Would you notice if a multibuy deal didn’t go through at the till?

Following our campaign and super-complaint calling for supermarkets to simplify pricing and put an end to misleading deals, last year, many of the larger chains vowed to reduce multibuys and buy-one-get-one-free offers in favour of everyday low prices.

Tesco was among them.

Embarrassing then that this week it was revealed that on some multibuy deals it does still offer, an undercover reporter was overcharged on them at two-thirds of its stores over a three-month period.

Decline of multibuys

Our own investigation has shown that multibuys are definitely going out of fashion, with fewer products being put on bulk-buy deals.

But they do still exist. And although I’ll usually steer clear of them, if I spy an offer on non-perishables I’m buying anyway – I figure it would be silly not to take it up. A case in point is cat food. Another being shampoo and conditioner.

I’ll also occasionally opt for supermarket meal deals, such as those dine-in-for-£10 offers.

Do I always check my receipts to see that these discounts have been applied at the tills?

Not as often as I should. And that’s despite having first-hand experience of one not going through at Waitrose.

No deal

In my case, I only noticed the price discrepancy at Waitrose because all I was buying was Felix pouches for my furry friend.

The deal was something like two boxes of 12 pouches for £7 (they’re usually £4.50 each).

After seeing that the discount hadn’t been applied and double-checking the promotion label on the shelf, I went to the customer service desk armed with my receipt.

With very little fuss, they honoured the offer.

Had I been doing a ‘big’ shop, I imagine I’d have walked straight out of the store without even bothering to check my receipt.

Tesco doesn’t appear to be alone in overcharging either…

@WhichUK this has happened to me so many times. Not just Tesco: Boots, Waitrose, Superdrug, M&S etc are at fault too charging more at till.

— Fiona Anderson (@FionaLegal) February 13, 2017

Missed multibuys

I’m now wondering how much money I may have unwittingly done myself out of over the years.

Maths isn’t my strong suit so I guess I trust the tills to get it right. But perhaps I should use the calculator on my phone to tot things up as I go along more often.

And now I know that Tesco has a ‘double the difference’ policy, which means shoppers receive back double the amount they’ve been overcharged if they spot a mistake on their receipt, I’ll definitely double-check mine from now on.

Do you always check your receipts to make sure an offer has gone through?

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