Foodstuffs shoppers overcharged on their groceries after technical glitch
Tuesday, 18 May 2021
Shoppers at Pak ‘n Save, New World and Four Square on the North Island were overcharged for groceries on Monday after a computer glitch meant about a quarter of advertised specials failed to register at checkout.
The technical issue, which affected shoppers between 7am and 12.30pm, meant some customers did not receive some advertised discounts.
Foodstuffs spokeswoman Antoinette Laird said the company took getting its prices right “extremely seriously”.
The issue meant while the prices on the shelves in the affected stores were correct, up to a quarter of this week's new special prices failed to register at checkout, she said.
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“The highest severity incident process was initiated as soon as the technical issue was identified at 5.30am on Monday morning and checkout prices in the affected stores were corrected progressively between 10.30am and 12.30pm that same day,” Laird said.
“Pricing issues, such as this one, are extremely rare, and we have systems and processes in place to identify them early.”
Laird said the company sincerely apologised to any customers who shopped at the 69 affected stores in the North Island on Monday and did not receive the special price they were expecting at checkout.
“We encourage customers who think they may be affected to check their receipts and make contact with the store where they shopped, so any discrepancies can be put right.”
But some customers were questioning whether the glitch had actually been fixed.
Brent Fryer, of Taupō, said he was “caught out” and overcharged for bacon when he did his grocery shop at 8pm on Monday night.
A 500 gram packet of streaky bacon is advertised as $8.99, but Fryer was charged $11.49 at the checkout.
“Wondering what else I failed to notice,” he said.
Fryer returned to the supermarket on Tuesday morning and received a $2.50 refund and another packet of bacon.
Foodstuffs has been approached for further comment.
Were you affected? Email debrin.foxcroft@stuff.co.nz
This is not the first time a technical glitch has caused the previous week’s pricing to register at checkouts.
Foodstuffs experienced a similar issue at some Pak ‘n Save and New World stores in 2017.
In October last year, differences between advertised prices and the price customers were charged at the till led to a $78,000 fine for Pak ’n Save Mangere.
A survey conducted by Consumer NZ, released in April, found that in the past two years 46 per cent of respondents said they had been charged more at the checkout than the price shown on the shelf label and 45 per cent had noticed an error on their receipt that meant they had been overcharged.
Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy said there was a deficit in trust between consumers and the two big supermarkets companies, Foodstuff and Countdown.
“Supermarkets have been running roughshod over consumer trust for years,” Duffy said.
Consumers are bombarded with marketing advertising discounts that are hard to decipher and supermarkets needed to be more transparent, he said.
There was provision in the Fair Trading Act for reasonable mistakes, Duffy said.
“But if they know their till prices are inaccurate, and they are continuing to sell products, and they are just relying on consumers to point out the error, then they are likely to be breaching the Fair Trading Act,” he said.
“I strongly encourage anyone who has been caught up in this to make a complaint to the Commerce Commission.”