Buyers beware, or you will get ripped off

Returning goods short in value leaves many questions, writes Des du Triou

Arip-off in the hypermarket. No, not at the checkout but at the point of sale. I bought a bottle of garden insect repellant off the shelf and when opened, found the cap seal broken and the contents 80% watered down.

Returning the item to the store (petrol, time and trouble) there was much hoh-humming before the item was swapped.

Luckily, we didn’t ask for our money back: we’d probably have had to take a lie detector test.

So what’s the answer, Mr Manager? Do we open every lidded bottle and check every packet seal and contents?

Other customers mentioned returning goods short in value, blown globes, tampered seals, so this is not a one-off incident.

Is this in-store pilfering a new crime wave or regular old hat, hushed up by management?

Is it just a case of don’t give a toss and let us buyers beware?