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Can a shop refuse to sell you an item at checkout?


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Old 05-12-2016, 09:16
pie-eyed
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It's not illegal. Shops often put a limit on the sale of popular items. Its about making things available for all customers.
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Old 05-12-2016, 09:21
TLC1098
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It's not illegal. Shops often put a limit on the sale of popular items. Its about making things available for all customers.
But surely there would be a sign to let you know. A rule doesn't exist unless it's down in writing.
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Old 05-12-2016, 09:28
Richard46
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IIrc the very first thing I got paid for was going to the newly opened Tesco 'Supermarket' In Church St Market Paddington to buy a load of cheap bags of sugar to sell on at my mothers corner shop. This was in the 1950s.
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Old 05-12-2016, 09:33
Elvisfan4eva
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Yes any shop can refuse to sell you anything but his reason was odd. Complain to Smyths head office about him. You may get a voucher as an apology.
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Old 05-12-2016, 09:37
tim59
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Can a shop refuse to sell you something. yes. Can a shop refuse to serve you yes
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Old 05-12-2016, 09:47
HenryGarten
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Something similar happened to me in Toys R Us some years ago. I got questioned as to why I wanted seven copies of an item. I had a perfectly legitimate reason for buying seven copies and it was not to resell.

Not a good idea to make a fuss of it.
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Old 05-12-2016, 10:32
Paul_DNAP
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Can a shop refuse to sell you something. yes. Can a shop refuse to serve you yes
Indeed they can.

But in this instance I wonder if it was store policy or just that particular member of staff being an idiot. Either way, there is no need for him to be so rude and accusatory towards the OP. It may be worth a letter to the customer care team at head office, just confirm that this is the police and if there was indeed a limit on the number of items that can be bought at once it needs to be displayed more clearly and communicated more politely at the till.
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Old 05-12-2016, 11:04
Monkey_Moo
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A shop can refuse to serve or sell you anything. They can ask to to leave too.

However, it does depend somewhat on the reason. For example, if you think they were discriminating then you may have a civil case against them.
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Old 05-12-2016, 13:28
enna_g
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A few years bak in Morrisons a slightly inebriated itenerant tried to buy a bottle of cider - the woman at the till was most apologetic but refused to sell him the item. Perhaps she thought he was drunk enough. He just accepted it and walked away.
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Old 05-12-2016, 13:36
An Thropologist
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I was in my local Smyths toy store today getting some presents for Christmas.
I have three Nephews who all want a particular action figure so their Mum told me to get them one each for Christmas.

I put three of those figures in my basket and once I went to the checkout the manager was on and when he was about to scan the items he stopped and rudely accused me of buying three of the same thing to resell.
I was rather upset over the accusation and asked him why he thought I would sell them and tried to explain that they were for three Nephews but he was having none it and told me that the particular action figure sells for big money online and that I was obviously buying them to resell.

Now there was a queue and I was very embarrassed so just walked out and went to another Smyths store where I was able to buy the same action figures no problem and without a query.

Despite getting the action figure I was very hurt over being humiliated infront of many people over nothing and when I told my sister she said that unless there is a sign in the shop it's against the law for a shopkeeper to refuse to sell someone an item that is free to lift.

Now my question is. Was that managers actions illegal and have any of you experienced something like this before?
Legally the shop is within their rights. They don't HAVE to sell you anything and don't have to have a reason.

However it is the most bizarre bit of practice I have ever heard in terms of retail customer service. If one can sell these things on line why doesn't the shop manager take them off the shelves and put them all on line? And since you were able to offer to buy 3 in one shop and then buy 3 in another at a normal price this rather belies his "mega bucks on line" claim.

Really weird behaviour.
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Old 05-12-2016, 13:42
d'@ve
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**The marked price is known as an offer to treat and in theory you can get to the till ready to pay £10 for an item marked at £10 when the cashier says it's now £70 and obviously this works the other way too. Marked at £10 but cashier says it's now 50p (without a reduction sticker) Naturally few if any sellers actually work this way.
Smyths do (sometimes) because last week that exact thing happened to me, well half price anyway. Saved me an unexpected tenner!
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Old 05-12-2016, 13:47
thefairydandy
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The one time I had the misfortune to be dragged into the Next sale, my boyfriend found a nice coat, down to £45 from £70, so he duly queued up. 45m later, he gets to the front of the till, and the woman says it was mis-advertised, and she can't sell it to him. It was the only item he picked up, so 45m queuing for nothing.

We went in the next day on the off chance, and it was priced at £55. I would have thought that £10 wasn't such a great loss as to send a customer away VERY unhappy with their service!
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Old 05-12-2016, 14:35
Swanandduck2
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I've seen shops put up notices that only 1 item per customer is allowed, if the product is very popular and there is only a limited supply.

But just randomly stopping someone at the checkout because they have three of the same item, and accusing them of wanting to sell it on line was really odd.

