Tesco multi-buy: shoppers fleeced at checkout by expired offers
An investigation has revealed that some of Tesco's multi-buy offers are being advertised on shelves even though they've expired.
Tesco shoppers are being ripped-off at the till on offers that are out-of-date but are still being advertised as active, according to a new investigation.
The BBC found that unwitting customers are paying more at the checkout for promotions that have long expired but haven't been updated on shelves in-store, misleading shoppers into thinking they have made a saving.
The investigation was launched after a member of staff from the BBC noticed inconsistencies on Tesco till receipts.
An undercover reporter visited stores over three months and found in 33 out of 50 of them, promotions were marked on the shelf, but the limited period offers weren’t applied at checkout as they were no longer valid. Mistakes were only found on in-store savings, not online ones.
Offers were days, weeks and — in some cases — months out-of-date.
Have you been conned?
Here is a small selection of the offers the BBC found advertised on shelves that had expired:
- Rustlers Chicken Sub: Offer price – two for £3 (original price £2.31 each), price paid at till – £4.62;
- Schwartz Barbecue Sauce Mix: Offer price – two for £1 (original price 85p each), price paid at till – £1.70;
- Old El Paso Guacamole: Offer price – two for £2.50 (original price £2.09 each), price paid at till – £4.18.
Why are shoppers being short-changed?
The reporter told staff at a store in Dudley that offers for gingerbread and cat food had not gone through.
The staff member replied: "The labels are actually out of date, that's what the problem is.
"One's nearly a month out of date, the other one's three weeks out of date."
Another member of staff blamed the mistakes on being “short-staffed”.
Overall, whenever the reporter highlighted an error, Tesco honoured the offer. However, a Tesco Express store in Birmingham repeatedly failed to remove out-of-date offer labels. One was even there a month after it was pointed out.
What Tesco says
In response to the investigation, Tesco said that it will double-check price deals across its 3,500-plus UK stores.
A spokesperson said: "We take great care to deliver clear and accurate price labels for our customers so they can make informed decisions on the products they buy.
"We are disappointed that errors occurred and will be working with the stores involved to reinforce our responsibilities to our customers."
Your rights
Martin Fisher from Chartered Trading Standards said that the mistakes could equate to breaking the law under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
The investigation will be broadcast as part of BBC One’s Inside Out programme at 7:30pm today (13 February).
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Comments
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I recall that precisely this issue of expired special offers in Tesco stores came up a couple of years ago. Tesco, at that time, seemed fairly unrepentant. Clearly this sort of tactic (not actually strictly illegal and blessed with plausible deniability) is just too good for them to resist. I routinely check my till receipts (and not just at Tesco). Ir's surprising just how often there is some mistake, and it always seems to be in the supermarket's favour. Caveat emptor.
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Why the Tesco witch hunt. I shop at Morrisons every week and have lost count of the number of times that I have been overcharged due to outdated shelf pricing. They always put matters right, but it involves a possibly lengthy queue at customer services.
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The practice of display pricing not matching system price is all too common, and the phrase "they must have changed the price and not informed us" has become all to common. I agree with Mike that there should be a better solution to the present standard ticket on shelf. However ticketing aside I do agree with the comments from a member regarding the practice of forcing suppliers to fund "Bogofs" on products. Especially fresh produce as they mentioned in their example where unwanted items are simply wasted by consumer...bought as a Bogof.
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17 February 2017