Non-Display of till prices

D

Debasser

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I work in a business park & we have a SPAR/CENTRA(can never remember which!) based in the park. Anyways besides the usual highly inflated prices I've noticed that on both tills the eletronic displays are covered by sweets/confectionary to such a degree its impossible to see the prices of products as they are entered individually. I've been here over 3 years & its always been the same. So unless you get a ridiculous off the wall price for your total you have no way of knowing if you've been charged the correct price. Individual items are rarely priced e.g. Chocolate bars, gum etc.
Anyone know if this is legal & if not who should I be talking too.

Thx-
 
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Our local SPAR is the same - you can never see the price of the item being scanned, and they never give you receipt (unless you ask and then they look at you as if you are mad). Sorry I have no reply to you, but I too am curious if this is legal.
 
Debasser said:
Anyone know if this is legal & if not who should I be talking too.
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As far as I know
  • Items for sale must be clearly priced
  • The till total should be visible
  • A receipt should be issued
Best to check with the [broken link removed] and/or .
 
Just back from a holiday in Italy. Their trick was to give you a receipt for the total amount of the purchase but not showing the price of the individual items purchased. We were ripped off so many times. Receipts for €14 for two coffees and a sandwich eaten sitting down at a table that were priced at €3 for each item on display. You were effectively charged for "sitting down".

I am also aware of the Spar/Centra thing. I understand that the items are barcoded so they should automatically charge the price as displayed. However the guy behind the counter may have different ideas. I was overcharged during the week at the UCD students shop by 10p. When I mentioned it to the girl she said "we all make mistakes". No apology though. I am sure it was a mistake but for someone handling change all day long we sometimes wonder how it can happen.
 
Yes, but it would be nice to know by "how much", I didn't think I had to buy the chair as well!. An itemised till receipt should always be given no matter where you shop.
 
I agree. I just don't know what the Italian or EU wide letter of the law on itemised receipts is! I do know that the Italian Guardia di Finanza (customs/tax police) do make spot checks to make sure that retailers issue receipts (e.g. by asking a customer who exits the shop for their receipt) and can fine them (the retailer) if they don't. However I'm not sure if itemised receipts are mandatory there or here or in the wider EU generally. I do know that you are more likely to get a receipt in Italy for small purchases than you are here.
 
I was in a spar last night and when the girl scanned a scratch card it kept coming up as "Bottle Coors".
 
clubman

if you go into o'briens sandwich shop in the blanchardstown centre you have to pay €1 extra if you want to sit down
 
only got stung the once so dont know

when i got to the till she asked will i be sitting down, i said yes and she said it's € 1 extra,
 
Clubman, it is interesting what you say about the Italian Customs/tax police. We were having a paninni in a small cafe in Siena. Out tour guide had asked us to ask for a receipt as they are required to give one by law. Anyhow we were asked for payment. After payment and before we left my wife asked for a receipt. We were given the receipt and then €1.50 back with mutterings of an apology that he had made a mistake. He looked worried. Maybe the customs/tax police are active in the tourist towns and this guy got cold feet. In Rome near the vatican we were given an itemised hand written bill, the locals were given a till receipt.
I agree with your comment on the O'Briens scenario. Should your receipt show that you are being charged to sit down. Just another point, how many times are the plastic bag tax charges itemised on a receipt?
 
IsleOfMan said:
Maybe the customs/tax police are active in the tourist towns and this guy got cold feet.
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I think that they are. I saw them a lot in Sicily and Sardinia but never noticed them checking customers leaving shops for receipts.

gar123 said:
when i got to the till she asked will i be sitting down, i said yes and she said it's € 1 extra,
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Just like that McDonald's ad where your man is charged extra for all the add ons (cloakroom, dancing, dancing with a partner etc.) in the nightclub? :)
 
A few points on the Italy scenario. The receipt (scontrino) must be itemised and give a breakdown of VAT (IVA).

Both the seller and the buyer can be fined for not having a receipt.

The receipt must be electronically issued.

Quite funny that when the Italians brought it in as legislation, they only gave 3 months of a deadline for retailers to comply. Coincidentally, the state owned Olivetti company was the only one who just happened to have a supply of the correct specification tills!
 
SineWave said:
Both the seller and the buyer can be fined for not having a receipt.
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I didn't realise that the buyer could be fined too but that does ring a bell now that you mention it alright.
 
gar123 said:
clubman

if you go into o'briens sandwich shop in the blanchardstown centre you have to pay €1 extra if you want to sit down
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I think O'Brien's have two prices up - the take-away price and the sit-in price....
 
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