Rip off Britain

[Beefsteak 305]

OK everybody here's a little poser for you, how many times do you shop at your local supermarket (Albeit Morrisons, Tesco, Asda , whatever) and get ripped off??

I make the point as I have just been to Morrisons with the reciept from our last visit, as they had over charged us for a couple of kids magazines, (You know the score, buy two get a pound off etc) well this pound hadn't been taken off. I go to the "Customer services" and was served by a real stroppy little cow, I say that as normally they are very helpfull and obliging , but this one thought the world owed her a living , in fact she was a complete parody of the 'teenager' hands in pockets, chewing gum etc, anyway after much explanation and re explanation on my part she wouldn't give me the refund as she couldn't see the magazine , fair enough said I , I'll bring them in next time , says I . Her reply ??

"Yeah you do that!!" As I said, stroppy little cow, but what if it had been perishables that had already been eaten ??

Scenario number 2. We went to Tescos in Northwich to do the weekly "Big Shop" yesterday , and , as always, tick everything off on the reciept as we put away, only to find , lo and behold, that we'd bought 2 Malt loaves on a buy one get one free , and been charged for both of them.!!

My point being , 2 visits , 2 shops , one week, result ripped off by £2.30p multiply that by 52 weeks in a year = £119.60p. Multiply that by the 20,000,000 who do their weekly shops in the affor mentioned shops and you can see it ammounts to a heel of a lot of "Free profit" This isn't just a one off either , I am a regular at "Customer services"

How many of you don't check your reciepts when you get home?? I know ,before I got married , I never did!!

[radfordred 6,284]

Smash the fooking shop up it will make you feel better.

[denshaw 2,872]

Rip off Britain, i just got my gas bill. £553 for 3 months.

[Fynger 841]

Knew you'de end up payin thru the nose for that 'Hot Air Balloon' !rotfl!

[Owdtite 2]

I always check my receipt BEFORE leaving the store, I have been ripped off that many times that I now do it before I leave the premises.

Boy am I glad I cant get gas up here!...All electric, bill for last 3 months...£210 !!

Owdtite.

[Fynger 841]

£210...!!!!.....dont you switch owt on ?

[poohbear 1,360]

Rip off Britain???

Little supermarket in Loughborough years back...owned by one of our colonial friends...you know the ones eat curry and get loads of postal votes...They all think Keith Vaz is an honest citizen.

85p Jar of marmalade left next to the till...

It was added to every shoppers bill...

Customers didn't pick it up cos they knew it wasn't theirs...

If anybody mentioned it was on their bill...checkout wallah says "Oh sorry...thought it was yours"

Made a lot of 85p over the months...'Lovely Jubbly'

[Owdtite 2]

£210...!!!!.....dont you switch owt on ?

I am one of these poor old pensioners that have to sit in the cold cos I cant afford the bill!!!... I put my thermals on in September and take them off in July.... :tongue:

Coad Owdtite !!

[Ashley 288]

Gas Bill (4 radiators, 30 gall HW cyl and Gas Cooker) for last year £224, should be less next year as getting new insulated roof

[catfan 14,793]

Always, always, check till reciept.

The times Tesco have got it wrong you're talking a lot of money.

Most problems seem to happen with special offers, buy one get one free etc, but they don't get recognised at the checkout. went to customer services a couple of weeks ago and got £7.50 back off them.

Check what "Tarriff" your energy company have you on. They don't always tell you if there is a cheaper plan which would suit you.

Why is it that garages always charge more for non fuel items ? ie. 10p + on a bar of chocolate at least 30p on a packet of fags.

Don't support the RIP OFF shops, vote with your wallet !

[littlebro 234]

Not just shops & fuel stations,

I signed up for Virgin 'Unlimited' phone service, for £7.50 a month free calls to 01, 02, 03 phone numbers. 07, 08, 09 & mobiles are excluded, fair enough.

When the next bill arrived - £10 worth of charges. Called customer services (India),

"Oh", they said, "calls over 60 minutes are charged in full".

"Where's that stated in the blurb" says I, "the package is entitled 'Unlimited'."

"Yes", says India, "but there are limits!" "calls over 60 minutes are charged in full".

Doh

[poohbear 1,360]

Gas Bill (4 radiators, 30 gall HW cyl and Gas Cooker) for last year £224, should be less next year as getting new insulated roof

£224 for a year???

[radfordred 6,284]

Errm but do you go back and tell them you've not been charged enough ? Or been given change for a twenty when it was a tenner ?

Well ?

My youngest liked a coat in TKMAXX it was £79-99 , when i came to pay with some other stuff the total bill came to about twenty five quid , when i checked the receipt the leather coat was down as 99p , I ran straight back in to tell em about there mistake !!!

Yeah right I did.

[Fynger 841]

And the petrol pump...that clicks over to 'and' 1p.....soddin thing

[Beefsteak 305]

It depends Nick, honest, If it's my local pub , I've told him when I've been given too much change, and I know that if I've been short changed he will give it to me no questions asked. Morrisons , it's never happened that I've been under charged. The pair of trousers that I got refunded for around Christmas (I still paid quite a bit though , can't remember how much now) means that I will feel obliged to go there again and let them charge me extra for being fat !!!

Owdtight and anybody else with big utility bill problems, check here to see if you can reduce them. I got mine (Duel fuel) down by about £240 and got £30 cashback

http://www.moneysupe...s/cashback.aspx

[Scriv 168]

Me mam was a genius at mental arithmetic, and could add up her shopping bill as she went along; it was a foolish checkout assistant who dared to argue with her. Kids can't do that today, everything's done with a calculator; even two pints at £2.50 each seems beyond them.

