Overcharged for Pie (A Hot Dog is involved in this story) & Pint AGAIN

fat old seagull · Dec 30, 2015

hitony said:
Thread title now corrected.......

Yes, and frankly I had already suspected the Hot Dog....shifty character.

Spider · Dec 30, 2015

GT49er said:
Interesting. First year Law in the very early 1970s the teaching was very clear:
OFFER + ACCEPTANCE = CONTRACT
In other words, for example, if a shirt was priced at £7.99, that was the offer made by the shopkeeper;
If the customer then went to the till and said, 'OK, I wish to purchase this £7.95 shirt', that constituted and acceptance of that offer - and the contract was made.

Obviously, my first reaction to your post was to reply, 'b0110cks!' - but fortunately caution prevailed and I took to Google to find evidence to back up my argument. Much to my surprise, however, all of the sources I could find supported what you had stated.

Out of interest, do you know how, when, where and why this was changed in favour of business, to the detriment of the customer? I'd be interested to know. Incidentally, for all the forty odd years since my student days, whenever something has registered a higher price at the till than was advertised on the shelf (or in the window) I have always successfully insisted on my right to buy at the price shown - without fail! Success every time!

It's not necessarily to the detriment of the buyer. Individual error can creep in and it would be ridiculous to suggest that any price advertised was legally obliged to be sold at. By this logic surely I could go into a shop, swap a load of price tickets around, then send a friend in to demand that the price he saw displayed was obliged. I remember when people used to find errors on websites where the price had incorrectly been entered as pennies rather than pounds and people would flock to order but were almost always disappointed when the website said it was a pricing error and would not be obliging the order.

GT49er · Dec 30, 2015

Bozza said:
My first year law, as part of a non-law degree, taught me:

Priced up article in a shop: invitation to treat.
Customer taking article to till: contractual offer.
Shop taking your money: contractual acceptance.

Don't doubt you for a moment - just wonder when that was. My googling today has revealed to me that the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (which I think is what offer + acceptance = contract was based on in the early 70s) was replaced by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 - was that when it changed, or was it previously challenged and revised?

Anyway, whenever they try and charge me more than the advertised price in future, I will continue to demand my 'right' to purchase at the advertised price (but thanks to this accursed thread, perhaps with a little less confidence than before!)

GT49er · Dec 30, 2015

Spider said:
It's not necessarily to the detriment of the buyer. Individual error can creep in and it would be ridiculous to suggest that any price advertised was legally obliged to be sold at. By this logic surely I could go into a shop, swap a load of price tickets around, then send a friend in to demand that the price he saw displayed was obliged..

It is to the detriment of the buyer. Mistakes can be made - and mistakes often cost you money. That's life.

The second part of your post describes a criminal act, which isn't relevant here - and a store manager will pretty soon spot that (if they're any good).

wigman · Dec 30, 2015

WSU North kiosk was out of strongbow by 7 pm last night and the concourse was hardly full.
Just saying.

Bozza · Dec 30, 2015

Overcharged for Pie (A Hot Dog is involved in this story) & Pint AGAIN

wigman said:
WSU North kiosk was out of strongbow by 7 pm last night and the concourse was hardly full.
Just saying.

We bought Strongbow * 3 from that very kiosk at 7:15.

However this has reminded me that they gave us 2 ciders and 1 lager to start with. [MENTION=236]Papa Lazarou[/MENTION] sipped the lager to test it and handed it back whereupon they put it back on the serving shelf to give to the next unsuspecting punter.

Spider · Dec 30, 2015

GT49er said:
It is to the detriment of the buyer. Mistakes can be made - and mistakes often cost you money. That's life.

The second part of your post describes a criminal act, which isn't relevant here - and a store manager will pretty soon spot that (if they're any good).

Maybe, but you see my point. What if I accidentally knocked a load of products over and innocently tried to rearrange them, mixing up the price tickets? The idea that displayed price is a legally binding obligation is patently crazy.

Guy Fawkes · Dec 30, 2015

GT49er said:
Interesting. First year Law in the very early 1970s the teaching was very clear:
OFFER + ACCEPTANCE = CONTRACT
In other words, for example, if a shirt was priced at £7.99, that was the offer made by the shopkeeper;
If the customer then went to the till and said, 'OK, I wish to purchase this £7.95 shirt', that constituted and acceptance of that offer - and the contract was made.

