Supermarkets discussion

[SuspectUsual]

Whichever is correct unwary shoppers get ripped off. Can anyone offer an example of the scan price being lower than that on the shelf?

It happens occasionally at promotional changeover. Prices on the till system updated automatically from the centre but for whatever reason a store doesn’t change all the SETs, so some articles still show the old promo price and some don’t yet show the new one

 

[Belperpete]

Whichever is correct unwary shoppers get ripped off. Can anyone offer an example of the scan price being lower than that on the shelf?

I have had cases where the till is still charging an offer price that has been removed from the shelf labels, sometimes days ago.

Items that are getting close to expiry date are often discounted by supermarkets, with a sticker on the item giving a lower price or % off. Most supermarkets have a replacement bar code on such stickers, but not Aldi. In Aldi, you have to remember to select the discount yourself when scanning such items at self-service tills. And if using a manned till, ensure that the checkout operator has seen the sticker. If you don't, then even though it has a big orange sticker on it saying 30% off, you will get charged the full price. I suspect many people don't realise this, think they are getting a bargain, while getting charged full whack.

 

[AM9]

Had an item at Waitrose this week (it was two large sausage rolls), reduced from £4 to £3 on the shelf edge label, but the scanner added the full price. At the self checkout, pointed this out to the staff member who manually reduced the price on the screen. These sort of errors are much easier to resolve with a self scanner than persuading the cashier that the difference was elsewhere.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Whilst shopping in Asda yesterday we noticed that the prices on three of the items we bought scanned at a higher price than that displayed on the shelf. We photographed the shelf prices and challenged it at the checkout. The excuse given was that prices had been lowered as part of the “Roll Back” promotion, but the computer system had not been updated so charged the higher price. We were therefore charged the shelf price. How many customers notice these errors?

Every time I shop in my local supermarket I check the receipt. The Missus gets wound up when I do it. But with us buying reduced (near dated) items and the offers there is always a chance.

My first check is my favourite ale - Marstons Pedigree. For years it has gone down to £1 per 500ml bottle about three times a year. Often gets sold out if I do not get to it fast enough. Rarely does the shelf edge label get removed when the stock is replenished. Customer services are used to me turning up for a correction. Sometimes takes days for the label to be corrected. Often the BBE date is 10-12 months ahead. I have just stocked up for next October !. But this time I have weakened at £1.25 as I cannot see £1 cropping up on the stronger beers again.

That’s nonsense. The price scanned at the till is taken directly from the ERP system (aka the computer system).

What will 99.99% likely have happened is the store staff haven’t updated the SETs. That might be a missing notification, it might be staff error.

Absolutely agree. Quick to make the attractive offer visible. But no incentive to take it down.

Or the shelf edge label is correct but the product is wrong (ie a different size bottle)

I have done that. Shelf obviously replenished incorrectly so me thinks thank you, makes up for the times I have overlooked their "mistake" that was in their favour.

Whichever is correct unwary shoppers get ripped off. Can anyone offer an example of the scan price being lower than that on the shelf?

No good example, I suspect it does happen. What I do see is things like my favourite beer is sometimes on offer on a display but the old, higher, price still on show in the usual location.

I haven't got an example ready, but I've definitely had it.

In Australia (I'm there now) there is a 'Scanning Code of Practice' which specifies that if an item scans higher than the shelf price, the item is free of charge (first item only if multiple items - others at correct price).

I have claimed such, but have very rarely needed to.

That would be nice except my main price challenge is on a dozen or so bottles of beer.

I have had cases where the till is still charging an offer price that has been removed from the shelf labels, sometimes days ago.

Items that are getting close to expiry date are often discounted by supermarkets, with a sticker on the item giving a lower price or % off. Most supermarkets have a replacement bar code on such stickers, but not Aldi. In Aldi, you have to remember to select the discount yourself when scanning such items at self-service tills. And if using a manned till, ensure that the checkout operator has seen the sticker. If you don't, then even though it has a big orange sticker on it saying 30% off, you will get charged the full price. I suspect many people don't realise this, think they are getting a bargain, while getting charged full whack.

