Our favourite High St. car spares store!
Discussion
Today I had the misfortune to visit the Havant branch of our favourite spares shop in order to purchase some oil for one of my cars.
I found 4 litres of Castrol Magnatec 10W40 which was offered on sale clearly marked on the shelf as £26.99 reduced to £21.57.
I took this to the till and the girl checked the bar-code and said the price was £26.99. I pointed out that there was an offer on this and she called the manager on the phone who told her that the higher price was correct and the price I saw was an "Invitation sale" offer (none of the staff was able to explain what this phrase meant , so I will assume it is meant as a con to get people into the store to get a bargain which does not exist!).
Thinking that I may have been mistaken, I returned to the shelf to check the label. Finding that I was correct, I took the label back to the till with me and asked for the manager. He told me that this price was an offer available only before Christmas and had expired, he also said that they could not sell this oil at the price as it would mean that they would make a loss! I pointed out to him that there was nothing anywhere in the store to say that this offer was only available for the period before Christmas and that it was extremely misleading to advertise an item at a lower price than would be charged at the till. The manager, rather rudely, said that I could either buy the oil at the higher price, buy a cheaper oil or shop elsewhere. Luckily I opted to shop elsewhere as I next went to Asda who normally sell the same oil for £21.09 but had it marked down in their sale for £15.77.
I found 4 litres of Castrol Magnatec 10W40 which was offered on sale clearly marked on the shelf as £26.99 reduced to £21.57.
I took this to the till and the girl checked the bar-code and said the price was £26.99. I pointed out that there was an offer on this and she called the manager on the phone who told her that the higher price was correct and the price I saw was an "Invitation sale" offer (none of the staff was able to explain what this phrase meant , so I will assume it is meant as a con to get people into the store to get a bargain which does not exist!).
Thinking that I may have been mistaken, I returned to the shelf to check the label. Finding that I was correct, I took the label back to the till with me and asked for the manager. He told me that this price was an offer available only before Christmas and had expired, he also said that they could not sell this oil at the price as it would mean that they would make a loss! I pointed out to him that there was nothing anywhere in the store to say that this offer was only available for the period before Christmas and that it was extremely misleading to advertise an item at a lower price than would be charged at the till. The manager, rather rudely, said that I could either buy the oil at the higher price, buy a cheaper oil or shop elsewhere. Luckily I opted to shop elsewhere as I next went to Asda who normally sell the same oil for £21.09 but had it marked down in their sale for £15.77.
Good one to quote in this situation is the Sale of Goods Act. States ( correct me if im wrong, someone) that the store is obliged to sell the goods at lowest displayed price, or to remove those goods from sale for a period of 48hrs.
I had it once and stood smugly watching a manager in the store (not Halfords) lugging several dozen boxes of goods from the shopfloor, instead of taking a £30 hit. He had quoted the above to me, so I told him i would be checking over the next two days to see if they put the goods back on sale! I did wander in the following day, to see a rather satisfying gap on the shelf in the particular aisle!
I had it once and stood smugly watching a manager in the store (not Halfords) lugging several dozen boxes of goods from the shopfloor, instead of taking a £30 hit. He had quoted the above to me, so I told him i would be checking over the next two days to see if they put the goods back on sale! I did wander in the following day, to see a rather satisfying gap on the shelf in the particular aisle!
hahaha...reminds of when my mate went to PCWorld.
They had run a telly ad offering a Laptop for £300. (This was about 18 months ago)
So, he turned up at the shop at about 10am, asked the salesman and he said. Yes, but there was only 2 for sale. And they went to the first two people in the queue outside the store this morning.
Rip-off!
They had run a telly ad offering a Laptop for £300. (This was about 18 months ago)
So, he turned up at the shop at about 10am, asked the salesman and he said. Yes, but there was only 2 for sale. And they went to the first two people in the queue outside the store this morning.
Rip-off!
