Supermarket Scams

Supermarket scams, like the number of decimal places in Pi, may well go on for ever but the chances of that happening are now fewer. I am delighted by the recent interest of both TV and print media in supermarket tactics. Some of these are blatant enough to interest Trading Standards and I would be more than pleased to help them or any other interested party in bringing the retailers into line.

Today I was in a supermarket and wanted mineral water. They had no multi packs and we bought four individual bottles at 34p for 2 litres according to the shelf edge ticket. At the till I was charged 35p; a small difference but jolly profitable if enough people are caught out.

At this stage I should like to differentiate between mistakes and intentional tactics. Neither is acceptable, both are widespread. Today they blamed it on their refurbishment to which they would probably also attribute the lack of multi packs. I expect the price really is 35p now but they had not changed the shelf edge ticket. This is about process. If you are going to change a price, you change it in ALL parts of your system. Whilst there is in this case an underlying error, I am sure that they are very happy if it goes unnoticed by the majority of customers.

Far more disturbing are the intentional tactics now extensively revealed in the media and, not to be immodest, previously revealed in my earlier blog versions. Some, such as the misdirection on some 'Bigger Pack, Better Value' labelling are, essentially illegal. Most are far more subtle but equally unacceptable. It is the responsibility of all shoppers to their wallets if not to society, to challenge the supermarkets and to do so at every opportunity. Have you noticed how often a 'special offer' is accompanied by a conspicuous lack of stock? Have you noticed that comparison of similar products is hindered by the use on shelf edge tickets of different units of measurement? The supermarkets will be very pleased if you have not but their psychological warfare will be coming to an end. A new era of honesty and transparency is due. At the same time that these dubious practices are curtailed they must improve in-house processes to reduce and eventually eliminate avoidable errors.

In the meantime, watch the till like a hawk, check your receipt especially for the correct processing of multi-buy offers and try not to be in such a hurry that you can not identify and rectify their mistakes. Our haste, part of the plan, is making money for the supermarkets.