British supermarket chain Asda has been hit with a £3,500 fine following its failure to carry out cut-price offers at three of its stores in Manchester .
Several spot checks were carried out by Trading Standards officers at branches in Eastlands, Longsight and Hulme, after complaints were received from customers stating that Asda had failed to honour a “20 per cent off” promotion on alcohol .
The swoops, carried out in September and October 2005, also revealed that the Eastlands store did not meet a “price match” offer in relation to a buy-one-get-one-free promotion for Power Ranger toys, which were available from a different supermarket retailer .
The Wal-Mart owned retailer pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates’ Court to seven offences of giving misleading price indications (under Section 20 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987) and has now – nearly two years after the initial swoops were made – been fined £3,500 and has also been ordered to pay costs of £3,700.
Councillor Neil Swannick, spokesman for Manchester council, said that trading standards officers had found misleading prices in all three Asda stores involved.
“Price wars occur regularly between large stores and shoppers are often enticed to buying goods as a result of these appealing offers,” he said.
“These stores have a responsibility and a duty of care to their customers to not renege on any deals or mislead customers through the prices they are offering.
“This prosecution shows that no store, however large, is above the law and we will not hesitate to prosecute them.”
An Asda spokesman commented: “This was a genuine administrative error on our system and obviously we made a mistake. We are very sorry.”
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