ASDA strikes again, as TMWSC finds himself the subject of overcharging once more. This time, the issue was the cost of individual Freddo chocolates. In the relevant aisle, I had the option of selecting a multi-pack (containing six bars) for £1.00 (marked down from an alleged normal price of £1.15) or individual bars at 17p.
I considered that I had no real need of six, and that two or three would be perfectly adequate for Junior to munch on. I calculated that the multi-pack price would mean an individual price of 16.6p, and so to have to spend 17p was no hardship. I was thus prepared for the extravagance of 51p for three, rather than the 50p 'pro-rata' multi-pack price.
What was frustrating, though, was the labelling deficiencies. The multi-pack provided confirmation that the weight was 108g, and so this meant 18g per bar. On the lower shelf, below the box holding individual bars, ASDA had kindly noted the price (17p) under which was a record of the weight per bar being 21g. I considered that this actually meant the individual bars were better value than those contained within a multi-pack, as they were 16.67% larger. In effect, that should have meant the 16.67p multi-pack rate would translate to 19.44p. The individual bars were (on their wrappers) flashed as 20p, but clearly ASDA has fantastic buying power and the directors obviously felt that the demand for individual Freddo bars warranted an enticement, and 15% discount from the recommended price.
I inspected one of the three bars I'd picked up. There was no fucking weight noted on the packaging. There was, however, some 'nutritional' information, and subject to some tolerance (through approximations and rounding up) I have been able to establish the probably weight of the item based on its various attributes and constitution per 100g and per bar.
2215 kj per 100g and 400kj per bar
530 kcal per 100g and 95 kcal per bar
7.6g protein per 100g and 1.4g protein per bar
30.5g fat per 100g and 5.5g fat per bar
These figures confirm a bar weight of 18g. This makes total sense, and confirms that the single bars and the same as those contained within multi-packs. The ASDA labelling (showing 17p and 21g) was thus WRONG. Having deduced that I was once again being misled by the retailer, I maintained my desire to proceed with the purchase of three bars, and accepted a 1p "surcharge" for the privilege of not having to buy a pack of six.
At The Checkout
While packing the shopping, I noticed the first of the Freddo bars coming towards me across the sloped stainless steel area on the packing side of the checkout. This prompted a glance towards the green digits as the next one was scanned, and I clocked 20p. Most of what I'd bought had been bagged by this time, and I asked the operator to check the charge applied to the bars, as I nudged then to one side. She confirmed a 20p scan and I highlighted that they are 17p, and that whilst it was just three times three pence, it was the principle. This meant that Helen was called it.
Helen was, once upon a time, called 'Matilda' for convenience. This was for my own convenience, not hers of course, as I'm sure her family would be rather confused by a change. When I was blogging and posting after the Marmite fiasco, during which a woman whose name I'd not logged was involved in getting me a credit for an overcharge, I had to refer to said woman, and opted for Matilda. I now knew her as Helen - well, I didn't know her exactly, certainly not beyond experiencing her input once when she was on the checkout shovelling items towards me at 38mph, once while sorting out Marmite-gate and once when she pointed. The latter was when she indicated a lane that I might be interested in, with a big "Miley Cyrus" style finger.
Helen was within seconds en route to the aisles while I stood and wondered whether I might have been better off paying the higher charge and then going to Customer Service. This would have led to Helen's input "post sale", and would have triggered not just a refund of the 9p but the £2 gift card being issued as compensation for having been pissed about and overcharged. On this occasion, I was saving myself time and getting the thing sorted in principle. I now regret this, and will be going to Customer Service next time, prompted by Helen's advice to the operator to cancel them off and redo the charging manually. There was no apology and I heard Helen's "the barcode is wrong". I decided against any retort to query the discrepancy over weights & measures information. I will check next visit whether individual Freddo bars are wrongly declared at 21g.
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