Supermarket scams to watch out for at Xmas

If you're planning to hit the supermarkets soon to stock up for Christmas, here are five scams you need to make sure you don't fall for...

Christmas is a stressful time for food shoppers: packed supermarkets, annoying Christmas music and long queues...enough to put anyone in a festive frenzy!

But this Christmas could be made even more stressful if you fall for a supermarket scam – here’s five you should watch out for next time you’re on the hunt for groceries...

The cashback scam

This scam works by adding cashback to your shopping bill when you pay by debit card. The cashier is basically betting on the fact that you’re in such a rush or that your shop is so large and expensive that you don’t notice the extra £20 or £40 they’ve added on.

The scammer obviously then pockets the money or slips it to a friend nearby so the supermarket security can’t trace it.

It’s certainly a cunning scam, as it would be very hard to prove that you didn’t actually want and take the cashback.

But many forums and sites across the net have been quick to dismiss this scam as a hoax that was actually created by fraudsters over in the States back in 2004. Sites like Snopes are stating there’s no way for a cashier to add cashback to a bill without the customer agreeing to it via the pin entry pad.

From personal experience I’ve found many supermarkets will insist that you sign the receipt to prove that the cashier has handed over the money – but this may not be a universal policy and the signature could be faked anyway!

In any case it’s always good practice to check the exact amount being debited to your card before pressing enter on the key pad.

For cashback schemes you can trust, read You’re ignoring free money.

Dodgy BOGOFs

The old buy one (but don’t actually) get one free trick – it’s been infuriating shoppers for years and shows no sign of abating!

The classic buy one get one free (BOGOF) trick is probably the most obvious one – just make sure the offer doesn’t come off at the tills and hope the customer doesn't notice! Now, having worked on a check-out throughout sixth-form college I can confirm that occasionally the till is genuinely not programmed correctly – or so I was told!

You should also keep your eyes peeled for mis-shelved products as many people have reported picking up goods placed directly above a BOGOF sign that aren’t actually on the offer. Of course the supermarket will usually blame this on a lazy shelf stacker or product-moving customer – whether they’re telling porkies or not is for you to decide!

The obvious way around this scam is to keep a mental note of any BOGOF items you pick up and check your receipt at the checkout. If the offer hasn’t come off, let the cashier know! Kick up a fuss at the customer service counter and you may even get the items for free – it’s worked for my mum before!

Volume offers

This again concerns BOGOF offers as well as other discounts such as 3 for 2's or 2 for £10. Obviously special offers like these can sometimes help to slash your food bills – but they don’t always offer value for money.

A report into price advertising by the Office for Fair Trading (OFT) found that ‘volume offers’ can sometimes distort the true value of the product, causing you to needlessly over-spend.

This is because supermarkets may temporarily inflate the price of an item before putting it on offer so the discount looks more worthwhile than it actually is. The effect is that you become focused on getting a ‘good deal’ rather than just buying what you need.

You’ll also find the best volume offers will be on perishable items like fruit and vegetables. So unless you’re confident you can eat everything you’ve purchased before it goes off, don’t be taken in by the offer!

Baiting sales

The OFT report also highlights the scam of baiting sales. This is where a retailer will tempt you into the store with a bargain offer but only hold a very small amount of stock at the discounted price.

It works because if you traipse down to the supermarket to pick up an offer, but it’s sold out, you’ll probably buy a similar product at a higher price from the same retailer.

Baiting sales is banned by consumer protection rules and the OFT have vowed to crack down on any retailers found to be practicing it.

Shop layouts

Supermarkets will place the most profitable items at eye-level, while the cheaper items will be on the very top or bottom of the shelves. You’ll also find expensive electrical goods towards the front of the shop, and the cheaper items at the back – so you’ll have to walk through the profitable aisles to get to the cheap ones!

Many retailers will also change the layout of their shops regularly – so you’ll have to hunt around for products on your shopping list and hopefully throw a few extra items into your trolley as you do.

To read more about grocery tricks you should avoid this Christmas go to The seven biggest supermarket scams.

Scams or marketing?

There’s obviously a fine line between a blatant scam and clever marketing. But where do you draw the line? Should dubious volume offers be banned? Are tactical shop and shelf layouts fair?

Post your views on this, and the 'cashback scam' in the comments box below. And if you know of any other supermarket scams we haven't included, please let us know about them!

This is a lovemoney.com classic article, updated for 2011.

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