Obviously, my first reaction to your post was to reply, 'b0110cks!' - but fortunately caution prevailed and I took to Google to find evidence to back up my argument. Much to my surprise, however, all of the sources I could find supported what you had stated.

Out of interest, do you know how, when, where and why this was changed in favour of business, to the detriment of the customer? I'd be interested to know. Incidentally, for all the forty odd years since my student days, whenever something has registered a higher price at the till than was advertised on the shelf (or in the window) I have always successfully insisted on my right to buy at the price shown - without fail! Success every time!

The shop would usually give the customer the deal at the wrong price, but it had nothing to do with being legally obligated to do so but they do it from a customer service point of view because they want to keep you as a customer so that you will continue to shop and spend there

pastafarian · Dec 30, 2015

Not hot dog related,but bloke a couple of rows in front of me left seat 10mins before half time and returned with a pizza

i totally missed this crucial development in food related fare.........when did we start selling those?

GT49er · Dec 30, 2015

Spider said:
Maybe, but you see my point. What if I accidentally knocked a load of products over and innocently tried to rearrange them, mixing up the price tickets? The idea that displayed price is a legally binding obligation is patently crazy.

Not really.
If the label is printed out, for example, 'Tesbury's. Hobgoblin Ale 500ml. £11.50' that is not a mixed up label, or one that has been swapped (and there will be a bar code on it as well). If they want to charge me £2.50 at the till, that is a mistake by the employee who printed out and placed the label on the shelf.
It's a mistake. Mistakes in business cost you money - or should do.

Of course, their could be an international gang of forgers, turning out fake supermarket price labels.................

Guy Fawkes · Dec 30, 2015

sussex_guy2k2 said:
Because the law says so. If you see something advertised at a specific price, the seller has to respect that price. The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and the precedent set down by a case involving Tesco (I think) are where it comes from. Admittedly the law may have changed since I last looked at it 2-3 years back, but I'd be surprised.

GT49er said:
If goods are offered for sale at a certain price, then the buyer has a right to buy them at that price.

I found something in a local shop the other day incorrectly priced at £4.95 (it should have been £11.95). At the till it came up as £11.95 - but I pointed out that as they'd offered it for sale at £4.95 and I was accepting that offer, legally the transaction stood. I got it for £4.95.

But agree with the earlier poster - in circumstances such as the pie-and-a-pint queue, just have the right money, pay it and leave.

No they don't have to sell and the potential buyer doesn't have the right to buy it at that price, customer service may mean that the seller might be willing to sell it for that price but they are not under any legal obligation to meet that price.

The seller should withdraw then withdraw goods from sale (from that outlet only and not the whole chain if only specific to that branch) for a period of 24 hours. This usually happens when they have run an advert with an incorrect price which is too low and will end up with the seller losing money as the item is advertised below cost price.

They don't always withdraw it because it could be as a result of customer attempted fraud (not necessarily the customer trying to buy it) or poor labeling (someone has moved the item to another shelf and the description on the pricing label doesn't match, even if there are a lot of them on that shelf)

An example may be the latest OLED TV which should cost £1k, the price on the shelf says £100, the shop doesn't have to sell for £100 and will often refuse to sell at that price (and the shop should then withdraw the item from sale for 24 hours) The customer doesn't have any legal way to force the seller to charge them only £100

SicilianHungary · Dec 30, 2015

father_and_son said:
The issue at the club is that the tills don't appear to be clever enough to know that pressing the buttons for "Hot Dog" and "Pint" is the same order as pressing the button for "Hot Dog & Pint Meal Deal".

The simple solution is...
Customer: "I would like an £8 meal deal please"
Student behind counter: "Certainly... what constituent parts to the meal would you like?"
Customer: "A hot dog and a pint"
Student behind counter: *presses button*
Student behind counter: "there you are sir, £8 please. Thank you for shopping at the Amex, come again soon."

If you say:
Customer: "I would like a hot dog please"
Student behind counter: *presses button*
Customer: "...and a pint"
Student behind counter: *presses button*
Student behind counter: "there you are sir, £8.30 please. Thank you for shopping at the Amex, come again soon."