Regardless of any logical reason that there may have been behind it, it was handled very badly by the manager.
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Old 05-12-2016, 15:34
The Amazing
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I've heard of Toysrus doing it with store exclusives, especially on the Star Wars Back Series range of figures and some Doctor Who items, but it's usually quite obviously marked 'Max. 2 per customer' or something like that.
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Old 05-12-2016, 16:21
Hieronymous
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In answer to the question, yes. A shop can refuse to sell you an item. Look up 'invitation to treat' and/or law of contract.

That said, the situation described seems a very odd one. Presumably the Manager had had an argument with his missus or a bollocking or summat. Not the ideal way to encourage repeat business really.
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Old 05-12-2016, 17:08
TLC1098
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Legally the shop is within their rights. They don't HAVE to sell you anything and don't have to have a reason.

However it is the most bizarre bit of practice I have ever heard in terms of retail customer service. If one can sell these things on line why doesn't the shop manager take them off the shelves and put them all on line? And since you were able to offer to buy 3 in one shop and then buy 3 in another at a normal price this rather belies his "mega bucks on line" claim.

Really weird behaviour.
What I don't get is why someone would go online to buy something at double the price when you can walk into a shop and buy it cheap.
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Old 05-12-2016, 17:14
TLC1098
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I've seen shops put up notices that only 1 item per customer is allowed, if the product is very popular and there is only a limited supply.

But just randomly stopping someone at the checkout because they have three of the same item, and accusing them of wanting to sell it on line was really odd.

Regardless of any logical reason that there may have been behind it, it was handled very badly by the manager.
A few years ago Smyths released an Elsa doll and there was a huge sign that said 1 per customer which was fine because the customers were aware of this.

At the end of the day a managers main concern should be making sure the tills are full at closing time and turning away business loses the shop money.
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Old 05-12-2016, 17:18
chrisjr
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What I don't get is why someone would go online to buy something at double the price when you can walk into a shop and buy it cheap.
I suppose it depends on the item and what shop is selling it. If it is something sold by Tesco which seems to have a shop on every street corner in the UK then doesn't seem much point I agree.

But if it is a limited edition item only sold in a handful of shops and would require an 8 hour round trip for someone to buy in store then you might be tempted to go for an online deal.
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Old 05-12-2016, 17:30
An Thropologist
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What I don't get is why someone would go online to buy something at double the price when you can walk into a shop and buy it cheap.
Well precisely.
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Old 05-12-2016, 17:34
An Thropologist
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I suppose it depends on the item and what shop is selling it. If it is something sold by Tesco which seems to have a shop on every street corner in the UK then doesn't seem much point I agree.

But if it is a limited edition item only sold in a handful of shops and would require an 8 hour round trip for someone to buy in store then you might be tempted to go for an online deal.
Yes fair enough and there may have been occassions where I have bought on line rather than go hunting for something when it sin't obvious which shop might stock it. (although an on line search is often handy there too). I might also for somethign that is awkward or heavy to carry I suppose. But not if it meant paying "big money" for somethingthat was easily available in shops at a 'normal' price.
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Old 05-12-2016, 18:21
cnbcwatcher
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I don't know about toy shops but some items are restricted by law, eg over the counter medication or age restricted products like booze and fags. I've had a couple of incidents where shop assistants passed remarks on something I was buying. On holiday in Germany once I bought a bra in an underwear shop and the woman at the checkout remarked that it wasn't the right size for me (and I knew it was). I don't know how she assumed it was for me, but I was fuming. She had no right to comment like that. For all she knew I could have been buying it for someone else. In the summer I wanted to buy some Pokemon cards from a well known store that sells them and they didn't have any because someone had apparently come in and bought them all for his birthday. I didn't believe that story and I suspect they bought them to resell.
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Old 06-12-2016, 03:13
dee123
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At the end of the day a managers main concern should be making sure the tills are full at closing time and turning away business loses the shop money.
Sometimes it just isn't up to them. Some big companies are so big (Disney, Apple for example) that they get special treatment and different rules than other companies. It all depends what's in the contract that head office has hammered out.
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Old 06-12-2016, 03:23
James Frederick
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Sometimes it just isn't up to them. Some big companies are so big (Disney, Apple for example) that they get special treatment and different rules than other companies. It all depends what's in the contract that head office has hammered out.
But would they really care if 30 people are buying 1 each or 1 person buys 30 as long as they are all sold.
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Old 06-12-2016, 04:35
dee123
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But would they really care if 30 people are buying 1 each or 1 person buys 30 as long as they are all sold.
I don't know if this is everywhere but at least in my store and company Apple, Lego is another one that has a cap on how many things the one person can buy. They also have strict rules about things being on special. Which is why you are much more likely to see other brands on special before these two.
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Old 06-12-2016, 05:13
annette kurten
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A few years bak in Morrisons a slightly inebriated itenerant tried to buy a bottle of cider - the woman at the till was most apologetic but refused to sell him the item. Perhaps she thought he was drunk enough. He just accepted it and walked away.
it`s illegal to sell alcohol to someone [who appears to be] already intoxicated.
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