One problem I notice is staff not obliterating the original bar code correctly with the new bar code and/or price label.
It is the main reason I always check my receipt. They only need to lose one bar but often place the new bar code obliterating only part of every bar or sometimes around a corner so the bar code reader cannot read the new bar code.

On balance I would say most people do not think about what they are paying. They really do not care or have the time to think about it. Even people with little money waste it. They see an offer but do not rationalise it or check its implementation.

My missus always goes for a reduction even though the starting price was exorbitant - which is happening more and more with loyalty cards.

It is quite time consuming shopping around. I force myself to do a stint about once every six months. Not very thorough but years ago a thorough check left me realising no one supermarket is cheaper for everything. Lidl and Aldi seem to be the best bet generally and easy to get round quickly. My ale is always Morrisons. Sometimes Pound Shop is more expensive for items with an RRP of er less than a pound !.

 

[AM9]

My missus always goes for a reduction even though the starting price was exorbitant - which is happening more and more with loyalty cards.

That's normal, as the loyalty card price is the effective going price across the industry, leaving those who choose to decline them to provide some additional profit. It's their choice.

 

[Peter Sarf]

That's normal, as the loyalty card price is the effective going price across the industry, leaving those who choose to decline them to provide some additional profit. It's their choice.

Oh yes. And another example of the "cannot be bothered " attitude leading to subsidies for the rest of us.

 

[Gloster]

Oh yes. And another example of the "cannot be bothered " attitude leading to subsidies for the rest of us.

Or some of use do not want the supermarkets to hold large quantities of information which could fall into the hands of hackers.

One particular thing that I found with Morrisons was that multibuy offers often did not show up at the till. I frequently stock up by buying things when they are reduced (three £1.70 tins of soup for £4 at the moment), but always check that they have gone through at the offer price shown on the shelf. The store isn’t as bad as it was a year or so ago, but it still happens.

 

[AM9]

Or some of use do not want the supermarkets to hold large quantities of information which could fall into the hands of hackers.

One particular thing that I found with Morrisons was that multibuy offers often did not show up at the till. I frequently stock up by buying things when they are reduced (three £1.70 tins of soup for £4 at the moment), but always check that they have gone through at the offer price shown on the shelf. The store isn’t as bad as it was a year or so ago, but it still happens.

OK, for those that are paranoid about that, only use cash, don't have any card memberships - oh and live in a cave!

 

[Tramfan]

Do any of these supermarket outlets that get traded/sold on, ever get permanently closed, i.e. aren't re-opened by anyone else?

There's a former Safeway in Byker, Newcastle that has been occupied by a Solicitors firm for nearly 20 years

 

[Peter Sarf]

Or some of use do not want the supermarkets to hold large quantities of information which could fall into the hands of hackers.

One particular thing that I found with Morrisons was that multibuy offers often did not show up at the till. I frequently stock up by buying things when they are reduced (three £1.70 tins of soup for £4 at the moment), but always check that they have gone through at the offer price shown on the shelf. The store isn’t as bad as it was a year or so ago, but it still happens.

Oh yes. I like to keep the amount of information on me out there as limited as possible. We share one Morrisons "More" card amongst several of us so only one of us has details squandered. I do wonder what games the supermarkets play "targeting" offers at us.

My main belief is that supermarkets will try and make the reward of bargains fairly hard to get. Hard enough that they will not waste income on those shoppers who are easily led. But not so hard that the bargain hunters go elsewhere.

For Sainsburys it seems you can now go through hoops online registering your interest in bargains before visiting the store - I won't go there. At the end of the day to me Lidl and Aldi do enough things just plain cheap.

For a lot of things there is just simple shopping around to do. I tried do it online but it can be frustrating finding products !.

