Promotion gaffe costs Tesco £300k

A bodged price promotion has cost Tesco £300,000 after trading standards took the retailer to court for misleading customers over whether the strawberries on offer were genuinely “half price”.
The case, which dates back to summer 2011, is likely to send a warning to all other retailers. Regional prices are often used to justify promotions which are then rolled out nationally.
But one eagle-eyed customer in Birmingham was not to be hoodwinked. The woman, who has since died, noticed the £1.99 strawberries on sale in Sheldon, Birmingham, had not been for sale at £3.99 long enough and alerted trading standards.
The city council, which brought the prosecution, said Tesco had sold strawberries for one week each at £3.99 and then £2.99 in 2011. It said the supermarket then sold the fruit at £1.99 over June, July and August 2011, labelling the 400g containers as half price.
Judge Michael Chambers, sitting at Birmingham Crown Court, said the case was “shocking” because consumers had a high degree of trust in national chains, adding that the promotion was “patently wrong and misleading”.
Tesco admitted four counts of unfair commercial practice and has apologised for what happened. The retailer was told it would also have to pay £65,000 in costs.
Sajeela Naseer, head of trading standards at Birmingham City Council, said: “The council is firmly of the belief that this was not a genuine offer and this has been confirmed in court today. We hope this sends out a message to other national retailers that it is their responsibility to ensure that offers are presented to the public in a careful, clear and truthful way.”