We’re writing to supermarkets about misleading pricing tactics

Sainsbury’s and Tesco have three grades for their own-label products. The ‘basic’ level is often acceptable but the ‘standard’ and ‘premium’ grades play to the psychology of people who want a product that looks more refined or has smarter presentation. Tesco in particular seem to try to mimic M&S. To differentiate them from the basic range, the higher-grade products often have a tiny amount of some extra ingredient to kid you that it is a superior product, whether you want that – or can even taste it – is irrelevant: it adds a smidgeon to the production cost but 10% or more to the selling price.

On its own, perhaps a ‘Taste the Difference’ pork sausage is a better banger, but when it’s served up with bacon and eggs, mushrooms and fried onions, and with Worcestershire sauce all over it, the subtle flavour sensation is possibly imperceptible and the higher cost not worth it.

I agree!!! I thought I was the only one noticing this, but it looks I’m not the only one falling by this small mean ‘trick’!!

Yes like many before me I have made the same mistake and even had an heated debate with one of Lidl’s employees when he took me to the shelf in question and point to the label above the product. I felt an idiot!

Hi Virginia, perhaps the supermarkets here can be persuaded to do what shops do in Spain. Put a little arrow at the front edge of the shelf pointing up or down indicating what the price relates to.

That’s a good idea Valencian, I’m always doing it but I’m thick skinned and say no if the price is more than I thought, even if I want it. Clarity is the answer!

omg I’m so sick of these supermarkets with this stupid petty trickery on us loyal customers, costing us a small fortune and giving them massive profits in the meantime.

Come on, you know where they put them and they are clearly displayed. This is a lazy complaint. I use several supermarkets and just because these are different doesn’t make them worse. Just look and read them, They name the product and the price.

I agree it is not difficult to read a price ticket and understand what it is for. Overall I would say that Lidl’s pricing is good even going as far as showing the %reduction saved.

I will not buy anything from TOSCO’s – they are vile company.

I completely agree!! I heard this in consumers programmes for small suppliers ‘forced’ by the big supermarkets (& tesco was a very bad one) to offer these bargains at their expenses only. Indeed this may be why quantity has also decreased. The supermarkets take the credit for the good offer with little no expenses (just the negotiation and the ‘threatening’ tactics).

I work for a supplier and believe it is true that large supermarkets pull the strings with regards to pricing, they’ll place an order for so many cases then turn round and say they don’t want them, meaning we then have to sell them on.

I don’t use the site but after getting sick of Tesco very obviously price-hikingI don’t use the site but after getting sick of Tesco very obviously price-hiking a year or two back I started shopping around and comparing prices at Sainsburys, Asda, Aldi, Lidl and (when it eventually opened locally) Morrisons. I found very little difference, and bargains seemed to rotate in turn through them! While I think quite a lot of blame can be laid at the door of supermarkets for price misrepresentation, I ponder who is controlling supply/price at the wholesale end? I asked a Tesco cashier I was friendly with about the ‘price match’ system which guarantees you get a better price than at a competitor, and get some money back if they are selling cheaper – which is apparently all done by computer somewhere.

“But isn’t that open to abuse?” I countered. “It could be used to cartel prices – one puts their prices up, and the rest can just follow suit with perhaps the odd pence difference.” Which is pretty much what I had noticed when doing my mass supermarket comparison.

She just shrugged…

Yes, Tesco did that a while back with one of their frozen meals I used to get regularly, only the staff hadn’t been clever enough to finish one stock before using the new – with the result you had 600g packs and 400g packs on the shelf at the same time at the same price! The shelf price still indicated 600g but as I usually check the weight on the packaging, that was when I discovered the discrepancy. I knew Tesco were reducing pack weights but this was the most blatant example I’d seen!

Yes they all do it,. But here is a new one. Tetleys teabags are sold by quantity ie a 240 off bag. Well, recently I discovered in our loft an old sack of these so I decided to use them up and put them in the tea caddy saying nothing. Next day my daughter commented “These teabags seem to be a lot stronger than normal!” And they were!
I’m pretty sure this ain’t down to the contents maturing over time. More like a weaker mix bolstering the tea companies hidden profits. I don’t for one minute think Tetleys are alone with this practice!

ALWAYS check your till receipt before leaving the supermarket. Any problems concerning offers that are not on the system yet, go to the customer service desk.. They will check the shelf ‘offer’ and probably give you a cash refund even if you paid by card.

Yes I do this but why should I have to?

Ditto. The local Tesco supermarket where I shop has one piddly customer service desk with one, at most two people there – and on Sunday morning when I shop, there’s usually a massive queue. If we’re on the subject of getting supermarkets to treat customers fairly, have bigger customer service desks in relation to the size of the store!

Whenever I take out Insurance etc I tell them not to do automatic renewal and they alter it on their system so it is not automatically renewed.

You & I still represent a minority in opting out, (I saved £100 over the renewal this year & it only took a hour ).
One would think it would cost Insurance comanies more in administration to have people change every year, but the practice of charging higher for loyalty still goes on.
This would indicate that those staying outnumber those shopping around, that their tatics are cost effective.

I agree people are exploited because they’re too busy. The supermarkets love this. I will not buy a loaf or anything that is at the front of the shelf as it’s going to be nearly out of date but watch young people just lift things and never look the date. Don’t be a supermarket’s dream customer. Leave them with their old goods and let them get rid of them.

I totally agree with your comments!

I do as well Frances and ursula.