I have noticed that offers like 3 x £1.70 => £4 saving one £1.10 so £1.33 each have to be treated with caution - go elsewhere and find the same things for for less than £1.33 each !.

Another trick is Baileys 750ml £14 each or £22 for two - bargain ?, NO. But in the same store on the same shelf 1000ml for £11 each (or currently even £9.97 each some places). I have been watching the Baileys bounce up and down in price amongst the competing supermarkets for a week or two even though we "invested" two weeks ago.

 

[Silver Cobra]

Whichever is correct unwary shoppers get ripped off. Can anyone offer an example of the scan price being lower than that on the shelf?

Truth be told that has happened a lot at the Asda I work in.

Price changes used to only be applied when actioned by the price changes team when printing the new labels each day (when there's been absences on the team I on some occasions was asked to step on and help with this process). Since the move to the new SAP system earlier this year the prices on the system back-end now change automatically, rather than needing user input to action them. The policy is now that the new labels for the price changes need to be put out before 8am on the day they change (most prices change on a Thursday, but some do come through on other days), but in my store's case the price changes team only start their work at 7am, so if a lot of prices have changed that morning they can miss the 8am deadline. Add in that there are times when the price changes team simply can't find the product they need to issue a new label for, and if there's no-one on the department in question to ask about it they simply have to skip the item (our stock management handled devices should list a location for the item, but that hinges on the department colleagues assigning the 'modulars' correctly; the ready meals in my store didn't have their modular assigned properly for a nearly a month recently).

To come back to the post I quoted, while it's generally price increases that land up being missed, I have experienced situations where we missed a price decrease or a promotion being in place when I've set up a 'modular' on a department. A recent example is some Fage yogurts which were on a multi-buy offer, but the existing labels on the shelf didn't reflect this; the Asda website showed to me that the offer had been in place for at least a week at this point.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

So what is the current policy, which may vary from supermarket to supermarket, to resolve matters when a customer finds out that they've been overcharged at the till, compared with what's been advertised or is showing on the shelf edge, or maybe even the sticker or label on the actual item itself? And which supermarket perhaps seems to be the worst for overcharging in the first place?

 

[Harpo]

Every time I shop in my local supermarket I check the receipt.

Ditto. Although most supermarkets would prefer that we didn’t even take a receipt judging by the extra task of confirming that we want one.

On correct pricing, one of the very few things I’d fault Aldi on is not applying their x% reduction labels at the checkout.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Although most supermarkets would prefer that we didn’t even take a receipt judging by the extra task of confirming that we want one

When I was at Coop they introduced the “press for a receipt” functionality on the self service tills, because at the time they reckoned about 90% of the receipts either got left in the till, binned, or thrown on the floor

 

[Kite159]

The issues with the price edge labels not matching the price charged is one of the main reasons why I always try and use the "Scan as you go" devices when doing a medium to large shop. As any errors can be noticed straight away

 

[Mcr Warrior]

When I was at Coop they introduced the “press for a receipt” functionality on the self service tills, because at the time they reckoned about 90% of the receipts either got left in the till, binned, or thrown on the floor

Is the Co-op the outlet where you typically get maybe a full three seconds opportunity to press for a till receipt?

 

[adc82140]

Whichever is correct unwary shoppers get ripped off. Can anyone offer an example of the scan price being lower than that on the shelf?

I can. Co op.

Short dated orange label white sliced loaf. Was reduced to 19p, but the checkout took off the 25p members discount that applied to the full price, so I got the loaf for -6p.

 

[Steddenm]

I can. Co op.

Short dated orange label white sliced loaf. Was reduced to 19p, but the checkout took off the 25p members discount that applied to the full price, so I got the loaf for -6p.

I was in a Dunnes Store in Dún Laoghaire last Christmas and had €60 of vouchers in their app (you get vouchers quite regilarly depending on how much you spend, like Clubcard) and spent only €39. The self scan till accepted the €60 worth of vouchers and gave change in cash of €21. Because I had spent over €35, I also got another €5 voucher to spend on my next shop.

