When the price is different from the ticket

[gerry]

I was in a well known high street shop today doing abit of christmas shopping & saw something that caught my eye only because of the price.When i went up to the till the item was actually �15 more than the ticket said.I was told that they couldn't sell the item to me at the price the ticket displayed & by law they had 24 hrs to change the ticket to the correct price.Is this right?.Did they just say this because they would have had to take �15 off the item?.What would have happened if it had been only �5 off a difference would they have told me the same?. 

[AllYourBase]

The shop is correct. A price indicated on an item is, in the eyes of the law only an indication of an offer of sale, and can be changed by the shop at any point. Legally, they are choosing to no longer offer the item for sale at that price.

As a shop manager, I agree that most shops wouldn't argue over a couple of quid, as it's not worth the hassle and loss of customer satisfaction, however the rules remain the same, the shop is choosing not to cause hassle. �15 is a different matter however.

I often get people trying to convince me with raised voices that they know their rights, but I assure you that most shop managers undertake courses in retail law and would like to ensure that the customer is happy but can only flex a price so far in the name of customer service before they would end up out of business!

[Oneeyedvic]

I would first of all say that what SimonC says is true.

 

HOWEVER:

If you find something that has been marked incorrectly and you know it has before you get to the till, ask a memeber of staff what the price is. WHen they say �30, say I would like to buy this then.

 

This forms a contract which is legally binding. Most retail stores will not accept this, however, you can go round the corner, buy an identical item and then issue a county court summons to their registered office for the difference. Once head office gets involved, you can get your money back.

 

And yes, my wife does hate going shopping with me when 'I am in one of those moods'

 

But she didn't complain when we got �300 off our TV!

[LeMarchand]

Oneeyedvic: You've confused me! Are you buying the goods from a different shop? Who are you claiming the difference from - the second shop, or the original one?

 

gerry: As well as the shop mis-pricing goods, it is also possible that someone has swapped the label in an effort to get money off. (When I was in retail, I saw many people do this). If the shop thinks that this is the case, they are quite within their rights to refuse the sale.

[ursula62]

If they refuse to sell at the marked price, I believe they have to remove the item from sale for a period of 48 hours before repricing it.

 

[OBonio]

I always thought they had to sell it at the advertised price (as was the case with my cd player 13 years ago.. it was marked 50 quid cheaper than it should have been and they said they had to sell it at that price.)  Apparently not so anymore.

http://www.consumereducation.org.uk/money/english/prices /01.htm

[gerry]

In reply to LeMarchand the ticket hadn't been swapped over.Went into the shop today & they are still displaying the same price on the ticket.So much of them saying they were going to change it. 

[Oneeyedvic]

If you go into a shop and something is marked up at a price (lets say �30 as an example). If you go to a till and they say it is �40 that is the price they are offering to sell it to you at. They do not have to sell it for �30 as most epoepl have explained.

 

However, if you ask them to confirm the price (before it goes through the electronic till) and they say it is �30 (as marked) they then have to sell it for that price - a contract has been formed.

 

Most managers will try and back out of it (they do not want to give you money off after all). If you contact their head office/area manager though, citing exactly what has happened, they will usually give in - after all the law is not on their side.

Alternatively, you can go to a diiferent shop and claim any differences from the original shop.

 

I relaise this may be confusing - try doing a search on google for "sale of goods and services act 1980" - this will explain a lot.

 

[romko]

that is good info from simonC!

I recall being in a shop like dixons or one of those electrical stores and wanted to buy a mouse cable adaptor , marked as 2 pounds when i got to the counter they said it was incorrectly marked, they were reasonable about it and let me have it for the price i saw. When i enquired about it further I was told they could either remove it from sale or let it go at that price.

that was about 7 years back mind.....  

[kifaru]

Sounds like  the UK law is kinda sucky... here in Australia you get it at the advertised price. Unless of course, an item was just in the wrong place and the pricing ticket didn't match the description of the item. As for grocery items, it's policy to give the product for free in the majority of supermarkets. Or, in the case you're buying multiples of the same item, the first item is free and the rest at the cheaper price.