The answer is when you are Tesco.

Whilst shopping at my local Tesco yesterday, I saw what was an excellent offer on the shelf-edge labels and barkers (the larger shelf edge point of sale) - 2 boxes of Quaker Oats Granola (including premium) for £2 when 1 box of Premium Granola usually costs £2.59. Since I was looking for some cereal then it made sense to buy 2 boxes and save myself £3.18. The problem was the till system was set up with the offer at 2 for £3 and I did not notice until much later when I was back at home.

Considering how customer friendly Tesco have been to me in the past I saw no issues with getting this oversight sorted so didn’t rush back late at night, but instead decided to call today. When I called I was told that since the shelf edge was now saying 2 for £3 then it was basically tough. Calling the national customer service number in Dundee also proved frustrating as they even tried to tell me that Tesco had no idea what previous Point of Sale or promotions they have run.

Eventually I managed to get the over charge refunded after speaking to the Duty Manager at the store, but it should never have needed this. Tesco had become aware of the mistake (I believe they always intended for the promo to be 2 for £3 but produced incorrect POS in error) sometime after my sale, so should have a record of when the prices were changed. A simple lookup would of told them that I purchased when the POS was wrong so I was due a refund. This promotion was also revealed on HotUKDeals where others have reported seeing incorrect POS and getting a refund, followed by the POS being removed.

 This isn’t the first problem I have had with my local store recently. In fact customer service has being heading downhill recently. The first was when I noticed the store were selling Belgium chocolate covered Orichard Fruits which were over a month past their best before date. Despite me letting the store know, they were still on the shelf 2 days later, and it took my taking a Manager directly to them before they were removed. The second problem has been ongoing and is the unhelpful staff currently being employed. They are more interested in chatting to their friends than actually serving the customers that provide their pay. In the past I have waited for long periods of time (by long I mean up to 5 mins) just to get security tags removed from my purchases. Perhaps I should just walk out with them still on and see how quickly the staff come running when they think something is being stolen? (I would of course have paid for it, just failed to get the tags removed by the lazy staff)