Supermarkets in the dock over wily price manoeuvres
Britain’s leading supermarkets stand accused of misleading their own customers today after an investigation by the BBCs panorama programme uncovered suspect pricing practices.
Tricks of the trade unearthed include a multi buy offers for two bottles of Robinsons fruit juice for £2 at Tesco – despite the cost of a single bottle being £1 anyway.
Tesco also came in for stick after bumping up the price of its fresh chickens from £4 to £5 for two months – only to suddenly drop it back to £4 claiming a ‘Big price Drop’.
Sainsbury’s meanwhile was found guilty of confusing shoppers by offering a pack of five bananas for £1, when, if bought loose, the same quantity would have set the shopper back just 42 pence.
Morrison’s were shown to have misled consumers by advertising prices with a big “now” prefix implying a price drop had occurred. In fact the a bottle of fabric conditioner advertised at £2 had been on sale for £1.65 just two weeks earlier.
Asda meanwhile proved the maxim bigger is better wrong by flogging 1kg tubs of Clover butter for £3.20, 20p more than simply buying two 500g tubs.
Panorama airs tonight on BBC1 at 20:30.