I have found it is the same with the major breakdown recovery companies as well. It always pays to swap around every year and tell them not to store your debit/credit card number.

I have noticed that M&S do that on chiller cabinets where the bottom shelf does not have a strip for product and price tags.

I think we do have a right (and duty) to moan. We are not opposed to our shops and supermarkets being operated for profit, but we are aiming to provide compelling arguments that these businesses should also do their best to treat customers fairly.

in other words
smeestev,
we get’s what we pays for in everything.
the day the public decide they have had enough is the day things will change…but not necessarily for the better
cause capitalism is all we know.
so as much as we complain
we are nevertheless accustomed to this set up
and if it was to change
you’d be surprised when you would find people complaining.
its so sad ; 0(

And how pray would it be any different, or has it been any different with a political range of government! This situation has not developed overnight has it?

As milk is an internationally-traded commodity, with demand falling apparently, there is pressure on prices as happens on other products. Chicken,eggs and cereals have also suffered this way.

Consumers appear to demand lower prices so the market responds.

This will seem to be a battle between small dairy farmers and large ones, the latter with lower costs as they have the means to invest in automation, genetics and high-tech feed management.
The Glasgow Based farmers’ cooperative First Milk has paid a “pittance” (as low as 16p a litre) for its 1300 members’ milk, apparently. Elsewhere farmers get between 21p and 32p. Some supermarkets are seemingly paying a price based on production costs plus a profit for the farmer.

So its a mixed picture but in what we must recognise as an international business.

But we do need to make sure we can continue to be self-sufficient in milk production in case the availability of imported milk is disrupted for any reason. To some extent that requires a degree of market intervention, or at least stabilisation. It worries me that many farmers are going out of milk production and in its turn that impacts on beef production [half the calves born to milking cows are likely to be bulls that would be reared for home-produced beef].

I worry that if farmers go out of business what will happen to the countryside. We would have a wilderness in a lot of areas. Surely we can pay a bit more just to keep our lovely country looking good. I know I would. Supermarkets just don’t care about anything but profit for their shareholders.

Sadly the effects on the countryside are already becoming very apparent with 100-acre fields now covered in solar panels [subsidised by our good selves through levies on our energy bills]. Perhaps it wasn’t prime dairy pasture but it could have been used for pigs or crops to reduce the need for imports and keep UK agriculture thriving and would have been a better use of subsidy.

Apparently the “Basic Fair Payment” scheme – a “reform” to the EU’s CAP – can allow landowners to claim a subsidy on land that could be used for livestock or cultivation, but is left unused. So you get paid for doing very little, and certainly for not producing food.

Until we get agriculture on a straightforward basis I don’t see how we can have a sustainable farming system that does not get distorted by such fiddles.

I agree. I would prefer if the company offered a loyalty bonus instead. On the other hand, I support short-term free trials so that allow users to evaluate a service and have no problem with Which? offering a trial for £1 because the subscription can be ended by cancelling the direct debit.

Currys now list it at £139.99 “saving £60, was £199.99 11/6 to 5/8/15”. It can currently be bought from Amazon for £139.99 free delivery. It is also listed from other sellers at £309 and £319. John Lewis sell at £179.95.
It would be nice if an insider told us what the real cost price of appliances was so we could judge whether a sensible retailer mark up was being applied. But the same steam generator that varies from £140 to £319!
Which? could do us all a big favour if it published target prices for many products so we could shop more wisely.

Which? reports usually have a ‘best price’ section included in the product reviews. The problem is updating this information on a daily basis. It reinforces the point that consumers must shop around – nobody else is going to do that for us. I don’t suppose it took you very long to get the results you posted above but the big issue is the manipulation of the prices, which is probably driven by a computer programme allied to sales figures and stock levels. The closest parallel is betting where the tic-tac man has been replaced by sophisticated software.

John, agreed. I don’t remember Which? showing Amazon as a best price supplier though – may have missed it – or perhaps “on-line” is meant for us to search

. Why prices should vary so much is surely not just about sales figures – to me it implies large margins they can play with, at our expense if we don’t think to search, or if we are out shopping and impulsive. I don’t like the term “rip-off” because it has become overused but these big variations in price – even between John Lewis and Currys (currently) – suggests taking advantage.

By target price I didn’t mean what was available from major retailers, but what we might reasonably expect to pay based on cost plus a sensible margin. We may not find it offered at that price today, but it might attach a “value” to the item for us to consider.

Yes, I agree with you on both points, the infinitely elastic margins, and the target price idea – I think that would be a very useful influence on the market.

Unfortunately, since Comet fell out of the sky, there has not been much real competition. Currys is part of a huge conglomerate, Dixons Carphone, with over 500 outlets, not all of them selling white goods but far more appliance sales than any other retailer with a physical presence. John Lewis is regarded as too upmarket for many purchasers whereas most people have a Currys/PC World/Dixons shed in their district and their complex price adjustments and apparent discounts project the impression of a value offer at any time. For the purchase of an appliance never had before people take their time to check prices; when a machine packs up and has to be replaced, urgency is paramount. I usually find Tesco on-line is a good benchmark for prices and their service is also good.

I can feel your frustration. This is totally unacceptable and government should be doing something about it. I am sick of “Head Office” decisions. It’s a total cop out. I thought Which was the company to tackle these issues but apparently not.
I took part ages ago in a cold telephone calling campaign for Which in Silverburn Shopping Centre in Glasgow and not one thing has changed. If anything I’m getting double the amount of calls now than then!!

I am doing just that Mary and so are a lot of my friends. Power to the People!!!!