Foodstuffs matches Woolworths’ overcharging refund policy

Friday, 8 August 2025

Many shoppers check their bills to try to work out whether they have been overcharged.

Foodstuffs, the owner of the Pak‘nSave, New World and Four Square supermarket brands, has changed its refunds policy for accidental pricing errors.

Supermarkets have been under fire for pricing errors highlighted by Consumer NZ, which led to prosecutions by the Commerce Commission.

But while Woolworths, which owns the Woolworths, Countdown, Fresh Choice and SuperValue brands, had a policy under which it would refund the price paid for a product it had accidentally overcharged for, and also let the customer keep the product free of charge, Foodstuffs refunded only the amount that it had overcharged.

The commission’s Annual Grocery Report for 2025 published on Wednesday said Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island, which are closely connected and are keen to merge, have now followed Woolworths.

In June, two Pak’nSave supermarkets admitted breaching the Fair Trading Act by misleading consumers with inaccurate pricing.

Foodstuffs North Island’s website says: “Pricing integrity is important to us. We work hard to make sure you are charged the correct price, but if you are overcharged for a product, we’ll refund the full amount paid for the product and you can keep the product.”

Foodstuff’s South Island website did not contain an accessible version of its policy when this article was prepared.

The commission approved of the change made by Foodstuffs.

It said: “We consider that regulated grocery retailers should fully refund consumers for items in situations where the price at the checkout is higher than what was displayed on the shelf or as advertised.”

A regulated grocery retailer is a legal term referring to Woolworths, Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island.

“Australia has a voluntary code for dealing with inaccurate pricing, but New Zealand does not, meaning that the resolution process and remedies are matters for individual regulated grocery retailers,” the commission said.

Foodstuffs has aligned its accidental overcharging refund policy with its rival Woolworths.

Consumer NZ would like to see that change.

The consumer advocacy group is calling on the Government to mandate a supermarket pricing accuracy code that would have clear rules for product pricing, as well as “meaningful penalties and automatic compensation for consumers when supermarkets get it wrong”.

The Commerce Commission’s Annual Grocery Code for 2025 shows New Zealanders are paying more than shoppers in most OECD countries for their groceries.

While that may not yet be on the cards, regulated grocery retailers may face having to compile data on their pricing errors, and the refunds they pay, to disclose it to the market.

In its report, the commission said: “We have consulted on the development of a draft disclosure standard to collect information on the number of consumer complaints and refunds paid out by the regulated grocery retailers.”

It may also be that not all customers are aware of supermarkets’ refund policies.

The commission said: “While all regulated grocery retailers do have a refund policy, these are not always prominently advertised for customers.”

It said: “This can act as a barrier for consumers to report an issue which may result in a store not addressing any underlying causes.”

“A well-promoted, easy to access and generous refund policy is not a replacement for sound processes to ensure customers are charged correctly but can be an incentive to promote correct charging,” the commission said.

“Ultimately it is the regulated grocery retailers’ responsibility to ensure accuracy and integrity of pricing and promotional activities. However, in a competitive grocery industry, we would expect retailers to offer refund policies to generate goodwill from their customers and to help bring issues to their attention,” the commission said.