 

[Mojo]

Although most supermarkets would prefer that we didn’t even take a receipt judging by the extra task of confirming that we want one.

On the other hand, two different Sainsbury’s Supermarkets that I visit regularly have made receipts compulsory - one makes you take them as they have fitted gates which requires the receipt to be scanned in order to exit - and the other one has changed the parking arrangement where you have to scan the barcode on the receipt in order to claim your free parking (previously the staff would give you a ticket to scan on the machine).

 

[JamesT]

On the other hand, two different Sainsbury’s Supermarkets that I visit regularly have made receipts compulsory - one makes you take them as they have fitted gates which requires the receipt to be scanned in order to exit - and the other one has changed the parking arrangement where you have to scan the barcode on the receipt in order to claim your free parking (previously the staff would give you a ticket to scan on the machine).

My local Lidl has introduced those gates too. However if you've selected electronic only receipts in their app, it will only print a minimal receipt for getting out, rather than the whole list.

 

[dgl]

I can. Co op.

Short dated orange label white sliced loaf. Was reduced to 19p, but the checkout took off the 25p members discount that applied to the full price, so I got the loaf for -6p.

I had a similar experience in Tesco once with some reduced meat that was part of a two for 7 or something offer that would have taken £1 off normally. Interestingly the discount was still applied and as both items were heavily reduced the £1 discount was more than the cost of the two items.
I always wonder what would have happened had I not had other items.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Is the Co-op the outlet where you typically get maybe a full three seconds opportunity to press for a till receipt?

Yeah it was 10 seconds at first which was good probably a bit too long as it was delaying the next transaction. Over compensated now I think

 

[jon81uk]

For Sainsburys it seems you can now go through hoops online registering your interest in bargains before visiting the store - I won't go there. At the end of the day to me Lidl and Aldi do enough things just plain cheap.

Lidl do the same, if you have their app you can activate personal coupons but also many of the offers are for the reward app users only.

 

[lookapigeon]

Ditto. Although most supermarkets would prefer that we didn’t even take a receipt judging by the extra task of confirming that we want one.

On correct pricing, one of the very few things I’d fault Aldi on is not applying their x% reduction labels at the checkout.

I always think the UK are very strange in receipts being optional or people just not taking them where they are given, in Italy it is mandatory to give a receipt for taxation purposes. Whatever the client does with it is up to them - most dispose of it responsibly or take it with them.
Sure, the supermarkets win out in the end on this one.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I always think the UK are very strange in receipts being optional or people just not taking them where they are given, in Italy it is mandatory to give a receipt for taxation purposes. Whatever the client does with it is up to them - most dispose of it responsibly or take it with them.
Sure, the supermarkets win out in the end on this one.

If I don't want a receipt, which I mostly don't, why should I be forced to take one which I then have to dispose of and waste paper? It should simply be a requirement that one is issued if the customer wishes one to be.

 

[SuspectUsual]

I always think the UK are very strange in receipts being optional or people just not taking them where they are given, in Italy it is mandatory to give a receipt for taxation purposes. Whatever the client does with it is up to them - most dispose of it responsibly or take it with them.
Sure, the supermarkets win out in the end on this one.

In the UK it’s mandatory to provide a receipt on request, and that’s what the shops do. And when the receipt isn’t requested an electronic version is created anyway which satisfies the tax requirement

 

[AM9]

Yeah it was 10 seconds at first which was good probably a bit too long as it was delaying the next transaction. Over compensated now I think

10 seconds in Waitrose as well.

 

[stadler]

Most of the supermarket chains are doing their annual extremely cheap Christmas veg offers again.

I always wonder how they manage to sell veg that cheap. It means either one of three things. Either they are ripping us off for the rest of the year and could charge 5p all year round or they are loosing money on veg at Christmas or they are paying the farmers a much lower price over the Christmas period.

