What Tesco means by 'half-price'

More on Tesco’s prices. Last Saturday a reader was doing his weekly shop in Mitchelstown, Co Cork.

A packet of chicken breasts cost twice the price our reader had expected it to be
A packet of chicken breasts cost twice the price our reader had expected it to be

More on Tesco’s prices. Last Saturday a reader was doing his weekly shop in Mitchelstown, Co Cork.

“There was a pre-packed packet of three chicken fillet breasts for €5.34 with a half-price sticker. I assumed €5.34 was the normal price so I bought two packets in the belief I would get six chicken fillets for €5.34.

“When I got home I checked the receipt only to discover that the half-price reduction on my chicken breasts had not been made at the till.

“I phoned Tesco only to be told that €5.34 was the half-price of these chicken breasts. This means that, under normal circumstances, this packet would have cost me €10.68. At this price the chicken costs over €20 per kg.”

The chicken he normally buys in Tesco is €10.56 per kg, he says. “Tesco inhabits a different planet than the one I do because, unless these chickens were hand-reared by Buddhist monks on the Ganges delta, I cannot see the justification for this pricing.

“I feel that the way the product was displayed was misleading.

“I realise that Tesco has done nothing illegal but normally when I see a half-price sticker on a product, it indicates that the product is available at half the marked price.

“I just feel that Tesco could make the price of their special offers less ambiguous.”

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Conor Pope

Conor Pope

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Pricewatch Editor