Haha this made me laugh, as a kiosk worker, though no longer a student. I'll have to use that last line when I'm next on the till.

I've only seen pizza in the North Stand, where I used to work regularly, and possibly the West. I've been in the South the last three games and it's definitely not there.

GT49er · Dec 30, 2015

Guy Fawkes said:
The shop would usually give the customer the deal at the wrong price, but it had nothing to do with being legally obligated to do so but they do it from a customer service point of view because they want to keep you as a customer so that you will continue to shop and spend there

Yes, that certainly makes sense. I'm still fairly convinced that that wasn't always the case - be good if NSC can come up with a definitive answer for when, how and if the law changed.

Guy Fawkes · Dec 30, 2015

I remember the good times said:
Being superstitious I always use the same till in the Upper East to get my fix of burger and pint. I've complained on here before about being overcharged and for the Boro game it happened again. Pint, Burger & Crisps clearly marked as £9 but charged £9.30. I didn't say anything as I got hounded last time. But last night AGAIN. Hot Dog (all other food gone by 7:15) and Pint clearly marked above my head as £8 but charged £8.20 This time I questioned it and the reply was 'the till says £8.20 and that is what I have to charge'. Overcharging is illegal, especially when they have been informed about it on numerous occasions. Yes it is only 20p and I can survive without it, but principles!
Cant be bothered to talk football today, but still confident of a winning season.

Did you point out the advertised price of £8 when challenging, including showing where this lower price was being advertised?

Da Man Clay · Dec 30, 2015

GT49er said:
Don't doubt you for a moment - just wonder when that was. My googling today has revealed to me that the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (which I think is what offer + acceptance = contract was based on in the early 70s) was replaced by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 - was that when it changed, or was it previously challenged and revised?

Anyway, whenever they try and charge me more than the advertised price in future, I will continue to demand my 'right' to purchase at the advertised price (but thanks to this accursed thread, perhaps with a little less confidence than before!)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_Society_of_GB_v_Boots_Cash_Chemists_(Southern)_Ltd

Here's the case law. Slightly different subject but he principals are the same.

wigman · Dec 30, 2015

Bozza said:
We bought Strongbow * 3 from that very kiosk at 7:15.

However this has reminded me that they gave us 2 ciders and 1 lager to start with. [MENTION=236]Papa Lazarou[/MENTION] sipped the lager to test it and handed it back whereupon they put it back on the serving shelf to give to the next unsuspecting punter.

It was my daughter who was told they were sold out only 15 minutes prior to you being served.
Poor communication me thinks.

The Wookiee · Dec 30, 2015

The Wookiee said:
I asked for a cheeseburger and a pint of kronenburg, cost £8. Went away had sip of drink only to find it was strong bow, went back to til and supervisor said was out of kronenburg and gave me 2 pints of fosters instead !

Great service!!

Did the seller have to give me an extra pint ?

GT49er · Dec 30, 2015

Da Man Clay said:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_Society_of_GB_v_Boots_Cash_Chemists_(Southern)_Ltd

Here's the case law. Slightly different subject but he principals are the same.

Bl**dy hell - that's an eye-opener. Defined by case law in the 1950s, eh - what were they thinking of in academia in the 1970s?! - or maybe just as well I didn't do 2nd. and 3rd. years.......
So I've been getting away with blue murder all these years by insisting on my 'right' to buy at the advertised price! Whoops!

Thanks for taking the trouble to dig out the link, though.

Guy Fawkes · Dec 30, 2015

The Wookiee said:
Did the seller have to give me an extra pint ?

No but they gave you an extra pint of Fosters

as punishment for complaining

Da Man Clay · Dec 30, 2015

GT49er said:
Bl**dy hell - that's an eye-opener. Defined by case law in the 1950s, eh - what were they thinking of in academia in the 1970s?! - or maybe just as well I didn't do 2nd. and 3rd. years.......
So I've been getting away with blue murder all these years by insisting on my 'right' to buy at the advertised price! Whoops!

Thanks for taking the trouble to dig out the link, though.

The thing is for most shops with the values talked about it isn't worth the bad press for the sake of a few quid here and there. It's only where online retailers sell things like X-box's for £2.99 instead of £299 and it goes viral that the law is enforced.

No trouble - Sadly one of the things I can quote pretty much verbatim from my law background!

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