There is this disturbing trend I have noticed in different supermarkets that I think we need to be aware of.
I don’t know whether it is intentional or simply a mistake but I have experienced it in different supermarkets and multiple times in the same supermarket.
You take your cart to the aisles to pick up your stuff. On the shelf, a particular item is N10,000, but at the check-out point, the price is N12,000. Another item that is N7,000 on the shelf is N8,500 on the system.
The problem is that when your cart is filled with various items, you have no idea how much everything will cost. You just wait for the total and you pay.
The day I found out was on a Black Friday when the supermarket claimed certain discounts were being given.
We (my wife and I) picked up several items, including three bottles of wine, which the lady on that aisle claimed there was a slash in price.
After paying for everything we bought, which amounted to over N40,000, and collected our receipt, my eyes stumbled on the price of that particular wine on the receipt and saw a discrepancy of over N1,000.
I immediately drew the attention of the lady at the check-out point to it and she said that is what is on the system.
We decided to crosscheck the prices of the other items on the receipt versus what was stated on the shelves. That was when we discovered there was a huge gap in many of the items.
Long story short, I dropped some of the items and demanded a refund.
Since that day, I have observed the same thing in other supermarkets. One price is on the shelf, while a different price is on the system.
Today, I went to get Johnson Baby Lotion for my daughter. The price was N11,050 on the shelf. But having learnt from previous experience, I decided to ask for the price before payment at the check-out point. The price was N13,850 on the system.
Please always confirm the price before payment when you buy from any supermarket now.
PS: Under the Federal Competition & Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, law, it is an offence for shops to display wrong prices of goods.
