Prices at Tesco: A READER was in Tesco in Dundrum recently where she bought two bottles of Fuller's London Pride ale for €2.09 each. A week later (and three days after Brian Lenihan delivered his Budget which cut excise on beer, wine and spirits), she was in the same shop and saw a notice beneath the Fuller's London Pride ale stating: "Post-Budget reductions – all beers, wine and spirits reduced by 10 per cent".
The price beneath the London Pride was still €2.09, so she assumed the 10 per cent would be deducted at the till. She took two bottles of the ale to the till where she was charged – no surprises here – €2.09. She queried this at the customer service desk and was told that this was the reduced price.
She told them she was certain that it was €2.09 on December 5th and over the previous few weeks. “Tesco is clearly using the Budget for advertising purposes and wrongly claiming that it is making price reductions, which are in fact non-existent,” she says.
This isn’t the only Tesco price discrepancy we have heard about of late.
Another reader came across a “special offer” on Surf washing liquid. Previously it cost €8.19 but she saw it selling at a special price of €9.50 which Tesco claims is a “saving of €2.19”. She sent in an image of the shelf sticker and it does look as ridiculous as she says.
We contacted Tesco and a spokesman said that following the Budget on December 8th, Tesco began reducing prices on the most popular beer, wine and spirit products.
“This was a very considerable exercise during the busiest trading period of the year and involved thousands of products. We focused on the most popular products first so that the vast majority of customers would benefit as soon as possible. The remaining ranges, including Fuller’s London Pride ale, were reduced during the course of Friday. The exercise was completed in full by close of business on Friday evening.”
In connection with the Surf price, he said the shelf sticker “sent in to you by a reader should read €8.19 for Surf ‘Small and Mighty’. This was a mistake and we apologise for any confusion caused.”
Charity shops
ANOTHER reader contacted us with a “secret” she has kept for years. She’s sharing it “in light of the dire state of the finances of the unfortunates who have suffered horribly in the Budget. There is a shop in Sean McDermott St, Dublin, with ample parking outside, that is the Brown Thomas of charity shops,” she writes. “It’s called Vincent’s and is full of very inexpensive treasures – from Thomas Pink shirts to Louise Kennedy suits (occasionally), shoes, books, china, kitchen-ware, and many, many other useful items.”
She kept it to herself “and very cherished friends for years to keep the masses out. You can’t lose. If you buy something that turns out to be useless to you, you still feel good that you have left the few bob with the St Vincent de Paul and indeed give it back later along with your own unwanted items. It’s retail therapy on the cheap, and it’s giving to a good cause. Please leave some bargains for me,” she adds.
