Topic ID 4659
Hi Today I noticed a shop in Hertford selling an item of confectionary with a pre-printed price on the packet for more than the pre-printed price. By pre-printed I mean it's part of the packet design printed alongside the brand name. Before I name and shame, is this legal? Cheers
Reply ID 66874
Your best solution is to contact Trading Standards at EHDC. You will get the correct facts from them. http://www.eastherts.gov.uk/index.jsp?articleid=1254
Reply ID 66875
Many thanks, I'll give them a call.
Reply ID 66878
Here's a thought, maybe the shop in question made a genuine mistake and maybe it would have been a gesture of goodwill to mention it to them!!!
Reply ID 66879
it is my understanding that a shop assistant can ask what they like for an item. There is no contract until the purchaser agrees to buy. If the price was queried then the shop assistant has a choice of still charging the price asked, reducing the price to the one on the wrapper (usually what happens)or withdrawing the item from sale. Just imagine if all those 1st edition Harry Potter purchasers found that they could only sell their books for the published price on the dust jacket.
Reply ID 66882
Correct. invitatio ad offerendum.
Reply ID 66907
quote:Hi teddylad, not sure about the use of exclamation marks there or your patronising tone, but had I felt like it was a genuine mistake I would've mentioned it. The prices in this shop are way over the average. I've spoken to Trading Standards and they confirmed the price for any item can be set as the shop pleases it's just an "Invitation to buy" - whether I purchase or not is up to me. Although based on the information I gave them they felt it necessary to lodge a complaint against the shop anyhow. In my eyes, the shop is taking the p*ss - cans of Coke - 85p! Bags of crisps - 80p! (standard McCoy's or Walkers - nothing flash). Does this seem like normal fair prices for a newsagent? Even if the price setting is legal I'll still name and shame as the general feel I got from the shop is that they are out to rip people off. So.... MARTINS THE NEWSAGENT 14 THE WASH (OPPOSITE CASTLE HALL) HERTFORD Absolute bl**dy thieves! The item in question which really took the biscuit was this.... [img]http://www.craigs.biz/temp/space.jpg[/img] Before everyone starts with "It's only 10p difference", it's the principle here. I did actually mention politely to the shop assistant that the prices seemed a little on the expensive side but failed to get a coherent response. As you can guess, I'll not be shopping here again and thought I'd bring this to the attention of anyone else who begrudges paying over the odds for everyday items.
Originally posted by teddylad
Here's a thought, maybe the shop in question made a genuine mistake and maybe it would have been a gesture of goodwill to mention it to them!!!
Reply ID 66908
quote:We live in in England, don’t we pay over the odds for everything? Blame the government, not the shop owner who has probably had to hike their prices to pay for the exorbitant taxes small business have to pay. I'm sure that in a town with several other places you can buy the exact same goods they would prefer to be competitive and sell more.
Originally posted by gregb [thought I'd bring this to the attention of anyone else who begrudges paying over the odds for everyday items.
Reply ID 66910
Given that Martin's would have paid less that the RRP that's a mark-up approaching 100%. Not bad if they can make that stick during a recession.
Reply ID 66911
quote:Location, location, location...
Originally posted by Steve
Given that Martin's would have paid less that the RRP that's a mark-up approaching 100%. Not bad if they can make that stick during a recession.
Reply ID 66912
quote:I disagree. Have a look round the supermarkets next time you're in Spain - the UK is one of the cheaper places in Europe for food shopping. Also, check the prices for broadband and mobile phone contracts on the continent. We have huge competition in this market in the UK which keeps prices down. Put down the Daily Mail, it's not that bad [;)]
Originally posted by Victor Meldrewquote:We live in in England, don’t we pay over the odds for everything?
Originally posted by gregb [thought I'd bring this to the attention of anyone else who begrudges paying over the odds for everyday items.
quote:I don't see these ridiculous price hikes in other similar shops in town or anywhere else in the UK. A can of coke is 50-60p in 90% of newsagents I've been in.
Blame the government, not the shop owner who has probably had to hike their prices to pay for the exorbitant taxes small business have to pay. I'm sure that in a town with several other places you can buy the exact same goods they would prefer to be competitive and sell more.
Reply ID 66915
Interestingly the same snack is being sold in Gays with the manufacturer's packaging displaying a crossed-out 25p and a limited period price of 20p. I wonder how old the 15p packs in Martin's are? I would have checked but despite advertised opening hours of 6am-5:30pm they were closed by 4:45.
Reply ID 66918
They were closed at 2pm. I guess they are having staff problems. The prices charged at the till are those that are programmed into the computer. Now if there is no one to programme the computer when price changes come into effect then they may differ from the advertised price. Of course we all know that the person who will get it in the neck for the descrepancy won't be at management level it'll be the poor s*d who gets the minimum wage to work a forty five + hour week.
Reply ID 66926
I don't want to undermine your concerns, but this thread reads like a Secret Seven or a Boy's Own story [:D]
Reply ID 66928
Their prices have been inflated for years, I stopped going in there when subway moved in next door. If everyone done the same then they would be forced to lower their prices or simply go under. Maybe the "illegal" part of this thread title should be replaced with "unfair".
Reply ID 66929
I think Forbes is right it is not "illegal" so maybe the title should be changed.
Reply ID 66930
gregb My tone isn't supposed to be patronising but more a helping hand in the community is better than a slagging off. If you wanted to purchase the pickled onion space raiders but thought "hang on two different prices" I would have thought you would have saved 10p. What did they sell the packet for in the end? Was this a genuine mistake we still don't know????? All we know is that your feeling was that it wasn't….do you have any other feelings we should know about??? :) I'm also sure that in the Martin's business plan they didn't set out to rip people off. It has been discussed on here many times that rent and rates in town are very high, so maybe shop owners have to put their prices high to cover this. Pret sell cans of coke for 90p so 85p for a can is a high price but not taking the p*ss. However, pickled onion crisp for 25pence BARGAIN.
Reply ID 66931
quote:Crikey, Bunter! Bally tuck shop's run by an absolute shower!
Originally posted by Jo S
I don't want to undermine your concerns, but this thread reads like a Secret Seven or a Boy's Own story [:D]
Reply ID 66932
quote:Gregb, I visit spain on a fairly regular basis and shop in the larger supermarkets on the outskirts of the town and have always believed that they were much better value for money, for instance where in the UK can you get a palatable bottle of plonk for €2? plus I have always found that the fish, meat and vegatables are all cheaper than the UK, so I can only assume that you have been using sumpermarkets that are on resort or slap bang in the middle, who do hike there prices. Please don't start me on fuel!!!!! Regarding other newsagents, I really could not comment as I have never really taken note of varying prices within the town. If you want to keep your costs down, stick to Tesco! [;)]
Originally posted by gregbquote:I disagree. Have a look round the supermarkets next time you're in Spain - the UK is one of the cheaper places in Europe for food shopping. Also, check the prices for broadband and mobile phone contracts on the continent. We have huge competition in this market in the UK which keeps prices down. Put down the Daily Mail, it's not that bad [;)]
Originally posted by Victor Meldrewquote:We live in in England, don’t we pay over the odds for everything?
Originally posted by gregb [thought I'd bring this to the attention of anyone else who begrudges paying over the odds for everyday items.quote:I don't see these ridiculous price hikes in other similar shops in town or anywhere else in the UK. A can of coke is 50-60p in 90% of newsagents I've been in.
Blame the government, not the shop owner who has probably had to hike their prices to pay for the exorbitant taxes small business have to pay. I'm sure that in a town with several other places you can buy the exact same goods they would prefer to be competitive and sell more.
Reply ID 66934
You could, of course, take your custom elsewhere. I'm sure there are plenty of other places in the town that sell Space Raiders at the advertised price.
Reply ID 66935
Go to Gays - he sells Space Raiders and it's much friendlier in there too [:D]
Reply ID 66936
quote:What, and be robbed of the opportunity for rightious indignation? Where's the fun in that?[:D] As an aside, my partner's child, having bought a can of Cola for 45p in another town, announced loudly to the bemused crowd that "Gays rip you off!"[:I] The looks I got suggested that it was assumed that I had raised him with a unique twist on homophobia.
Originally posted by JohnSmith
You could, of course, take your custom elsewhere. I'm sure there are plenty of other places in the town that sell Space Raiders at the advertised price.
Reply ID 66938
Space Raiders rock !
Reply ID 67039
Surely the headline should read "MARTIANS THE NEWSAGENT" [:)]
Reply ID 67042
I have the answer! The 25p price tag refers to the 28g packs. The packs flashed with 15p are not 28g packs, but a smaller size. Many thanks to Martin McColl's customer services department for answering this one and pointing it out to the branch manager.
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