SUPERMARKET giant Sainsbury’s is facing fury from hundreds of customers who took advantage of a bargain pricing glitch – only to be told they would be charged full price.
Eagle-eyed shoppers thought she had cleaned up with a brilliant bargain after snapping up the electric toothbrush, which usually sells for £50, for just £2.75.
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Shoppers have been sharing their fury on HotUKDeals and Sainsbury’s Facebook page.
The price glitch on the Ordo Sonic+ gadget appeared on Sainsbury’s website and was spotted by a friend of Jo Brittain, 39 from St Albans.
She quickly added two of the brushes to her weekly shop.
The PR, who has two kids aged 5 and 7, said she believed the deal was genuine as a way to lure shoppers to buy groceries from Sainsbury’s.
“I thought they were deliberately trying to draw back customers as the cost of living bites,” Jo explained.
Then she received a text message from the supermarket saying she would be charged £100 for the Ordo brushes she believed she had bought for £5.50.
“This morning I looked at my texts and saw I’d been sent a message by Sainsbury’s, stating I would be charged the full amount for the toothbrushes I had ordered, unless I cancelled the order by 11pm – which was the night before I’d even seen the message,” explained Jo, who works in PR.
Jo rang customer services who organised a refund as she had not received the items yet.
“I was lucky enough to sort this out before setting off to collect my delivery. But what about other families who also miss this text, and have already had their food delivered and been charged £50 or more?
“Who exactly do Sainsbury’s think a £2.50 offer will attract? It’s those who have little money in the first place.”
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Legally, retailers don’t have to honour price glitches online if it’s a “genuine mistake”.
Instead, they can cancel the order and refund the money, usually within seven days.
The toothbrush is now listed on Sainsbury’s website on sale – but for £45, not £2.75.
Jo was amongst hundreds of shoppers who went online to complain that their orders would cost almost 20 TIMES what they thought they would be paying.
“I was so looking forward to the toothbrushes – you don’t often get to look after yourself much when you have young kids,” said Mandy Price, 34 from Hertfordshire.
“I cancelled my order before they delivered, thank goodness.
“The cynical part of me wonders if they wanted the traffic to their website.
“You can see all the supermarkets battling over customers. Who loses out? Us.”
Others vented their anger over Sainsbury’s move on the hotukdeals website.
“Their threat to charge over 1700% of the advertised cost with less than 3 hours notice is awful,” said one gutted shopper.
“Worth noting, [Sainsbury’s] CEO received a nice little pay increase of 185% last year. Rich continue to look after the rich.”
Another complained: “Shocking services. I can’t believe they’re giving me less than 3 hours to cancel the order or they’ll charge me £50 an item.
“I didn’t agree to be charged £50, seems wrong to me.”
A further bargain-hunter said: “I don’t mind the order being cancelled.
“You come to expect it with these kind[s] of deals. But getting a text with a three hour window to cancel your order before you get charged £500 on a £25 shop is very, very bad.
“Also their website is now unable to load, probably because of the influx of people scrambling to cancel.”
On Facebook, more than 100 angry bargain-hunters had bought the toothbrush, only to be told they would be charged full price.
One said: “Sainsbury is known for taking the full amount out at a later date.”
Another asked: “can they do that without notifying you first? That’s a little unsettling.”
One Twitter user complained to Sainsbury’s: “I bought a toothbrush for £2.75 online.
“Now you send me a text you’re going to charge me £50 instead? Wtf, why are you not [honouring] the transactions.
“It’s not my fault you made an error. I even used some gift vouchers that are not re usable. I want my order at 2.75!”
Sainsbury’s said: “Due to a technical error the Sonic+ toothbrush was priced incorrectly on our website for a short time yesterday.
“We have contacted the small number of customers affected to make them aware of the correct price and give them an opportunity to update their online order with us.
“We’re sorry for any disappointment this may have caused.”
“Customers can amend orders up until 11pm the night before their delivery or return any item when they receive it for a full refund.”
Despite Sainsbury’s electric toothbrush not being on sale at £2.50, bargain hunters can grab Aldi’s Philip’s Perfect Draft at 42% off or their £10 cocktail fountain in store now.
