Tesco shopper overcharged on Valentine’s Day deal as supermarket fails to apply discount at checkout
Sarah-Jane Walton, 40, spotted the error on the receipt and was given a refund - but only after she challenged staff
A TESCO shopper who was overcharged for a Valentine’s Day deal when the supermarket failed to apply a discount has raised concerns over whether other customers are also being left out of pocket.
Sarah-Jane Walton, 40, realised she’d been charged £30, instead of £20, when she was buying the meal deal aimed at couples in a Tesco store in Surrey last night.
The offer - which is available in thousands of stores across the UK - means shoppers can buy two main meals, two sides, two desserts and a bottle of wine for £20.
But instead of the discount being applied automatically, the executive assistant realised she had been charged individually for the items and had to report the error to the customer service desk.
RELATED STORIES
Mrs Walton, who lives in Chertsey, Surrey, was then refunded £10 plus a further £10, as an apology.
She told The Sun Online: “We decided to treat ourselves as the children are away and my husband is working tonight so this was an alternative to going out for dinner.
“It was very frustrating and makes you wonder how many other people were overcharged. The shelves in the supermarket were nearly clear.”
The policy is part of the supermarket’s promise to refund customers “double the difference” if they are charged for a deal that is advertised in the shop but not applied at the checkout.
But it relies on shoppers spotting mistakes and knowing that they can challenge staff to fix errors.
It comes just a day after Tesco was busted by a BBC investigation which found shoppers were left out of pocket because the supermarket didn’t take down pricing promotion signs after deals had ended.
It meant that shoppers were being overcharged for items that they thought were still on offer.
The supermarket vowed to double-check signs in stores as a result of the Inside Out programme, which aired on BBC 1 last night.
A spokesperson from Tesco said: “Our Valentine’s Finest Meal Deal has proven extremely popular with customers and we’re not aware of any similar issues with the deal.
"We’re glad this was resolved by our colleagues in store and hope Ms Walton has a lovely Valentine’s evening.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368