February 21, 2012
I was in TSC Signature (Beirut Souks) this week. If you don't know already, I'm a tea addict and I like to go to that branch because they have different types of tea not available anywhere else.
In the tea section, there was a whole column for premium Lipton tea (not the regular yellow box ones). All of the Lipton premium teas were at priced 6490LL so I decided to buy the Vanilla Caramel Truffle one (among other things). I made sure that the price is correct and that the shelf label is correct and that it matched the item that I bought.
I paid at the cashier and just before leaving I checked the receipt and saw that I was charged more for that item (7990LL to be exact, that's $1.00 more). I went back to check with the manager and told him that the pricing is not right.
He went to the stand to check the label. After acting puzzled and confused, he tells me that this label is for a different product. Does he really think I'm that stupid? I gave him a mean look and told him "No, read the label, it's exactly the same as the product". He checks the barcode and admits that it is indeed the same product. Then he asked me if I wanted to return the product without any further explanation. He didn't even apologize for the mistake or offer to check if the system pricing is wrong (if I was indeed over-charged).
This is not the first time I encounter wrong shelf prices at Lebanese supermarkets. It always occurs at big supermarkets such as Spinneys, COOP and TSC. Usually the differences are small (like 100LL or 150LL); so I don't bother complaining. But I'm pretty sure that either way, it is illegal to play with the shelving prices. Small or big differences add up which result in illegal profits.
Don't even get me started about the price discrepancies between supermarkets. Do I really have to go to 5 different ones to get all the products that I need? For example, you can buy a Campbell soup can from TSC for under 2000LL while at COOP its 3500LL!
Personally, I don't have time to report every incident that I encounter to Consumer Protection. Isn't it their job to check big supermarkets for scams like this? It just pisses me off that I have to be extra careful when shopping for the simplest things.
Illegal Shelf Prices in Lebanese Supermarkets
I was in TSC Signature (Beirut Souks) this week. If you don't know already, I'm a tea addict and I like to go to that branch because they have different types of tea not …
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In the tea section, there was a whole column for premium Lipton tea (not the regular yellow box ones). All of the Lipton premium teas were at priced 6490LL so I decided to buy the Vanilla Caramel Truffle one (among other things). I made sure that the price is correct and that the shelf label is correct and that it matched the item that I bought.
I paid at the cashier and just before leaving I checked the receipt and saw that I was charged more for that item (7990LL to be exact, that's $1.00 more). I went back to check with the manager and told him that the pricing is not right.
He went to the stand to check the label. After acting puzzled and confused, he tells me that this label is for a different product. Does he really think I'm that stupid? I gave him a mean look and told him "No, read the label, it's exactly the same as the product". He checks the barcode and admits that it is indeed the same product. Then he asked me if I wanted to return the product without any further explanation. He didn't even apologize for the mistake or offer to check if the system pricing is wrong (if I was indeed over-charged).
This is not the first time I encounter wrong shelf prices at Lebanese supermarkets. It always occurs at big supermarkets such as Spinneys, COOP and TSC. Usually the differences are small (like 100LL or 150LL); so I don't bother complaining. But I'm pretty sure that either way, it is illegal to play with the shelving prices. Small or big differences add up which result in illegal profits.
Don't even get me started about the price discrepancies between supermarkets. Do I really have to go to 5 different ones to get all the products that I need? For example, you can buy a Campbell soup can from TSC for under 2000LL while at COOP its 3500LL!
Personally, I don't have time to report every incident that I encounter to Consumer Protection. Isn't it their job to check big supermarkets for scams like this? It just pisses me off that I have to be extra careful when shopping for the simplest things.
Beirut
Campbell
COOP