“Up to 50% off, closing down sale” so read a notice in a shop window. In fact it’s just the ladies clothing department of this particular store that is closing down. Its sister store in another town in the county, closed so many years ago, I cannot remember when it was.
When everywhere else in the UK was selling off ‘up to 70% off’ in January, this shop was offering ‘up to 20% off’ prices. What I found when I checked out the ‘bargains’ then,was most of the general stuff on offer suffered with a lack of flair and style.
I made a mental note of the prices of a couple of garments of interest, and considered that other items were still very expensive for what they were. Most of this stock had been brought in October/November 2007.
Today, there was still one of the garments of interest to me for sale. I noted the ticket price, and discovered it was marked up double the original price. I know this because I bought the same garment, a quilted coat, February 2008, in fact I was wearing it! (I still have the receipt for the coat). I checked the other prices and they too had been doubled up. An item originally costing £12.50 had a price tag of £25, and so it went on.
Usually I would be sympathetic to a contracting local business. Any empathic feelings I may have had, have totally evaporated now.
The retailer was really caught out today and, by the time I left the store,(having been exceedingly polite) he knew it.
RANDOM THOUGHTS 
That is actually against the law!
Yes, you are right. However, all the original prices had disappeared so who could prove it. I just happened to know about my coat.
They tried to say I bought it in a sale, which I didn’t; I bought it in that shop when there was not one.
Next I was told it was accidentally priced too low when originally brought into the store. They knew I wasn’t going to believe that, as the garment has been on sale from early winter in 2007. They said I had got a bargain then.
My response was that my coat was fairly priced in my view when I bought my coat and I would not have paid the current amount on the price tag.
Guess what. If I wanted the coat, I could have it £14 cheaper than I paid for the one I was wearing! They really did want me to leave in good humour didn’t they.
:>> :>>
Well spotted.
Yes- it does leave you with uncomfortable feelings. There are small enough communities here for rumours to work and I am thinking about it.
The re-pricing has been very cleverly done, difficult therefore, to prove illegal trading practices.
I wonder how many he caught before you spotted it.
Proving it is always the problem, isn’t it.
That really is the question, isn’t it. I shall think twice about this retailer’s sales in other goods. This leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
To think that the retailer could try and fool a county of people, many of whom will know the owners personally, leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. It is dishonest. If he can’t sell at 20% off he needs to think why. Doubling the prices then halving some of them to produce an up to half price sale, apart from being illegal under The Sale of Goods Implied Act, (or something akin to it)tells you what the retailer thinks of his customer base. It is insulting. On the other hand, it tells you a lot about the mentality behind the scam.
Indeed it is. I can prove it on one item, but not the rest of the kit and caboodle.