Check your supermarket isn’t overcharging you

Sir, – I am aware that many of your readers will make long journeys through to Inverness in order to do their “big shop”.

Undoubtedly, when they get back home they may check their receipts and find that they’ve been overcharged (again) and that the price displayed on the shelf edge promotion is not the price they’ve been charged.

I live in Dingwall and I often find mistakes when I check my receipt but it’s easy enough for me to pop back into the supermarket, wait at the service desk, point out the error and receive the refund.

My guess is that most of your readers won’t have the time or inclination to chase their refund via the phone or online so they just have to forget about it.

One store in particular have particularly bad form here. My brother is regularly overcharged for items. He eventually gets a refund from the service desk but notices that the problem is not fixed and therefore all the other customers will end up being overcharged to the benefit of that company. Recently he spent SEVEN WEEKS pointing out an error in the price of beer but the store continued to retail the beer at a higher price than the one on the shelf next to the promotion.

I contacted the supermarket in question and this is a quote from their response to me that I’m sure your readers will be interested in.

“When you are looking at goods on the shop floor, they are an invitation to sell, the price when you go through the till is correct. If the shelf edge label is displaying the wrong price, we don’t have to sell you it at that price. A contract has not been made until you have been through the till.”

Here is the relevant quote from Consumer Advice regarding the legality of overcharging customers

“Despite it being a criminal offence if an item has been marked incorrectly with the wrong price, eg the shelf label says £1.50 but the item scans at £1.80, you cannot demand that the retailer sells you the item at the lower price. If a business regularly prices items incorrectly, this may be something Trading Standards Service will want to investigate.”

The problem is that there are only two trading standards officers for the whole of the Highlands AND you can’t contact them directly. The law, of course, is always on the side of the supermarkets so I doubt they are ever fined for breaking the law.

I would encourage all your readers to be vigilant and to check their receipts carefully to ensure that they aren’t being ripped off and overcharged for their shopping.

Shelf label prices may not be reflected at the checkout.