Supermarket Scams

We all know the supermarket chains have practices that border on scams, but today I saw it done blatantly and badly.
A supermarket, one of the big 2 had a brand of cheese slices with a mark down tag saying the product was marked down from $4.50 to $3.50.
I buy them regularly so I know the price is usually $3.50, but not only that, right next to the discount tag was the normal shelf label showing the price as $3.50.
Luckily for the chain concerned I'm still working out how to use a new mobile phone otherwise I would have taken a picture.

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Originally Posted by smidsy

We all know the supermarket chains have practices that border on scams, but today I saw it done blatantly and badly.
A supermarket, one of the big 2 had a brand of cheese slices with a mark down tag saying the product was marked down from $4.50 to $3.50.
I buy them regularly so I know the price is usually $3.50, but not only that, right next to the discount tag was the normal shelf label showing the price as $3.50.
Luckily for the chain concerned I'm still working out how to use a new mobile phone otherwise I would have taken a picture.

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I think you'll find that with most "mark downs" the original price is the Recommended Retail Price not the actual price the item might have been selling at.

I buy this stuff fairly regularly, I know for sure the usual price is $3.50, and the ticket very clearly said marked down from $4.50.
I'll make sure I can use my phone so I can take a pic next time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smidsy

We all know the supermarket chains have practices that border on scams, but today I saw it done blatantly and badly.
A supermarket, one of the big 2 had a brand of cheese slices with a mark down tag saying the product was marked down from $4.50 to $3.50.
I buy them regularly so I know the price is usually $3.50, but not only that, right next to the discount tag was the normal shelf label showing the price as $3.50.
Luckily for the chain concerned I'm still working out how to use a new mobile phone otherwise I would have taken a picture.

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I'm not going to go out on a limb and say that Supermarkets never scam customers when marking discounted prices - but, I think that in the large majority of instances, the Discounted Pricing Tags contain inadvertent errors, rather than deliberate attempts to scam the customer. As well as the Discount Tag errors, there are also often differences between the prices marked next to the items on the shelf, and the price that the item scans at when you take it to the checkout. Sometimes the errors are in the customer's favour. When the errors go against the Customer, regardless of which supermarket (or Big Box Store) I'm in, I make it a habit to report those pricing errors to the Duty Manager when I find them. I try to do it without being a "pain in the neck" for the Duty Manager.

One supermarket that I use regularly has a store policy that if the Checkout Price scans higher than the marked price (or the advertised price), then the item is free. The same "Free Item Policy" applies to errors on the pricing or discount tags that disadvantage the customer. That sort of policy certainly makes the business work hard to ensure that they price their stock correctly.

I was also told by a Manager at one of the big Supermarkets, that the definition of "Discount" is "a reduction of the normal selling price of the item in this store". Apparently that definition is embedded in Queensland Consumer Law, and is supposed to overcome the situation where a business runs a sale with items reduced from the Recommended Retail Price, rather than the correct way which is to reduce from that stores normal selling price.

That's my 10 cents worth.

Roy

I've done our grocery shopping for about the last 25 years and have seen plenty of "mistakes".

Several times I have seen , . . . "Was $X and now discounted to $Y" where Y>X.

Once when I pointed this out to a member of staff they said it was the other way around.
The second time they just said it was a mistake.

Also, don't forget the "still $x.xx!!!!!!!!!!!OMGtotesAmazeballs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" price for something that has gone from XXXgms to a considerably lower XXXgms at the same RRP :((

Gotta love the per 100/gm/lt pricing stickers.


I also heard on the radio this arvo an ad for the "C**** Farmer of the Year Award" and instantly pictured some poor old codger bent over a tree stump with a "down down" foam hand/finger doing him a great physical injustice because he had no choice but to bow down to their INSANE and BANKRUPTING price demands because of....well....local duopolies and damn dirty greed.

(btw: I'm from an area where a certain chip manufacturer decided that the raw products they used weren't worth as much as they cost to produce and regularly, seemingly, have the producers blockading their plant over pay/fairness."

There's a little rule in buying from retail...no matter what the markdown, the sale price, or SLASH SLASH SLASH!!!...you're generally still buying above the company's wholesale purchase cost. Items NOT on sale are at heavily inflated prices and they damn well know it.

Hey...a profit is ok, if not natural, but don't please play us like idiots.

/rant

Our local shops have one of the Evil Twins, but the little guys are doing an absolutely roaring trade.

People are sick of the duopolistic and predatory practices the big guys inflict on farmers, suppliers, transporters, local businesses and consumers.

There is a very distinct backlash against them here. The local guys provide huge range and interesting choices. We may need to go to 5 different small shops, delis and fruit dudes, but the product is first rate and the prices honest.