Aldi and Lidl are best value at 5p per packet and no loyalty card is required. Morrisons is also 5p per packet but you need a More card. Sainsburys is 15p per packet but you need a Nectar card. Tesco is 15p per packet but you need a Club card. Asda is 30p per packet (or 5 for £1 making it 20p per packet) and no loyalty card is needed. Waitrose is 40p per packet and no loyalty card is needed. M&S is a rather more expensive 50p or £1 depending on the veg which is only a small reduction from the normal price. Booths and Coop and Iceland and Ocado all have no special offers.

This is the full list of the special cheap veg offers per each supermarket:

ALDI:
• 5p - Potatoes (2kg bag)
• 5p - Carrots (1kg bag)
• 5p - Parsnips (500g bag)
• 5p - Brussels Sprouts (500g bag)
• 5p - Swede (each)
• 5p - Red Cabbage (each)
• 5p - White Cabbage (each)
no loyalty card required

ASDA:
• 30p - Potatoes (2kg bag)
• 30p - Carrots (1kg bag)
• 30p - Parsnips (500g bag)
• 30p - Brussels Sprouts (500g bag)
• 30p - Broccoli (each)
or any 5 for £1 mix and match (making it 20p each)
no loyalty card required

BOOTHS:
• no special offers

COOP:
• no special offers

ICELAND:
• no special offers

LIDL:
• 5p - Potatoes (2kg bag)
• 5p - Carrots (1kg bag)
• 5p - Parsnips (500g bag)
• 5p - Brussels Sprouts (500g bag)
• 5p - Swede (each)
• 5p - Shallots (300g bag)
no loyalty card required

MARKS AND SPENCER:
• £1 - Potatoes (2.5kg bag)
• 50p - Carrots (1kg bag)
• 50p - Parsnips (500g bag)
• £1 - Brussels Sprouts (500g bag)
no loyalty card required

MORRISONS:
• 5p - Carrots (1kg bag)
• 5p - Parsnips (500g bag)
• 5p - Brussels Sprouts (500g bag)
• 5p - Swede (each)
prices only valid with a More Card

OCADO:
• no special offers

SAINSBURYS:
• 15p - Potatoes (2kg bag)
• 15p - Carrots (1kg bag)
• 15p - Parsnips (500g bag)
• 15p - Brussels Sprouts (500g bag)
• 15p - Swede (each)
• 15p - Red Cabbage (each)
• 15p - White Cabbage (each)
prices only valid with a Nectar Card

TESCO:
• 15p - Potatoes (2kg bag)
• 15p - Carrots (1kg bag)
• 15p - Parsnips (500g bag)
• 15p - Brussels Sprouts (500g bag)
• 15p - Swede (each)
• 15p - Red Cabbage (each)
• 15p - Broccoli (each)
prices only valid with a Club Card

WAITROSE:
• 40p - Potatoes (2kg bag)
• 40p - Carrots (1kg bag)
• 40p - Parsnips (500g bag)
• 40p - Brussels Sprouts (500g bag)
no loyalty card required

So the exact veg available varies by store. Aldi and Lidl are definitely the best in both the selection and the price. They are both only 5p each and no loyalty card is required.

They seem to be getting cheaper every year which is surprising when food costs are increasing. Last year the cheapest was 8p each. This year many are doing 5p each. I just hope that the farmers are getting paid well.

 

[Steddenm]

The discount veg at Christmas are loss leaders for the supermarkets. The farmers are paid the same as they usually are. It is to being people into the supermarkets to look at other things. A lot of products around this time of year are loss leading for the supermarket chains. If you are buying any veg at this time of year though, it is important to take it out of the plastic wrap and store in the bottom of your fridge otherwise it could sweat and spoil.

 

[jon0844]

The stores are desperate to get you to visit them over someone else to sell all the party food, cakes, cards, wrapping paper, booze and so on - so it's okay to sell some veg at a loss. Given some supermarkets have some crazy profit margins on some things that people aren't price sensitive about, they'll do just fine.