Christopher Draper goes
shopping…
by Chris Draper
by Chris Draper
ONCE upon a time I had a holiday job working in a Nottingham
supermarket. I fondly remember one particular day I did nothing but stick
individual adhesive price labels on hundreds of boxes of Cornflakes. Nowadays
shops programme prices into a computerised system that ultimately prints out
individual bill-receipt at the till. This
Universal Product Coding (UPC) places a legal obligation on shops to ensure
that the prices displayed on shelves are identical to those applied at the
till. As price alterations are almost invariably upwards staff must assiduously
replace old shelf prices otherwise all customers at that store are
systematically overcharged. Overcharging
continues until a customer finally notices and insists on rectification. When items were individually priced it was
simple to see if the price displayed on the till conformed with that on the
item but UPC makes it much easier for shops to get away with overcharging and
of course its in their financial interest to do so and my local, Llandudno, Marks
& Spencer food department is a serial offender.
Over the last year I have been overcharged in this way on at
least ten occasions, most recently yesterday (8.2.2017) and on the previous
occasion just two weeks ago. I also shop
locally at ASDA and ALDI, the latter never overcharge and the former very, very
seldom but Llandudno Marks & Spencer with deplorable
regularity. Even if you spot an
overcharge you are required to go to another part of the store to a “Customer
Service Counter” this is usually unmanned and you’re expected to wait
until a passing assistant stops to help. Usually I have to find someone myself to
complain to. Then you are required to
empty out your shopping until the overcharged item(s) are located. The assistant will then disappear to find the
appropriate shelf price label before belatedly returning to admit that you have
indeed been overcharged. Then the overcharge
will be dismissed as an isolated incident. You are meant to feel grateful when you
eventually get back the amount you were overcharged however if you paid by card
then you are first required to produce it so the sum can be credited back on
your account. All the trouble and
inconvenience is suffered by the customer whilst all illicit profit accrues to Marks
& Spencer who, of course, have no system in place to recompense all
those shoppers who previously paid the inflated price.
On every occasion I notice an overcharge I endure this
tiresome ritual. I’ve informed M&S HQ of this practice and on
each occasion, always ask to speak a manager. I’ve also requested a
“customer comment book” to formally record these incidents but I’ve
been told none exists and each time I’m presented with a different “acting
store manager”. Invariably they
claim ignorance and insist the store does not consciously overcharge but the
regularity of such incidents evidences culpability. Utterly exasperated after
the previous (January 2017) overcharge I left my contact details with “Craig” and requested that the store
manager offer me an explanation of this continued discreditable performance. The manager did not have the courtesy to
reply.
I could of course confine my shopping to Asda
and Aldi
but I’m now determined to challenge M&S overcharging. Sometimes the store makes a gesture to deflect
criticism (on the last occasion a bottle of wine) but this is not general
practice. I have now informed “Trading Standards” of this lamentable
story but in truth UK law is predictably lax although both Tesco and Sainsburys
have in the past been fined for overcharging. In Connecticut customers overcharged are
legally obliged to be given the item free not merely a refund of the excess
charge. Overcharging then costs the
stores money whereas, perversely, M&S Llandudno profits by not
giving this matter due care and attention.
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