I agree, it pays to check, especially if you pick the wrong item up on those BOGOF jobs and end up paying full whack for both items. I've found by experience that if it happens at our local Morrisons they happily apologise and sort it promptly, whereas at Tesco's it's almost like they hate you for catching them out.

Incidentally, have any of you cottoned on to the illicit "bonus" that's available at Tesco's if you use those self-check tills? When you get the prompt for "own bags used", provided you don't go silly you can get extra points even if you have used their bags. Only pennies I know, but they do keep telling us that every little helps!

[littlebro 234]

I called into Currys today to buy a replacement battery for a stud detector; the last one lasted 5 years. It is a short version of an 'AAA' battery. Not seen one before in any other electronic equipment.

"No problem" they say, but "we only sell them in two's" at £3.99".

I bet when I want the second one in another 5 years I will either have lost it or it will be flat.

Why don't they sell them singularly?

[Beefsteak 305]

I took the receipt back to Tescos in Northwich today, and they have now lost a lot of custom.!!

I was served by moron on the customer services desk , I showed the receipt and told him what had happened and was greeted with "Have you bought them with you?"

"You've got the receipt here , that shows that I was over charged , what do you want the two malt loaves for ?" Said I. "To prove you bought them"

Now is it me being thick ? "Surely as I've got the receipt for them it proves I bought and paid for them doesn't it?"

"Oh it doesn't work like that, how do I know that this offer was on when you purchased them ?"

"Because I'm telling you it was, ring up somebody who keeps your records and they will be able to tell you that too! Do you think I'd drive a 14 mile round trip to rip you off for £1 . 20p?"

At this point a manager type person appeared and they were holding a real board meeting over whether I could get my refund, eventually the 'manager' told the knob head to go and check whether the offer was on as I had told them.!

Moron boy slammed off, crashing the gate open and nearly wrecking the joint! As I'm standing waiting I hear a woman in the same booth turn to her colleague (The manager type) and ask her what that was all about, and this is the priceless bit!!

She replied " That fat bloke at the counter has demanded a refund for something he no longer has, and has been shouting the place down with his demands"

I turned and said " Why do you make the mistake of thinking that fat also means deaf , soft and stupid and unlikely to retaliate? , can you tell me at what point I shouted and at what point did I not have the right to ask for my money back?"

Another woman in the queue then joined in (I was expecting her to be on the shops side, but it was brilliant when she came out with this) She said " I have been stood here behind this man (Me) for 10 minutes whilst he has been trying to explain the simple principle to your staff that 'The customer is always right' I'm not sure what his problem was, but if he'd been shouting, as you have claimed , I'm sure I would have noticed!"

I get my refund!! Then the lady gets her phone out , rings somebody and says " Hello , it's me , leave the shopping where it is we're leaving."

She turns to 'manager type' and says "We spend upwards of £20,000 a year with Tescos, not any more, goodbye that's what you get for lying" and when her husband appeared complete with full to overflowing trolley she insisted he left it there , she bade me a courtious "Good Day"and they walked out !!

Another two people looked at the very (By now ) red faced 'manager type' shook their heads at her and walked out too.

I know it's hardly likely to break the bank , but it gave me a feeling of deep joy in that one minor victory for 'The little man'

[Ashley 288]

Not exactly a scam but if you ask for so many grams of loose cooked ham or tongue etc it's always over that amount, sometimes by quite a bit, usually they'll say something like "3 slices is under 4 is over" as they are wrapping 4 assuming that covers it? or say do you mind if it's over, (wieght) to which my wife replies not so long as you don't mind me paying under (price), what's wrong with cutting it?

[Fynger 841]

Nice one Beefy

[mick2me 3,033]

I went in to Asda WB many years ago, bough a set of spark plugs that were on special offer.

But I was charged full price on my bill and complained to customer services.

No Problem Sir, she refunded the full amount.

No, I want the Spark Plugs!

Thats OK sir, its ASDA policy that if we overcharge for an item, you get it free.

I was gobsmacked, I went home singing the praises of ASDA Stores,

When I came to service my car a couple of weeks later, I realized that

I had not picked up the Spark plugs on leaving the store!

[mb101 0]

Supermarkets destroy communities and a lot of important industries. They also manipulate people, through advertising and various 'promotions', into maintaining incredibly unhealthy diets. They treat their employees like sh1t and they perpetuate the ridiculous myth of consumer choice.

Avoid where possible

[plantfit 7,597]

Not a fan then mb101? I do agree though, they have all but shut down the corner shop and small outlets, practically crippled the farmers by screwing them down on price, (milk being the worse) and by closing down the small business you are left with little choice but to use them, on the other hand though do you think that prices would be much higher at the "corner shop" without the super markets?

Rog

[catfan 14,793]

Signed up for economy 7 years ago, read somewhere a few weeks ago that you need to use 40% of your electric during the night to be any better off???

Rang EON last week, yes sir, you would be £240 a year better off by ditching UN-ECONOMY 7.Seems the rules have changed over the years & no one bothered to tell me about it.

So, how many people are paying through the nose for gas & electricity at the wrong (for) them tarriff ? cos them Bastards won't tell you the best deal for you.

[poohbear 1,360]

by closing down the small business you are left with little choice but to use them, on the other hand though do you think that prices would be much higher at the "corner shop" without the super markets?

Rog

They are cheaper on booze and some basics...to get you in the shop.

The high street and markets are usually cheaper on fruit and veg and Wilko type products.Meat and fish at independant shops is always better quality.

Their main ploy to screw the small trader is simple...Car parks...they don't open shops in pedestrian areas do they?...'Cos they know the public are idle and don't want to walk nowadays.