It seems that supermarket chain outlets are vulnerable to inaccuracy in the labelling of price. A recent Consumer Council study has revealed that the problem of displayed prices on the shelves at variance with scanned prices at the checkout, overcharging unwary consumers, is not uncommon.
The study undertook 21 purchases in total on 252 discounted items from 5 supermarket chain outlets between June and July this year. In 12 of these transactions (nearly 60%), price variance was detected in 18 items.
In the majority of those cases (12 items), they were found to charge more, ranging from 40 cents to $9.1, or 4.2% to a high 90%. The remainders (6 items), on the other hand, charged less from $1 to $9, or 5.6% to 50.3%.
On the basis of the study, consumers face no small a risk when go shopping for discounted products at supermarkets, that one or more of the items they purchase may have the shelf price at variance with the scanned price - with a higher chance of rising upwards.
With supermarket prices in constant changes, such price discrepancy, perpetrated often without the knowledge of the consumers, could undermine the consumers' right to an informed choice.
It distorts the purchasing decision of the consumers who suffer monetary loss having unwittingly paid more for the goods which they rightly expect to buy at a lower price.
On the other hand, consumers are deprived of the benefit of savings due to inaccurate price information by failing to choose or buy more of the goods whose scanned price is actually less than that of the shelf price.
So, either way, price discrepancy is to the detriment of the interest of consumers who invariably stand to lose on account of supermarkets' inaccuracy in price labelling.
The study also followed up on what refund mechanism there is for supermarkets in dealing with consumer complaints arising from price variances.
Generally, if such complaints are raised immediately at the checkout counter, the staff would proceed to remove (if verified) the price tags from the shelves, and refund the price differentials accordingly.
But complaints leveled afterwards may face difficulty on grounds of lack of evidence as the price tags in question may already have been removed and replaced with new price labels.
Price discrepancy is under regulatory oversight in not a few countries, including Australia, Canada and the Mainland, by means of legislation or voluntary code of trade practice.
Retailers are urged to adopt measures necessary to avoid and prevent price discrepancy to ensure fairness in transactions and enhance consumer confidence in the industry. The Council has this advice to retailers:
When the price of an item goes up, change first the displayed price on the shelf before adjusting the scanned price; and when the price of an item comes down, modify first the scanned price before changing the displayed price. Such procedures would ensure that should any price discrepancy occur, consumer interest will be safeguarded to avert complaints.
Price discount is a frequent tactic deployed by supermarkets to promote sales. An examination of price tags of 6 major chains across Hong Kong revealed a common price labelling practice known as "strike through price" - a strike through line to cross out the higher price on the price tag.
As shown in the study, 3 supermarket chains simply display the strike through price without specification of what it is; 2 specify it as standard price （標準價）without defining what it means; and the remainder uses standard price （標準價） in Chinese together with "recommended retail price" in English.
Such price labelling practice is unclear and confusing to the consumers who could only assume that the higher price was the original price prior to discount. But is it or is it not?
If a retailer has never sold the item at the strike through price within a reasonable period, the trader runs the risk of violating the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.
In Australia, for instance, the strike through price must be a genuine pre-sale price otherwise it is a breach of the Australian Consumer Act.
The study also noted that some of the discounted prices offered only minimal savings of as low as 0.1% or 10 cents. Consumers are advised to carefully evaluate the extent of discount actually offered in what is presented as comparative pricing or advertised prominently as special price.
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