Supermarkets targeted for misleading pricing

Supermarkets New Zealand-wide have been put on notice for potentially misleading prices after Consumer NZ tracked prices for a three month period.

Across Pak’n’Save, New World and Countdown stores, products were routinely described as having “great” or “extra low” prices which were not honored at the checkout, as well as having promotional signs on products that weren’t on sale when the actual product was not on show or sold out.

“We would argue that if you are being misled about the price or the amount that a product is being discounted, you’re being deceived and that is a breach of the Fair Trading Act,” said Consumer NZ’s chief executive Jon Duffy, according to TVNZ.

Spokespeople for the supermarkets each said price integrity is a serious issue that they are working to fix.

But, Consumer NZ said it isn’t convinced, that consumers potentially aren’t getting a fair deal, and that constant specials and confusing price labels risk misleading shoppers about what they’re getting for their money.

The pricing sting operation comes four months after Consumer NZ found that most Kiwis think they are spending too much on their grocery shopping, and said they doubt discounts are genuine.

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