By Rebecca Styles
Research Lead | Hautū Rangahau
A “quick” visit to New World turned into a headache for one Christchurch shopper when she was charged the wrong price for 26 items. We explain what went wrong and what to do if you’re overcharged.
Consumer NZ supporter Natasha went to New World St Martins, rather than her usual Pak’nSave, during the school holidays.
She used one of the supermarket’s Shop & Go scanners, which allow customers to keep track of prices and pack their groceries as they go, then pay at the checkout without having to scan their groceries again.
The total on the scanner was about $360, but when she went to pay at the checkout, the total jumped to $410.
“Thinking I must have misread the scanner, or maybe the discount would load when I went to pay, I continued with payment,” Natasha says. “But when I looked at the receipt, a couple of items jumped out at me as not being what was advertised. As I looked down the receipt, there were more and more!”
With a staff member’s help, Natasha added up all the pricing discrepancies. After 30 to 40 minutes of checking the prices, they found 26 pricing errors.
Refunded, but not enough
Natasha says the supermarket staff were helpful, yet they didn’t refund her in accordance with New World’s refund policy – which Natasha didn’t know about until speaking to Consumer NZ.
The supermarket refunded her the difference in price, totalling $48.80. However, according to the refund policy, she should have been able to keep the products and be refunded in full for the items she was charged incorrectly for, which totalled $140.
We got in touch with Foodstuffs on Natasha’s behalf so she could get the full refund. Foodstuffs apologised for the inconvenience Natasha suffered and is getting in touch with her to put it right.
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How could the prices be so wrong?
Foodstuffs, the owner of New World and Pak’nSave, told Consumer NZ a “technical issue” during Natasha’s Shop & Go transaction led to the difference in price.
“The affected Shop & Go unit was taken out of service immediately and referred to our Digital Services team for investigation and repair. We are not aware of any further incidents involving this device.”
Foodstuffs said there had been an unrelated technical error with the same device in the past. However, it believed both issues had been solved quickly.
“Foodstuffs South Island has a monitoring, testing, maintenance and controlled software release programme for Shop & Go devices to help ensure any issues are quickly identified and resolved.”
What to do if you’re overcharged
If you spot a pricing discrepancy, let the supermarket know as soon as possible, either in person or by calling them. Their freephone numbers are 0800 463 996 (New World) or 0800 725 672 (Pak’nSave). You can also contact the stores via their websites.
If you’re in the store, you can take a photo of the advertised price and present it, along with your receipt, to supermarket staff. Even if you don’t have a receipt, the supermarket should be able to check its system to see what you paid and whether this differed from the shelf price.
Tougher refund policy for South Island shoppers
All supermarkets have refund policies. Generally, if you’re overcharged, you’ll get fully refunded what you paid for the item and be able to keep the product.
But we spotted a few exceptions in Foodstuffs’ refund policy for South Island stores that don’t apply in the North Island. (The North and South Island stores are separate franchises and therefore separate businesses.)
At New World and Pak’nSave in the South Island:
If you’re overcharged for multiples of the same product, the store will refund you for one of them. For the rest of the products, you’ll get a refund of the difference between the correct price and what you paid.
If you’re overcharged for something that costs $30 or more, you won’t get the full amount refunded, just the difference in price. For example, if the displayed price is $32 but you’re charged $34, the store will refund you $2.
If you’re overcharged due to operator error – for example, if they enter the wrong product code into the system – you’ll only be refunded the difference in price.
We don’t think any of these exclusions are justified.
Foodstuffs told us that while there were differences in the policies, both were intended to be fair and “reflect each co-operative’s approach to maintaining price integrity”.
“Price integrity is extremely important to us. Pricing errors are uncommon, but when they do occur, we take them seriously. Stores have processes in place to help ensure prices are accurate, and any concerns raised by customers are investigated promptly.”
Do you agree? Let us know about any supermarket pricing issues you’ve experienced at [email protected].
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