Loophole allows shoppers to claim hundreds of pounds by comparing with Asda ? and forces Tesco to cap refund amounts
Tesco has been forced into a humiliating climbdown after a promotional campaign, which was supposed to emphasise that its prices were cheaper than Asda's, backfired.
Tesco's PriceCheck promotion promised shoppers: "We'll check the price of your comparable grocery shopping versus Asda and then send you an email when we have your results. Of course we're confident you will find your shopping cheaper at Tesco, but if not, we'll refund double the difference."
But the supermarket giant was this week forced to put a limit on the amount people could claim back after shoppers boasted online that they had claimed hundreds of pounds under the refunds pledge.
Advice posted on internet chat forums on a series of personal finance websites and even on a Manchester United fans' site led to a spate of claims by shoppers apparently seeking to claim the maximum amount by choosing specific baskets of goods which attracted the biggest discounts.
One example was a basket that included two bottles of Chardonnay, two bottles of Magners pear cider, two bottles of Nivea rich body moisturiser and a pack of mature cheddar. It came to �17.48 at Asda and �38.46 at Tesco ? a difference of �20.98. Tesco was therefore required to give a shopping voucher equivalent to �41.96.
Tesco has now changed the conditions of its price match guarantee after concerns that shoppers were buying recommended items just to get money back. It admitted that on Thursday it had added a clause that limits the amount it pays out to �20 a shop, and the earlier �100 a month limit remains in place.
It is the latest development in the long-running spat between Tesco and Asda over each other's claims to be the cheapest, which has involved complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.
Tesco insists that only a few shoppers have tried to take advantage of its scheme. In a statement it said: "The vast majority of our customers who use PriceCheck find that Tesco is cheaper than Asda. A very small number of people have used PriceCheck just to seek our products which a competitor has on promotion and to make some money out of our guarantee.
"We commend their ingenuity, but this isn't why we set up the guarantee. So we have introduced a �20 limit. But families doing their weekly shop and checking prices with us can rest assured. Fewer than one in 5,000 customers has been awarded vouchers over �20."
Tesco's failure to spot the loophole is embarrassing ? but not on a par with that of Hoover, which lost millions of pounds over its "free flights" offer 18 years ago.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/mar/25/tesco-dilutes-pricecheck-refund
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