A Customer of the Morrisons store in Tewkesbury, Worcestershire has reported they feel Morrisons is potentially breaking consumer law by advertising goods in a misleading manner, and is seemingly refusing to respond to his email complaint.

Mr. Hall, a resident of the Tewkesbury area, stated that he visited the store on 5th February and found a food item reduced from £2.99 to £1.50, with an additional Buy One Get One Free offer (the latter offer, being printed on the food items packaging, the former appearing to have been offered in addition, by the supermarket staff).

Mr Hall stated that he tried to purchase said food item (a Pizza) at the advertised rate of £1.50, with a ‘Buy One Get One Free’ offer, making the total cost £1.50 for 2 Pizzas.

The store not only REFUSED to sell the pizzas to Mr. Hall at the advertised price, but also refused to sell him the 2 pizza for the ‘normal’ (pre- store reduction) price of £2.99 for 2 pizzas (originally the pizza were marked as £2.99 each, buy one get one free) – and instead insisted that he pay the ‘reduced’ price of £3.00 for the 2 pizzas. Meaning the ‘reduced’ price was, in fact, £0.01p more than the original price.

Although the amounts involved are somewhat laughable, Mr. Hall felt offended by the supermarkets refusal to listen to his complaint.

Important Fact

A fact that is important in this argument, is that despite the error being pointed out to the staff AND Management of the Tewkesbury Morrisons branch, when Mr. Hall visited the store SEVERAL DAYS later, the same offer was still being advertised (£1.50- each pizza, and Buy One Get One Free).

Is This Legal

Consumer Law – Common Misconception

Although there is a common misconception that a store has to sell you products at the advertised price. In fact, the law states that the pricing of a product is ‘an invitation to treat’ – meaning, it is an ‘invitation’ for a consumer to make the seller an offer to buy the goods.

The consumer makes the offer, based on the price stated for the goods – Then, if the seller realises there has been a mistake made on the pricing, they may refuse to sell goods at the advertised price, and say they will sell the goods to you at the ‘correct’ price. Not only do you NOT have the right to say they must sell you the goods at the stated price, you do not have the RIGHT to be sold the goods at all, should the owner wish to refuse to sell them to you.

However…

So, are Morrisons Breaking Any Laws at All?

There may be another issue here for Morrisons, which is actually covered by criminal legislation, rather than civil…

Control of Misleading s Regulations, 1988

Although as stated above, a store does not commit an offence by ‘making a mistake’ with their advertising, if a store have specifically advertised goods at one price, but they charge another price for it, then if they continue to do so after you have pointed out the error, they are quite possible committing an offence under the CRIMINAL legislati Control of Misleading s Regulations*, 1988, in which case the consumer is usually advised to contact their local trading standards agency.

Mr Hall’s Main Complaint

Mr. Hall’s main issue is that despite emailed Morrisons regarding this matter on the day of the incident (5th February 2010) he has, to this date (22 February 2010) still not received a reply (except for an automated “We received your message” type auto-response).

Perhaps Morrisons feel that the prices involved mean that Mr. Hall does not deserve a response, however he feels differently…

“It was their mistake and, even though we had quite a scene on the day, they are still advertising the goods at the wrong price, and haven’t responded to my email, I feel like Morrisons really care about profits, not customers and communities”.

Morrisons Staff Can Contact Mr. Hall Here: peterhall347@orange.net
* Source:

• http://www.consumerrightsexpert.co.uk/common-consumer-misconceptions.html
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