Free Clearance Item if Scanning through at Wrong Pre-Clearance Price

LOrdinance on 06/03/2015 - 13:34

Hey guys

Say a fresh meat product at a supermarket has a ticketed price of $10 but due to an approaching expiry date has been been stickered with "REDUCED TO CLEAR. WAS $12, NOW $6". Would it be legal to remove the clearance sticker/barcode and obtain the product for free if it scans through at $12 using the original barcode?

My instincts say 'yes' as the product would have scanned above the ticketed price before the clearance sticker was applied due to the approaching expiry date. However, I wouldn't want to tamper with stickers unless I was sure it was legal to do so in this case.

Cheers!

Food & Grocery

closed Comments

  • millhouse on 06/03/2015 - 13:48
    +16

    No, it's by deception.

  • victorwilson on 06/03/2015 - 13:49
    +29

    Your logic is flawed.
    If you remove the clearance sticker from the item, then you're removing the only thing that's getting you a discount.

  • enidan on 06/03/2015 - 13:53
    +6

    Why would you get it for free? You'll just be paying the full price rather than the discounted price as you removed the sticker that contains the barcode for the discount.

      • drdolphin on 06/03/2015 - 14:10
        +6

        The scanning code of practice is a voluntary code, which I believe no chain supermarkets abide by anymore (as is their choice).

        In the case you state, it would be deception and not allowed. You are removing the barcode and essentially replacing it with another. By that logic you could rip the barcode sticker off a $2 item, and place it on a $10 item and try to claim its fair.

        • drdolphin on 06/03/2015 - 14:58
          +3

          @lukeolivie:

          You still falsified the ticket, so this situation isn't the shops fault. Its fraud.

          I've received free items as well, but in the last 12 months or so both Coles and Woolworths have done away with this practice, and now will give you the item at the lowest price.

      • victorwilson on 06/03/2015 - 14:12
        +6

        If you remove the sticker that mentions "WAS $12", you have no evidence to support your claim that the particular item you "tampered with" was ever marked as $12. You will have a hard time convincing the checkout staff why you should get the item for free if it simply scans at the price marked on the shelf ($10).

      • enidan on 06/03/2015 - 14:20
        +5

        You're correct in the first part- if the item scans differently to what is advertised/ on the shelf then you can get it for free.
        However, if you remove the sticker which has the unique barcode for the discounted price, then what you're left with is the advertised price, which is the full price.

      • PJC on 06/03/2015 - 21:48

        The sticker does not say 50% off. So you can't claim you should be getting 50% off the displayed $10 price. That sticker also does not specify when it was $12. Without the sticker it will scan at $10 despite their claim it was, at some stage, $12. The sticker clarifies when it is $6. Having removed the sticker, how can you explain they have overcharged you?

  • mrpopo on 06/03/2015 - 13:59
    +8

    The question being asked is: will the item be free because it is not scanning at the correct (lower reduced) price.

    See: http://www.anra.com.au/Scanning%20Code%20of%20Practice%20for…

    I would say no, because the 'Shelf Price' is not lower.

  • spychiatrist on 06/03/2015 - 15:03
    +7

    When the security CCTV see you peeling off that Clearance sticker price in a "theft-ful" attempt to get an item for free, you will be the one sorry

  • Cheeper on 06/03/2015 - 15:11
    1. It is deceitful.
    2. "If the product scans at a different price to what is listed" …. Listed where?
      If it is reduced because of nearing shelf life then only the individual item is marked as reduced.

    Nice try… but fail. :-)

    • Ordinance on 06/03/2015 - 15:14
      -3

      Listed where?

      Listed on the product. On most fresh meat the total price of the item is clearly marked on the product's label.

      • Cheeper on 06/03/2015 - 15:20
        +5

        but if you remove the discount sticker then you will be left with the regular price sticker.
        it will then scan at exactly that price and cannot be claimed as a free item because there is no anomaly.

        It is only when an item scans at a price that does not match the SHELF or ADVERTISED price that you can ASK for the item for free. There is no obligation on the retailer to give you the item for free, all they have to do is refund you the difference or refund for the return of the item.

