I’m a long-time knitter and follow closely the price of yarn-hand knitted garments can be expensive so even small savings on a ball are great. My particular yarn search (Cleckheaton Country Naturals) is sold by various companies in Australia for between $5.95 and $7.95. 3 days ago, Spotlight advertised this yarn for about $6.00. Fast forward to today, Spotlights post on Facebook advertising a 30% sale. The discounted price is $6.30 down from $9.00 per ball. I know this is incorrect-it was not previously $9 as I have been monitoring it. You might be fooled into thinking this was a genuine discount, it’s not. I’ve been a Spotlight VIP member for over 30 years-this is really disappointing behaviour.
14 Likes
Thank you for posting about your experience.
Have you contacted them (Spotlight management) over the issue? You might even like to let them know you have commented about the problem on the CHOICE Community website. If you have, or are going to, contact them then when you get an answer it would be great if you could post it here.
While the ACCC are unlikely to respond to you, it may be worth making a complaint to them about the behaviour of Spotlight’s pricing practices.
7 Likes
Interesting comments about Spotlight. This is my experience with the same 30% sale recently.
I purchased a number of items all of which should have attracted the advertised 30% discount. I have had a number of previous experiences in this store where discounts have not been applied correctly so I always check the itemised receipt before I leave the store. The most expensive item on my receipt was not discounted so back I went and asked for it be fixed. The shop did provide the refund of $21 but I certainly felt I was the one at fault and had to provide my address and phone number to get the refund.
I contacted Spotlight’s service centre to document what had happened to be told simply to go back and get a refund. I actually wanted an assurance from Spotlight that they would review their practices to ensure that this did not happen again but I certainly didn’t get that from them.
I wondered just how many other shoppers failed to get the correct discounts applied during the sale. The sale receipt simply stated the sale price for each price so it’s not obvious if the correct discount has been applied unless a shopper had taken note of the full price.
8 Likes
It sounds like it’s store/company policy not an isolated incident. A dozen other shoppers posted with the same story as ours-I did send a complaint through to ACCC as I know this “false discount” practice is on their radar the moment. Spotlight’s customer helpline flatly denied there was a problem and asked (in writing) if I had screen shots of historical prices on yarn! I will post again if I hear back from the ACCC, thanks all!
8 Likes
The ACCC will be interested if you have screenshots before, during and after the discount period. Dell Computers was recently fined for inflating prices and then applying discounts to these inflated prices:
If you have sufficient evidence and you provide this to the ACCC, they may investigate and take action if Spotlight has been giving consumers misleading representations about their discounts.
6 Likes
(To whoever might have an informed opinion): as an extension of that comment… regardless of whether the ACCC takes up the specific case, is there any likelihood that Spotlight HQ would be scared into correcting practises by the Dell example, or do you think they are likely to brush it off.
They always have the option of electing to run the risk of attention and fine, on the basis that the profit outweighs any likely cost.
4 Likes
Yes. Not like people or companies that lie
1 Like
As a longtime email recipient from Spotlight, I just ignore any email with percentages. Even when they have prices listed they do their best to ignore and say a sheet is a cover, a rug is a runner, you will never win on the percentage deals. Spotlight is just a scam.
