Which? urges action on ‘misleading’ supermarket prices

[Legal Beagles]

The consumer body Which? has called on the regulator to act over “confusing and misleading” supermarket prices. It has launched a “super-complaint”, a legal move which means the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) must respond within 90 days. Which? said it had repeatedly exposed the tactics, but that “these dodgy offers” remained on the shelves.... Read more »
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Re: Which? urges action on ‘misleading’ supermarket prices


Promotions have become more widely used in the industry over the last 12 months as major supermarkets have adjusted prices to fight losses in market share to discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.
Tactics under the spotlight include 'was/now' promotions, multi-buys and so-called shrinkflation; when own-brand or branded goods are smaller but the price remains the same.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "Despite Which? repeatedly exposing misleading and confusing pricing tactics, and calling for voluntary change by the retailers, these dodgy offers remain on numerous supermarket shelves."
The group argued that trust needed to be restored.
Which? said an example of a misleading multi-buy offer came when a leading chain increased the price of a Chicago Town Four Cheese Pizza Two-Pack from £1.50 to £2 last year as it went onto multi-buy at two for £3.
It went back to £1.50 after the offer ended.

One instance of seasonal pricing was tackled in 2013 when Tesco was fined £300,000 over a strawberry promotion that was said to have netted the chain £2.3m in profits.
The pricing tactics employed by the country's supermarket chains may face a competition inquiry after Which? used its legal powers to issue a so-called super-complaint.
The consumer group accused firms of ripping off shoppers with misleading and confusing prices and said it was handing a dossier of evidence, gathered over seven years, to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The news was announced just hours after a report suggested that the supermarket price war was having a "devastating" impact on suppliers and small grocers, with a growing number suffering "significant" financial distress.
Which? accused retailers of creating the illusion of savings through the use of multi-buys, shrinking products and baffling sales offers with 40% of groceries sold on promotion.

Multi-buys and 'was/now' offers face a competition probe amid fears consumers are losing out by hundreds of millions of pounds.
It said consumers could be collectively losing out to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds if only a small proportion of offers are misleading and it was virtually impossible for people to know if they were getting a fair deal.

The CMA has 90 days to respond to the super-complaint which it is obliged to examine before deciding if it warrants a full inquiry and possibly new laws.

http://news.sky.com/story/1469045/supermarkets-face-super-complaint-on-pricing

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Re: Which? urges action on ‘misleading’ supermarket prices

The consumer group accused firms of ripping off shoppers with misleading and confusing prices and said it was handing a dossier of evidence, gathered over seven years, to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

7 bloody years ! did they get an itch?
Am sorry but these things take far too long being investigated and taken to the authorities, meanwhile we are still being ripped off.