        • [Deactivated] on 06/03/2015 - 21:55
          +2

          @lukeolivie: You do realise that whoever served you at the deli/meat department will be getting in trouble for 'forgetting' to stick the reduced for quick sale sticker when he served you, right? Usually this would be a teenager who is on award wages.

          Dude, if you can't afford to buy meat, why not become a vegan?

        • PJC on 06/03/2015 - 21:56

          You said the ticketed (I suppose you mean displayed) price is $10, so that would be the scan price if you remove the sticker. Now they have arranged to scan it for $6 with a sticker saying it was $12. If you remove the sticker how can you legitimately claim it should be free?

        • Tal_Shiar on 06/03/2015 - 22:52

          @PJC: it sounds like he is talking about a item that was reduced to clear while on special, hence the price was $12, marked at $10, but scanned for $6.00…..

  • natman on 06/03/2015 - 15:20

    The ticketed price is $10 but it is reduced from $12 to $6? I don't really understand. In any case removing the sticker and trying to deceive them is obviously not the morally right thing to do.

  • Ordinance on 06/03/2015 - 15:23
    -4

    Just a clarification - the reason why the clearance sticker is important is because it displays what the product's real scan price was originally, allowing one to immediately check if the original scan price matched by the products original ticketed price. If one was shameless enough they could achieve the same result by taking a bunch of non-clearance products to the self serve register and manually comparing the scan prices with those listed on the products, albeit in a far less discreet (though perfectly legal) manner.

    • natman on 06/03/2015 - 15:28
      +2

      Ok I think I get what you're saying. Still seems dodgy to be tampering with stickers though.

      • Ordinance on 06/03/2015 - 15:35
        -4

        Exactly. I wouldn't be keen to try this unless I was absolutely certain it was legal, and from the responses I've recieved here I'm certainly not convinced it would be.

        • Settero on 06/03/2015 - 16:50
          +1

          i dont know if you are a troll of for real.

        • Ordinance on 06/03/2015 - 17:02
          -1

          Why would I be trolling? I've unintentionally elicited a bit of an emotional response from a few users, but I made it clear in the OP that I haven't attempted or intend to recreate such a scenario IRL. I just wanted OzB's plain opinion on the legality of doing so ¯_(ツ)_/¯

    • PJC on 06/03/2015 - 22:00

      The sticker is important because it displays a new barcode with the real scan price of $6.

  • blitz on 06/03/2015 - 15:27
    +9

    Yes, it's legal! You've discovered the One Weird Trick to get free food.

    Now that you have found the answer to your question, please video yourself doing it and post it so we can see the results.

    • jaybmate on 06/03/2015 - 18:40

      Then post it on buzzfeed

      • scrimshaw on 06/03/2015 - 19:32
        +3

        Wrong order, it'll have to go to Reddit /r/shittylifeprotips first, then reposted on Tumblr, where it will be stolen by 9Gag, reposted on Buzzfeed and then eventually making it's way back again to Ozbargain.

  • Cheeper on 06/03/2015 - 15:30
    +2

    If you want to save 10 times that amount then there are many other ways to do it … and without as much trouble. :-)

  • jaybmate on 06/03/2015 - 18:40
    +2

    Just give up mate.

  • Randxyz123 on 06/03/2015 - 18:55
    +2

    wtf. No not legal.

  • TheAviator on 06/03/2015 - 19:28
    +1

    So let me get this straight:

    1) you find a product with a clearance sticker
    2) you take sticker off and then scan the original sticker
    3) you then tell the cashier "oh look I found this clearance sticker, which I took off the product, and then when I scanned the item it came up at full price." and expect that they will just give it to you for free as a result?

    • Ordinance on 06/03/2015 - 19:47
      -7

      No. Please read my comments for clarification.

  • [Deactivated] on 06/03/2015 - 21:33
    +7

    How would you prove it was on clearance if you've removed the sticker? Just because something is close to its used by date , doesn't mean they have to reduce the price.

    As for sticker-swapping, its considered theft. I've seen a few teenagers getting nabbed for doing this at my local woolies.

  • StalkingIbis on 06/03/2015 - 22:16
    +15

    how can you think that might be legal???

    this is ozbargain not ozfivefingerdiscount

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