Personally, I hope Coles and Woolworths are both vaporised in the upcoming GFC MkII.

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Originally Posted by Evanism

Our local shops have one of the Evil Twins, but the little guys are doing an absolutely roaring trade.

People are sick of the duopolistic and predatory practices the big guys inflict on farmers, suppliers, transporters, local businesses and consumers.

There is a very distinct backlash against them here. The local guys provide huge range and interesting choices. We may need to go to 5 different small shops, delis and fruit dudes, but the product is first rate and the prices honest.

Personally, I hope Coles and Woolworths are both vaporised in the upcoming GFC MkII.

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.....and no money in the kitty for either political party this time to waste

There is no risk of either of the "Big Two" supermarkets going broke.

My girlfriend keeps saving them from bankruptcy. She keeps seeing items reaching their use-by date marked down considerably and buying them. These are generally items that we never buy or use, but at the marked down price she just cannot help herself and she buys them and takes them home, where they clutter up the fridge or pantry until they are a month past their use-by date and then I throw them out.

While people have this mentality the big two supermarkets will never make a loss on any item they stock unless someone steals it.

Cheers

Doug

A friend of mine shops online at one of the big 2 - she has very little sight so enlarging things on the pc monitor is much easier than trying to read labels in the supermarket.
She found she was getting a large proportion of stuff that was close to the use by date, seems they use the online system to get rid of the close to date stuff.
Legal yes but it still stinks.

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Originally Posted by smidsy

A friend of mine shops online at one of the big 2 - she has very little sight so enlarging things on the pc monitor is much easier than trying to read labels in the supermarket.
She found she was getting a large proportion of stuff that was close to the use by date, seems they use the online system to get rid of the close to date stuff.
Legal yes but it still stinks.

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My step daughter's ex-boyfriend worked for a big supermarket with a short name doing home delivery for a couple of weeks. When he was doing his training, he came home one day carrying on about how clever they were by making sure that the home delivery customers always got all the old stock, particularly fruit and vegies that were past their best. The trainers had all the workers brainwashed into thinking that was a great idea.

It does not surprise me that they do this, but does it really make sense? How many people who have tried home delivery and trusted the company to deliver the good stuff for the premium price they pay, do not use the service any more? maybe rich lazy people deserve to be treated like that for not wanting to bother going to the shop to pick out their own groceries, but what about the elderly an disabled fro whom it could be an essential service?

Cheers

Doug

Doug, agree with what you say, but like most, you and I are coming from the position that we pay the price and that the company is there to service the client.

Unfortunately, at some stage in the past there has been a substantial shift in perspective - the company now views the client as being there for their benefit and that the company reserves the right to offer the client what will give the company the greatest return for the least outlay. Hence the product you like, have used for years, is probably Australian made etc has now disappeared from the shelves - possibly with an imported, tasteless replacement which we are expected to be thankful for.

I could go on but I'm sure you get the idea of my observations.

We have a brand spanking new Woolworths recenly opened in our area and I cant believe what can only be described as instore advertising trickery that they use. The most blatant is the vege and fruit bins with 3 or 4 bins either side and a big sign in the middle with a price $3.98 kg on it glaring at you at eye level. This sign also has a barcode on it but no product label. At first glance the unsuspecting consumer thinks that all the product in the bins are $3.98 per kg but only one bin has a product at that price all the others are a lot dearer. Down at slightly above knee level are the actual product labels and prices but once you are standing at the bins picking out your items you cannot actually see those labels. The other day I asked a lady who was putting some tomatoes in a plastic bag how much they were and she promptly replied "$3.98 a kg love, I haven't seen them that price for a while", so I pointed to the price sign (in front of her down and well below her waste level) that she hadn't even seen and showed her the actual price of $7.98 per kg. She "you are f..ing joking" and threw them back on the pile bag and all.

One thing I can't understand is that the big 2 claim they are not allowed to sell cigs through the express lane - means you have to que up twice, and two transactions on the card statement.
But every IGA have ever been to will sell cigs through the express lane so you can get everything in a single transaction.

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Originally Posted by smidsy

One thing I can't understand is that the big 2 claim they are not allowed to sell cigs through the express lane - means you have to que up twice, and two transactions on the card statement.
But every IGA have ever been to will sell cigs through the express lane so you can get everything in a single transaction.

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Well the thing that REALLY $h!ts me is at the express lane at one of our local supermarkets, the express lane staff also work the service desk. You can be waiting your turn in the line and they keep disappearing over to the service desk to serve some dirty air-polluting smoke sucker that just walked up when you have been waiting patiently for 10 minutes. Why should they get preferential treatment over the grocery shoppers? I contacted their head office about it and they did not even bother to reply.

Cheers

Doug