Internet Shopping Price Alert

In some cases, they would be attracted by a cheap 'special offer' price, only to find they were charged a higher amount because they were billed for the cost on the day of delivery, rather than the day of order.

It has emerged that the prices listed on the web shopping sites of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Waitrose are only guide figures, rather than a statement of the amount to be paid.

Now the OFT has won a promise from the stores to run warnings on their shopping sites that the prices should be considered only a guide.

At the same time, the companies have agreed that any price flagged as a special offer must be honoured.

The OFT said: 'The supermarkets use guide prices on their websites to show the prices of goods in-store on the day the order is placed.' But, it said: 'In most cases, the actual prices customers will pay will be the instore prices on the day when goods are assembled for delivery.' There can be a difference between the two, leaving customers out of pocket.

The watchdog said the websites 'did not make it sufficiently clear that the prices shown were guide prices and what relation they had to the actual prices that would be charged'.

OFT chief executive John Fingleton said: 'Customers have a right to clear and transparent information upfront when making their buying decisions.' The organisation has advised Internet grocery shoppers to check their bills against the prices on the website.

The OFT was also concerned about a minor aspect of the web prices of Ocado, which makes home deliveries of groceries bought mainly from Waitrose.

It found there is scope for problems where items, such as fresh produce, are sold by weight. Because the weight is unlikely to be exactly the figure ordered by the customer, the price will be slightly different to the amount on the computer screen. Ocado has agreed to include a warning about this.

Tesco.com, the world's biggest Internet supermarket, denied that its customers have been misled.

A spokesman said: 'We have always been clear that our prices online are guide prices, but we are happy to make it even clearer.' He added that since customers paid the price of the goods on the day of delivery, they could 'take advantage of new offers introduced since they placed their order'.

Source: The Daily Mail