The Director of Consumer Affairs, whose case against Tesco Ireland for overcharging led to a £3,800 fine for the company yesterday, has said much stiffer penalties are needed for such offences.
A recent survey by Ms Carmel Foley's office showed overcharging occurred in most major grocery chains. The survey, carried out over a weekend last March, showed Londis had an overcharge rate of one in nine purchases while Tesco's rate was one in 275.
Ms Foley said the survey was carried out with the full knowledge of the retailers and following publicity surrounding an earlier survey which showed overcharging in Tesco and therefore should not deflect attention from the seriousness of yesterday's case.
She said she took the case against Tesco because of the serious nature of the complaints received against it.
The survey showed that out of 8,532 products bought in 145 stores, 113 were overcharged. Dunnes Stores overcharged on one in 76 purchases, Supervalu on one in 47, Centra on one in 42, Superquinn on one in 200, Spar on one in 20 and Roches Stores on one in 26. The amount of money overcharged ranged from 1p in a Supervalu store in Roscommon to £8.80 in a Tesco branch in Dundrum.
There were also cases of undercharges in many stores. No overcharging was found in four Marks and Spencer branches in Dublin and Cork or in three Iceland branches in Co Dublin and Donegal.
Ms Foley said the survey and yesterday's court case showed that retailers had to prove to consumers that their computer and pricing systems were impeccable.
It was crucial that consumers were able to rely on stores for accurate pricing as it was not easy for a customer doing weekly shopping to check every item, she said. Tesco Ireland's managing director, Mr Maurice Pratt, said last night he welcomed the acknowledgement in court by counsel for Ms Foley that there was no systematic or deliberate overcharging in the company's outlets. He said he wanted to reassure customers that they could have full confidence in pricing systems and procedures in all the company's stores.
He was pleased with the survey results, which he said showed a high level of accuracy in Tesco branches.
The company shared its customers' concerns when errors arose and operated a No Quibble Guarantee to refund the full price of a product as well as giving them the product free of charge, he said.
Commenting on yesterday's Dublin District Court ruling, Ms Foley said that the fine imposed on Tesco was small in relation to the size of the company, but in each case the fines were only £100 below the maximum which could have been imposed.
She said that in the US supermarkets found overcharging were closed down until they sorted out the problem. While she stopped short of recommending such a law in the Republic, she said, she would like to see much stiffer and more punitive sanctions for supermarkets and retailers found guilty of overcharging customers.
"There is such an imbalance of power between the shoppers and the retailer, and that's why there is a need for stiffer penalties," Ms Foley said.
"It's a case of urging shoppers to be more vigilant and to make their complaints, and the retailers should respond to the complaints."
Ms Foley said she was not satisfied generally about the experiences customers had when they queried a price or complained. "Still all too often there's a dismissive attitude from some stores, giving people the impression that they are just causing a nuisance, and there isn't the standard I would expect of openness to customer complaints," she added.