John MGB said:
The price on the shelf is the price they must charge by law. If you feel like giving the manager a hard time phone trading standards. You never know you could be offered compensation.
That was my belief, and I did kick up a fuss in the shop!I will be taking it to trading standards. It's not the money, I just don't like rip off's!
Poledriver said:
John MGB said:
The price on the shelf is the price they must charge by law. If you feel like giving the manager a hard time phone trading standards. You never know you could be offered compensation.
That was my belief, and I did kick up a fuss in the shop!I will be taking it to trading standards. It's not the money, I just don't like rip off's!
I'm fairly sure what he meant by "invitaional price" was that you are being invited to make an offer of the marked price, it doesn't mean the shop has to accept your offer though.
I used to work in retail & if this happened, being a decent shop staffed by human beings, we always used to honour the lower price, however, if the customer was being an arse about it, he was given the "invitational price" story which I believe to be legally correct (I was told by the assistant manager to look it up on the Trading Standards website to see for myself, I couldn't be arsed!).
So, check the Trading Standards website.
I used to work in retail & if this happened, being a decent shop staffed by human beings, we always used to honour the lower price, however, if the customer was being an arse about it, he was given the "invitational price" story which I believe to be legally correct (I was told by the assistant manager to look it up on the Trading Standards website to see for myself, I couldn't be arsed!).
So, check the Trading Standards website.
This sounds like an Invitation to Treat to me
Studied Law as part of a wider course a "few" years ago, offer prices were a classic example of shops/stores not being obliged to sell goods at the displayed price. Things may have changed though
More to the point, sounds like a win-win for you and ASDA.
moleamol said:
Poledriver said:
John MGB said:
The price on the shelf is the price they must charge by law. If you feel like giving the manager a hard time phone trading standards. You never know you could be offered compensation.
That was my belief, and I did kick up a fuss in the shop!I will be taking it to trading standards. It's not the money, I just don't like rip off's!
It's a little bit trickier on internet sales as it all depends on when you class a contract as having been made, in a shop it's simple as it's when you hand over the money to a real person and they accept it. In a net transaction with no real people involved it gets a little bit more vague.
Bowler said:
This sounds like an Invitation to Treat to me
Studied Law as part of a wider course a "few" years ago, offer prices were a classic example of shops/stores not being obliged to sell goods at the displayed price. Things may have changed though
More to the point, sounds like a win-win for you and ASDA.
Correct - you cannot force the store to sell you the product at the lower price.Studied Law as part of a wider course a "few" years ago, offer prices were a classic example of shops/stores not being obliged to sell goods at the displayed price. Things may have changed though
More to the point, sounds like a win-win for you and ASDA.
They can decline to sell, as much as you can decline to buy.
moleamol said:
Poledriver said:
John MGB said:
The price on the shelf is the price they must charge by law. If you feel like giving the manager a hard time phone trading standards. You never know you could be offered compensation.
That was my belief, and I did kick up a fuss in the shop!I will be taking it to trading standards. It's not the money, I just don't like rip off's!
trooperiziz said:
moleamol said:
Poledriver said:
John MGB said:
The price on the shelf is the price they must charge by law. If you feel like giving the manager a hard time phone trading standards. You never know you could be offered compensation.
That was my belief, and I did kick up a fuss in the shop!I will be taking it to trading standards. It's not the money, I just don't like rip off's!
I just love 'that' store. I asked one of their shop monkeys for some REAR pads for my Golf GTI the other day, only to be asked whether the front discs were vented or non. Upon repeating that I required rear pads he asked what car it was for (?????) I again told him it was for a 1.8 Golf GTI......
.... "Is that the 1.8 carb?"
I seem to recall the words "Are you f
king stupid?" slipped out before I left. Poor form on my part I know, but still.
.... "Is that the 1.8 carb?"
I seem to recall the words "Are you f
king stupid?" slipped out before I left. Poor form on my part I know, but still.Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff