Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

There wouldn't be enough stocks!!!

It's not just supermarkets, it's most big high street retailers.

We all know that retailers have to make profits. However they shouldn't be using fake sales, misleading offers, or lies to con the consumer into buying from them.

As I said it's not just the supermarkets, it also applies to many other retail sectors. I'm not picking out Dreams as being any worse than any other large retailer, but I'm just using them as an example:

• They have fake price promises. You can't actually buy most of their products anywhere else, because they have been renamed, and the spec sometimes changed.
• Because they have products renamed then they can claim the RRP's to be whatever they want. So as you can imagine they claim the RRP is sky high.
• Then because they have artificially high RRP's they then advertise a 'Better than half price sale'. This leads the consumers to believe that they are getting a huge discount from the normal price.
• To comply with the law, they only have to sell an item at their so called usual price, for a couple of weeks every 6 months. So their so called sale price is actually their usual price.
• But what most people don't realise is that their so called sale price is often up to double the price you really should be paying.

So as an example, lets say a mattress that they have listed at £1000 as the normal price, will probably be £499 in their fake sale (so 1p better than half price). But the price that you could find the equivalent mattress for elswhere would probably be closer to £250.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

It's a game.

I shop at our local Tescos and noticed the pricing anomalies ages ago.

Especially the classic 2 for the price of 2 and the bigger pack, bigger price.

It now makes shopping a bit more entertaining.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

It may be a game for someone like you who notices things like that. But it's not for the pensioner, or the hard up single parent dragging her kids around the supermarket, and being too stressed out to check the prices that closely....It is in fact a con, plain and simple.

And as for my previous post, then example I gave is even more blatant, and is purposely designed to mislead.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

I bought 11 mega sizzle lollypops for £1 from Tesco on Sunday. Usually 30p each. Real bargains do exist!

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

It's only Tuesday today. have you got any left or have you licked them all?

---------- Post added at 12:12 ---------- Previous post was at 12:09 ----------


And what excuse would Tesco's give to gran when gran says I feel like you conned me out of my pension pittance.

probably a tough, it's not our fault that you trusted us and you're too stupid.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

The Supermarkets do (rightly) say they label goods with an accurate per-unit price. This can be checked to see if they are charging more for a large box than they do for multiple smaller boxes.

However, in my local Sainsburys, they print this in a small font (usually 8 point or less), which would be difficult for a lot of people to read. They also often print it in black ink (or toner) on a dark (usually purple) background.

The size would make it nearly impossible for most pensioners to read, and even a lot of people will average eyesight will have trouble. Add the colour, and I suspect most people would have trouble reading, and those who do have eye problems would find it almost impossible.

It's easy to argue that we should be looking out for the best prices, and attempts to con us, and we should, but it's not so easy for everyone to do so. However, the government should be actively stamping out any attempts to con large swathes of the population.

And no, I don't think the Supermarkets are the only companies attempting to con the consumer.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

The unit price can also be a little hard to work out too. It all needs to be in the same units for the same product not price per tin on some. price by volume on others and price by mass on yet others.

Then you need to look at what's in it too. It may be cheaper per tin but if there is less product or less real ingredients is it really a bargain.

Also take care not to waste money three for two won't save anything if you only need one.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

I hope when I reach pensionable age people don't start treating me like some imbecile, or automatically like someone that has dementia.

When you hit 67 does your IQ suddenly hit the floor?

I agree, if you don't have the time, or inclination then you may come a cropper.

Some of it is.

Other bits are amateur psychology the 2 for the price of 2 is a classic example.

It's like pricing stuff £4.99 we all know it's really £5.

It's nothing new.

The new low price, which isn't actually lower etc is only the same as the way products advertise themselves.

Bold, Bold II, Bold III, new Bold all in one..... we all know it hadn't changed, or improved, it just repackaged itself.

It's not really the massive issue it's being made out to be.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

That really annoys me too. nothing's changed at all. they're still putting the same rubbish in as they've always done. and it just means that the old powder you used to use that they sold for years before they latched on to "New improved formula!" marketing hype, must have been really crap.

the selling point with washing powder to many of the masses is the temperature it will wash at. it's gone all the way down to 15° at the moment.

in a couple of months it will be you can wash your clothes at freezing point.

why would you want to wash your clothes at 15°?
is your machine capable of doing it at that temperature even?

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

There is a toilet cleaner whose original product I'd like back on the shelves.
The only thing that was 'wrong' with it was it was in powder form.
Now I have to have it in liquid form.
Guess what? Powder sticks to the sides of the pan for a very long time..the liquid just slides down into the water.

I see this as a way of making us waste more of the product thereby making us buy it at double the speed and price.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

for some it does ,if not sooner

Agreed ,not realy an issue for me or many others however it would be nice to go back to straight forward pricing and labelling so i can just buy what i want without having to analyze everything

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

Its not just the all the so called offers you need to keep your eye on, its also the prices as they go through the checkout as well. Luckily I have a good memory for what I pick up (and I`m 59 as well :) ) and note everything that goes through the till.
A tip for everyone who shops in Asda, if you spot an item that you know is priced at say 59p on the shelf and it scans at say 65p, do not point it out to the till operator. Go to customer services when you leave the till. Its asda policy to give you a £2 gift card for price mistakes. I`m a dab hand at this, I`ve got about 30 gift cards in my draw for this reason. If you tell the till operator, they will get it rectified at the till and no gift card.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

Tesco used to do similar, if you were overcharged they would refund the money and you would get the item for free as I recall.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

The bigger pack bigger price was the only one I found acceptable, at least in cases where the bigger pack was more expensive due to smaller ones being on offer, and the producer providing the labelling. The rest is unacceptable in my book.

I was shocked by the fruit/veg examples from Sainsbury's. Packed bananas are priced per unit, loose bananas per weight. Five loose bananas were 42p, five packed bananas 89p or something of that order, and the only way to find out was to weigh them.

It's not a game, it's a bloody outrage, and it's time something is done against it.

Re: Revealed: The truth about supermarket 'bargains'
 

l will second that.