nowhere near the sign) I was charged full price at the till. The con there was in the very slight difference in the wording of the "shade" of hair dye. I know it's deliberate, and it shouldn't be allowed."

If it was nowhere near the sign, how the hell was it deliberate?! If you can't find the shade described on the shelf label, presumably that was because it was sold out - you don't go hunting round the shop for something with a similar name on a different display and expect it to be part of the offer!

user1465023742 · 07/06/2016 12:04

The thing with hair dye is very annoying, when the one that's not reduced is the most popular colour.

Well of course it isn't annoying - they're reducing the less popular colours to try to sell them. Basic supply and demand!

kitchenunit · 07/06/2016 12:06

YANBU

I heard a program about this on Radio 4 a few weeks back. Asda are the worst apparently - all this "2 for a quid" when they usually cost threepence each.

I found it too online over Christmas. Amazon were advertising a certain % off but actually the normal price was nothing like as high as they said, so the discount wasn't anything like as good as it seemed.

Cheeky buggers.

Originalfoogirl · 07/06/2016 12:08

I'm an educated woman with great eyesight. I sometimes struggle to see or work out which is better value. I also get annoyed when the standard product is on one shelf, but the offer is somewhere else entirely in the store.

I used to work in retail, in a large convenience store and yes, we absolutely were told where the product and the labels and the special offers were to be put in store. Retail is detail and these are most definitely deliberately placed to encourage more spend.

Original poster

cupidsgame · 07/06/2016 12:11

It's really not a supermarket's fault if their customer is too thick to read labels or understand pricing.
No it's the one who falls for the con who is thick, probably happened to you and you've not known. Good job we're not all "thick" isn't it.

OP posts:

vulgarbunting · 07/06/2016 12:14

Retailers work to very low margins, and are incredibly lean organisations, with a lot of detail and change. It is always just a mistake. Tesco aren't trying to trick you. You are ridiculous to think they are. And unreasonable.

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