Sainsbury's, Hampton, Middx, UK - pricing problems - have purchased items marked with incorrect price

# 2 for April 29, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on April 28, 2003:

From: Priscilla Kheir [Email User]

RE: Sainsbury's, Hampton, Middx, UK - pricing problems - have purchased items marked with incorrect price

Over the past year I have had consistent issues with my local Sainsbury's in Hampton, Middx. It seems inevitable that there is an error on my bill, always in their favour. It is usually related to a special offer or special pricing that is advertised but has not been put on their system. At one point, late last year, I repeatedly, almost every week, bought the same product just to see if they had rectified the mistake on their system.

Every week I brought it to the attention of the Customer Service Manager and every week I was told that the problem would be reported and corrected. This went on for 4 weeks straight, and still not resolution. The Manager and I became well acquainted with each other by then. I have had to go back to her or her colleagues on a number of occasions since for a variety of other errors in my bill.

It is more the rule than the exception that there are no errors in my bill, including yesterday, when they were advertising a free 175 ml yogurt, when you buy a larger container of the same brand. I bought two of the large size and was subsequently charged and then refunded--without an apology--for the two small ones.

I can only imagine the amount of money that Sainsbury's is making off the less vigilant consumer by this "error in their system", which seems to be more a profit making exercise than an honest mistake. I also shop at Tesco and almost never find any such "mistakes" on my bill.

If this had not been going on for so long and so consistently, I could be more forgiving, but frankly, I feel that this is truly a rip-off the public exercise and should be stopped.