Every Winter I treat myself to 'one' bottle of good quality Single Malt Whisky. I always wait until my favourite supermarket issue their annual 'special offer whiskies' brochure, then I make my choice.
Back in 2017 I bought a bottle of this same 12 year old 'Singleton', and it was excellent.
In the special offers brochure this year it was priced at €22.90, with a discount of €4 which would be added onto my loyalty card; making the final price €18.90. A very attractive price.
When I got home, on studying my bill, I found that I had been charged €23.42 with no mention of a discount having been added to my card. I wasn't pleased.
I felt as if I'd been 'swindled' out of €4.52. No; I HAD been swindled out of €4.52
As you can imagine, I wasn't going to take this lying down; you don't mess with Cro. So yesterday, during my weekly shopping trip, I went to see the nice lady at the 'serious complaints' desk, stamped my foot, and told her to cough-up!
And here is the result (below). €4.52 added to my loyalty card, but no apology from the nice lady; just one of those sneering looks, so beautifully perfected by Parisian waiters.
Eagle eyed viewers might see that I now have €31.49 on my loyalty card. As usual, on Dec 22nd/23rd, this will be spent on the Christmas Turkey, Sprouts, etc. It should cover all my festive costs.
Yup.... happened to me on occasions, too.... Intermarché are the worst, "'Tis I LeClerc" occasionally.... touch MDF, never SuperU.... must be down to the speed [or not] that they update their pricing in the computers!
ReplyDeleteOn the other subject, single malts, I was looking for a "cooking whisky" and came across a single malt at a very good price... cheaper than the blended I was after. Bought it and tasted it before adding to the mincemeat.... and have bought it ever since....it is called Glen Grant and is between 16.90€ and 12€ [when on offer].... as a goto when I don't want anything complex, or after a pint when the complexity would be lost, it is a really nice sup!
I've had this happen so many times at Intermarché that I no longer go near the place. Leclerc is usually very good, but as you say, this must have been a computer glitch. No Glen Grant on offer here; I've just had a butcher's. Last year my son bought a cheapish single malt (I can't remember the name) which tasted of tar. One sip was enough; you couldn't even put it in the mincemeat (we use Armagnac in ours).
DeleteI shan't sample my Singleton until the weather gets cooler; even then I literally just have a sip before bed. Lovely.
I had to learn to look up bills (in a restaurant) and look over receipts at the supermarket.
ReplyDeleteI found out that they never did error in my favour (really!), but often in theirs: they forget the reduction for an offer (often) - and count on the laziness of the customer, or bad eyes, or carelessness - or being ashamed to ask a little sum back.
Not showing any sign to apologise is a thing I do not only see there. (And vice versa: people forget to say "thank you" too).
Well, I think media are the main culprit (glorifying Onslow-ism) - telling and showing people that ruthlessness and egotism is "smart" - and you see examples for that everywhere in very "high places" :-)
I am certainly guilty of not looking at prices, either on the shelves when I buy, or at home on the bill. I just happened last week to look if the €4 had been added to my card, and found their mistake by chance. €4.50 is a lot of money!
DeleteGood on you for stamping your foot. I have an eagle eye here who always scans the checkout bill, usually before he leaves the store and he never forgives it forgets. Lidls is the worst here. They don't often don't show prices or have a different one when you reach the checkout.
ReplyDeleteNow they have very cheap whisky! Their cheap gin and vodka is extremely drinkable.
Enjoy yours
Usual number of mistakes. I apologise.
DeleteJust wanted to add a 'spot on' for yesterday's post and congrats on your
posts
The selection of Whiskies on offer here is staggering, from €51 for 16 year old Lagavulin to €11 for Glen Turner. €19 seems about right to me.
DeleteGood for you, happy that they reimbursed you.
ReplyDeleteWill you find all you need right before Christmas ?
I don't like buying Christmas stuff too early, and simply keep my fingers crossed that a Turkey will still be available. There are several large stores in the town where I go, so I should be OK. They haven't failed me yet!
DeleteSome years ago I ate out in a very smart restaurant with friends (my treat). When the bill came I simply signed (It was that long ago) and when I got home looked at the bill. They had missed off a bottle of wine - a very expensive bottle of wine (the first was there but not the second). I never went back to tell them and I've felt vaguely guilty about it every time I've driven past (which is not too often fortunately).
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that things swinging in my favour have been in sort supply. It only happens occasionally, but I'm far more lively to be overcharged!
DeleteA very attractive price when you finally got it. It's an expensive predilection, one which I suffer from too.
ReplyDeleteA very good Whisky, and a sensible price; eventually.
DeleteWe save all our local supermarket reward points for Christmas dinner, most years we have about £60, saves having to fight the mad rush in the bigger shops.
ReplyDeleteMine is never much over €30, but it pays for the essentials. We don't go mad at Christmas.
DeleteLike St George you took on the dragon and won! "Justice!" the people cry. If you had been caught stealing an item costing 4.52 the supermarket would have shown no mercy.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, and when I said to the nice lady that €4.50 was a lot of money, she just gave me a dirty look.
DeleteI've always hated shopping. I pick up what I want, pay, and get out as soon as possible. Husband does our big food shop - he notices everything!
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoy shopping; probably because I'm the cook in the house. However, I'm the same as you. In and out as quickly as possible, and I only buy what's on my list.
DeleteMy Retired has always done the shopping and having worked in Quality Control for 40+ years prides himself on finding mistakes on receipts. Before Covid, a nearby store had a policy that if they made a mistake, you got the item free. He was always a very proud man to find errors and loved to brag about it.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid I can't be bothered, but if I do a small shop, and the bill comes to over €100, then I might look at the bill. This is how I discovered their mistake with the Whisky.
DeleteI always enjoyed shopping at Leclerc but not the checkout part. It always seemed like a challenge as to whether I could pack the stuff before they piled up into a mountain and tipped off the end of the conveyor belt.
ReplyDeleteI think they have a secret competition between all the checkout girls. Who can cause the most chaos. They certainly don't slow down to help.
DeleteA long time ago The Macallan used to place small ads in the personal columns, just a few lines of text in columns of text. One I remember went:
ReplyDelete"The Will said:
Pour The Macallan on my grave
To quench my dead soul's thirst
So I poured The Macallan on his grave
But through my kidneys first"
That's very funny.
DeleteWonderful.
DeleteExactly the same situation. Scotch discounted by $5 using a loyalty card. Discount not applied. I returned to the store the next day to get my $5. Now I check the receipt before I leave any retail store to see that I have been charged correctly. While I think service is really quite good in Australia, it never seems to be when you are in that situation. You are a troublesome customer and you will never hear the word sorry. At best you may hear, I can't understand how that happened.
ReplyDeleteApologies come hard to these people... they are never wrong. However, I still love my supermarket; it's the best around without question.
DeleteThis seems to be happening more often. Bait and switch. The hope is, the customer does not catch it and probably many do not. Reviewing sales slips and accounts is as important as ever.
ReplyDeleteI very rarely look at prices or bills, but in this case I'm happy I did. I wonder how many other cases I've missed?
DeleteI would have gone to the lady at the serious complaint desk, too. And succeeded, as did you.
ReplyDeleteThey mustn't be allowed to get away with it.
Delete