Coop regularly advertises with offers. But now the grocery giant has been caught with its pants down.
In several Coop Prix campaigns they advertised with incorrect preliminary prices. It made the offers seem much better than they actually are.
Coop explains to Nettavisen that it is not unlikely that similar errors have occurred in various Coop chains.
Report the Nettavisen journalist here!
Coop has these chains:
- Extra
- Coop. Price
- Coop scored
- Coop Mega
- Obs
- The food corner
– I was amazed
Coop’s revelation comes after Nettavisen recently wrote about the mistakes of Rema 1000. First they doubled the price of clementines, then they advertised a 30% discount on the new, high price.
Subsequently, an attentive Coop customer contacted Nettavisen.
also read
Rema 1000 caught in the act: – They violate the law
Rune Hansen thought there was something wrong with the Coop Prix offerings.
Before Christmas he discovered that several Fjordland products were on sale at Coop Prix at a 30% discount.
– I was amazed. Because I didn’t think that an offer had arrived recently, Rune Hansen tells Nettavisen.
Revealed
Rune Hansen keeps an eye on the offers and prices in the shop. He also pays close attention to the rules that apply to offers and sales.
– I understood that the store must calculate the discount based on the lowest price in the last 30 days, says Rune Hansen.
He was skeptical that it could have been up to 30 days since the last sale. Hansen then chose to photograph the price tags in the store to document the price. The bidding campaign at the time lasted up to and including 9 December.
This is the Coop
Coop is Norway’s second largest food operator. Larger than the Rema 1000 and smaller than the Norgesgruppen (Kiwi, Meny, Spar Joker and others)
Coop recorded sales of almost NOK 67 billion in 2022 and has almost 30,000 employees. In Norway there are more than two million Coop members.
Coop has 1,100 stores (as of 2023) in Norway, distributed across the Extra (555), Coop Prix (256), Coop Marked (106), Matkroken (83), Coop Mega (69) and Obs (31) chains.
Coop is a consumer cooperative founded in 1906 as the Norwegian National Cooperative Association.
Price increased
In the first week of the new year Hansen was back in the local Coop Prix store. He then saw that the same Fjordland products were on sale again with a 30% discount.
But the previous price listed was not the December offer price. However, it was the same high preliminary price indicated by Coop for the December sale. In one case, they even increased the initial price extra:
Offer on Fjordland meatballs from 27 November to 9 December:
- Offer price: 46.13
- Preliminary price: 65.90
Offer on Fjordland meatballs from 2nd to 6th January:
- Offer price: 50.33
- Preliminary price: 71.90
– It shouldn’t be difficult
The Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority has previously confirmed that the advance price shown must be the lowest price the item has had in the last 30 days.
– It shouldn’t be difficult for chains to understand the rules. If this had been a small local shop, you would have known they were wrong. But for large chains this should be fine, says Rune Hansen.
Rune also calculated what customers lose. In fact, if Coop had used the correct upfront price, customers would have received a 30% discount on the December offer price. This means that the correct bid price in January should have been 32.29 and not 50.33.
Honesty
Rune reported to Coop any errors in the offer announcement. He even purred for answers. But only after contacting Nettavisen did Rune receive an apology and a NOK 300 gift card.
– Coop states that honesty is one of the most important values. Then they need to make sure that the advertising is reliable and that it doesn’t deceive customers into thinking that the offers are better than they actually are, says Rune Hansen.
Both Coop and Rema 1000 therefore made errors regarding the advance prices indicated in the offers.
Nettavisen has also been in contact with the Kiwi. They inform Nettavisen to always make sure the advance price is the lowest price Kiwi has had for the item in the last thirty days.
Report the Nettavisen journalist here!
It flattens out
Coop admits mistakes.
– It is true that these products should have had a lower initial price, says Coop communications director Harald Kristiansen.
According to him, it is a great job for Coop to follow the rules.
– We must recognize that we currently do not have a good enough technical solution to get the lowest preliminary price of the last 30 days, so this is a lot of manual work, says Kristiansen.
– Because we operate in a competitive industry with frequent changes in prices, offers and campaigns, these regulations will be extremely demanding, he says.
– He doesn’t intend to deceive
It says Coop must follow applicable laws and regulations and that it strives to always use the correct preliminary price.
– We are owned by customers, we share profits with them and we have no intention of deceiving them, he says.
– What would you say to those who feel cheated, given that you advertised with 30% on a preliminary price that was too high?
– Coop has no intention of deceiving its customers, who are our owners, and we apologize if anyone is left with this feeling. Now we are working to ensure this doesn’t happen again, she says.
– Can customers be sure that something similar will not happen in other Coop chains?
– Coop is the chain with the most offers and campaigns and we operate in the sector with the most frequent price changes, so it is not unlikely that similar errors have already occurred in several Coop chains, says Kristiansen.
– No exception
The Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority says it is continually evaluating which sectors it should monitor most carefully.
– The latest media reports may indicate that this sector has not understood the new rules introduced on 1 October 2023, deputy director Marit Evensen tells Nettavisen.
There is no leeway regarding the use of preliminary prices in sales announcements.
– Here the rules are completely clear. When traders market a price reduction, they must indicate the preliminary price. The preliminary price must be the lowest price obtained by the trader in the last 30 days. The discount must also be calculated from this price. There are no exceptions, Evensen says.
In other words, the pre-price used by Coop does not comply with the legislation.
He asks customers to get in touch
Coop has this message for customers who discover errors.
– It should not be the customer’s responsibility to follow up. It is our responsibility that the prices are correct, says Coop’s Harald Kristiansen.
– If despite this customers discover cases of incorrect preliminary prices in the store, we invite them to contact us so that we can correct the error as quickly as possible, he says.
– Rema 1000 refunded customers who did not receive the correct discount. Will you do the same?
– Prix customers who believe they have not received the correct discount are encouraged to look for documentation and contact our customer center to resolve the issue, says Kristiansen.
– Can you guarantee that Coop will not continue to advertise with incorrect initial prices?
– I can guarantee that we will do everything we can to ensure this does not happen again.
2024-01-13 05:10:04
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