Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Dishonest practice or shoddy trading at Sainsbury's?
With times a little tough, my other half has taken to checking whether the multi-buy discounts that are claimed are applied by Sainsbury's.
The first thing that struck us was the fact that Sainsbury's seem to have adopted a method of recording the discounts that make it less than straightforward to check if they've been applied - vague generic descriptions on the discount entries and a number of places to record discounts (some after the item, some at the end of the bill etc).
On checking for the discounts each week, we've found that on one or two bills out of four one or more of the discounts haven't been applied. I wonder how many people who made a buying decision based on the discount subsequently bother to check if the discount has been applied. A small percentage I imagine. What does this add up to in terms of lost discounts for customers (or, looked at another way, gained revenue for Sainsbury's)?
Today we thought we'd found another. To cut a long story short and leaving out the tiresome details of really rude staff, we hadn't found another, well not really. We bought two packs of sliced ham, taken off the shelf just above the notice that said very clearly "Any two packs of sliced cooked ham £4". After checking out, we noticed that the discount hadn't been applied. So we took our bill to the customer service desk. The member of staff there and two other staff on the shop floor insisted that although the item was clearly cooked sliced ham, it wasn't included in the offer. Clearly this wasn't just "any" sliced cooked ham.
In the end a supervisor was called. She came armed with the price board which she'd taken off the shelf front. She too insisted that the ham we'd chosen wasn't just "any" sliced cooked ham. After a few minutes, she suddenly noticed some tiny writing tucked away - which neither we nor any of the other staff had noticed - that said "applies to marked items only".
So, legally it seems they were right. What can you say. For us though it's misleading and dishonest. More of the dwindling trust we used to have for Sainsbury's has trickled away. We were offered the assurance that the ticketing manager would be informed of our displeasure. Mountains out of molehills, it may be, but that didn't feel like enough, so we've asked for the company to write to us to explain what they will do to correct this misleading notice.
Has anyone else noticed discounts not being applied or misleading notices at Sainsbury's?
Tags for Forum Posts: sainsbury's, sainsburys
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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Jeremy.
Yes it happens to me 90% of the time. I don't like being spoken to like that either.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Don't just check that your discounts were applied. Sometimes you are billed twice for stuff.
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Permalink Reply by Penny on
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Jeremy,
I have had the same experience in M&S, Muswell Hill to be precise. They put one special offer promotional notice on one section which leads you to believe it applies to all products in that section. Unfortunately only to one shelf and this is usually the one well above eye-level.
Where is the logic in that?
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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There was a really interesting piece in the Guardian yesterday about discounting among supermarkets, and how they aren't always what they seem ...
"Supermarket giants Tesco and Asda dramatically increased prices on key items in the runup to Christmas in what an independent expert has called "a systematic, cynical and aggressive attempt to exploit demand", a Guardian investigation can reveal. Batteries, lightbulbs, medicines, Christmas drinks and must-have children's toys were among essentials whose prices were increased.
Both companies ran marketing campaigns before Christmas and at New Year boasting of thousands of price cuts but many consumers will have been unaware that they were also raising thousands of prices in the same period."
More here.
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Permalink Reply by Nigel Lupton (luptonn) on
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Hi Jeremy - we've taken to scrupulously checking our receipts before leaving the store. Usually the customer services desk are able to put things right, but , if you're not happy with their service, a call to the "Sainsbury's Careline" might yield better results: 0800 636 232
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Permalink Reply by JeremyS on
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Thanks for sharing your experiences. Thanks also Nigel for the Careline number. I'll give it a go. In the meantime, let's keep sharing our experiences of this sort of thing.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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NO ONE is obliged to shop at Sainsbury's or at any given supermarket.
In saying that I mean no defence of the alleged attempts at price gouging and the apparent price chiselling by this corporation. It appears to be a variant on the old "bait and switch" trick. Retailers like Sainsbury are likely to be trying new tricks and variants on the old ones like this, indefinitely.
A general marketing strategy that can be discerned is to make price comparisons harder and more time-consuming than they need be.
When I shop at Sainsbury (less so now) I never buy the discounted stuff (grouped in one place) unless its got the discounted price clearly marked on the product. More often than not, the discount shelf has stuff just chucked onto it, in what appears to be a display of contempt for the customer.
In 2008, Which? awarded Lidl the title of Britain's Best Value Retailer. I doubt if their relative merit has changed much and there's a Lidl on the south side of Finsbury Park. Cramped, limited range and probably the keenest prices in the area.
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Another thing that annoys me in general about the retail food buying experience (and this is a criticism as much of slack regulations as the manufacturers) is the attempts to hide the Weights and Measures data. This is sometimes in a tiny font, hidden on the packaging, sometimes on the underside. This is yet another anti-customer measure, making it harder for consumers to compare prices and value. Food labelling is regulated by the government and they seem to be on the side of producers rather than consumers.
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Permalink Reply by Stuart on
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There's a new Lidl up in Wood Green where New Look used to be. Much bigger. Great hazelnut chocolate bars.
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Permalink Reply by Julie - WPRNW on
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yes! have noticed this for some time, discounts not being applied. bought frozen fish based on a discount offer with misleading notice (of same brand 2 of 3 types including in discount, not one i bought- entirely unclear)
customer service was so annoyed i even interupted their gazing into no where land, did little but make me feel an idiot left them annoyed.
i shop there weekly and spend a small fortune over the year.
mentioned to woman i was checking out with, she called manager and it was duly sorted, they listened about rude customer service desk person, refunded me the discount.
my faith restored but perhaps just lucked out by staff member at check out who has some values and integrity.
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Permalink Reply by Debbie on
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Yes I've noticed discounts being misleading as well. Also, what I've also noticed is the more expensive products being placed on the shelf deliberately above the special offer sign so unless you check really carefully, you end up buying something that costs a lot more. This happened to me recently with a special offer on olive oil, it was supposed to be around £3 but when I got home and checked my receipt, it was around £6. I've also noticed that they deliberately place more expensive bottles of wine in the special offer slots, so the 'special offer' for a £3.99 bottle really is about £7.99. This has happened so much, it can't be co-incidence. It really narks me off how your local supermarket is trying to fleece you for as much as possible.
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Permalink Reply by Dinendra on
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Yes I have, and I check my receipts very carefully, but as you say, they"ve made them very difficult to read. I also find that sometimes, on the 2 for XX, or buy one get one frees, you have to buy the same item rather than a different item from the same company whereas at other times, it can be two different items. These are never very clear and another misleading way for Sainsburys to make money. I'm starting to do less shopping there now and using Iceland and the fruit/veg stores on Green Lanes for just these sorts of reasons, not to mention the chaotic parking and traffic situation at Sainsburys.
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