Special offers in supermarkets still risk leaving shoppers worse off, a probe has found.
Britain’s biggest supermarket chains had promised to simplify deals to avoid luring customers into multi-buys that work out more expensive.
But investigators from consumer watchdog Which? have found shops are still running “questionable special offers”.
They found Uncle Ben’s Classic Basmati Rice at Tesco on a “3 for £4” deal – but the offer replaced a half-price special of 74p a pack, when you could have got three for just £2.22.
At Iceland, the Which? team found a 500g box of Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut on offer at “2 for £4”.
Yet the pre-offer price a week earlier had been only £1.42 per pack – meaning shoppers paid £1.16 more for the “deal”.
Which? also highlighted “discounted” items that were still the same price. They found Cathedral City cheddar at Morrisons sold at “£2, was £3.50”. It had cost £2 before the offer, says Which?
Two years ago supermarkets promised to review promotional practices after Which? prompted a review by competition watchdogs.
But Which? said: “We’ve yet again found a host of questionable offers.”
Tesco said: “We work hard to offer deals which represent genuine value.
“We always make sure customers can see how much a single item costs.”
And Morrisons told us: “We always follow the guidance for traders on pricing practices.”
Iceland did not comment.
