To think this is deliberately misleading

[lougle]

I went into Staples and wanted to buy some thick A3 paper for a presentation. They had HP 120 gsm paper in packs of 100: £37.99. No smaller packs. They also had a sign saying "110% price match. Never beaten on price. Find an identical item at a lower price and we will match it." The small print said "Selected suppliers only".

I took a quick look on Amazon as a starting point, and saw that the same identical product was £16 cheaper. So I went to the till and asked the cashier who the selected suppliers are. He said that it has recently changed and now they really only price match with Currys and Argos.

Currys only sell A4 paper in one brand (Canon) and 2 varieties (red or black label), and Argos only sell A4 paper. Neither sell A3 paper.

A supervisor came to speak to me and told me that it was ridiculous and that she isn't even allowed to price match their own website. On their own website it is £17 cheaper.

AIBU to think that having a Price Promise sign underneath a product that you can't possibly price match due to the rules, implying that they are confident you won't find it cheaper elsewhere, when your own website has it £17 cheaper is just plain misleading and underhand?

The manager said that the top staff rationale is that if people are desperate enough they'll pay

£38 for 100 sheets of 120gsm paper?! Crikey Moses!

YANBU, a lot of shops do this and it always total bullshit.

Although I think saying 'selected stockists' is fair enough otherwise people will just go on eBay and random sites trying to swindle a deal, there's usually somewhere online that is cheaper than in shops. There should be more than 2 selected stockists though

No, I don't think so. It clearly says selected suppliers only which is going to mean the big stores they directly compete with.

It's the same as Tesco's 'price promise' - they then go on to say 'equivalent branded shop only' and only in certain shops - because they're hardly going to start price matching my shop with Lidl are they, they'd go out of business!

I do think it's very unfair that they won't price match their own website however!

I got staples to price match their own website about a year ago.

They had some coloured pencils for less than a fiver on the website so I went to the shop to buy them only to find they were about £16 in the shop .

I had no idea they did this but wanted to get the pencils that day rather than come back (l could have done click and collect and paid the website price but wouldn't have been able to collect the same day it said 2/3 days).

So I asked them if they matched their website price and they did, maybe it has changed?

Same as john lewis. Find they stock different items to others as in slightly different colour....

Is is why I have amazon prime.
Need it, buy it, it comes next day.

But that's besides the point.

I was told by a worker in Game to,
"Buy it online then"
I'd seen a game I wanted on their website, as I was passing their store after work I decided to pop in and found the game £10 more expensive, when I raised that with the employee that's when he said it. I replied,
"If I'm buying online anyway I'd get it from amazon where its cheaper than yours"
He just shrugged.

Its no wonder high street is dying really, high prices and poor service, plius bad weather.

Seems very expensive for paper...tesco around 2.50-3 a pack

LondonRach. Yeah, because that's thick A3 paper too right? 🙄

It's a right PITA when you want to go and buy something from the shop, but it's so much cheaper online, which isn't always convenient.

However, they're trying to get the majority to shop online so they can close stores & the goods are more expensive to cover store expenses. It's understandable, if annoying.

But to answer your actual question, no, they're not allowed to advertise 'price matching' on products that the stores they're matching to don't sell. But honestly, it's just not worth the effort of fighting it.

But Saggy what did you want him to say?

It's not his fault that the company he works for sell things cheaper on line than they do in the stores. He will not have been able to offer you the same deal as he wont have had the authority so the only answer is to go buy it on line.

The staff probably get 10 people a day complaining and threatening to spend their money elsewhere. All about something that that they have no control over.

You could report them to the ASA.

You could report them to the ASA.

You could report them to the ASA.

The amateur swimming association?

Saggy, ive found many times that Prime is not always the cheapest option. They often build in the shipping costs. It definitely can be cheaper but it pays to shop around to make sure.

Well yes, I did go to Amazon in the end, although the Prime service let me down and didn't deliver next day, which is another story!

My complaint isn't that they won't match online competitors - I completely understand the costs are different for stores and they simply can't match a company with much lower overheads. However, I think it's misleading to say you won't be beaten on price, when you've knowingly priced the item at almost double the price of your website and you know full well that none of your accepted price match competitors sell any A3 paper, let alone the brand you're offering a price promise for.