Q: When is a price not a price?

A: When it’s a “Displaypreis”

What sounds like a bad joke actually happened to me at a local supermarket last week – the very simple case of when the price on the shelf does not match the price in the computer.

Of course, this being Germany there is a law to govern such things and it is called the Preisangabenverordnung and acts in a similar way to the Sale of Goods act in the UK.  As I understand it, you cannot display a price on the shelf and then ask for a higher one at the till.

And yet it happens and I am usually more than willing to point this out and insist on paying the price that was on display.

Over the years I have experienced various answers.  Most supermarkets will just check that I am right and charge me the lower price, although I remember taking one employee to a shelf to show that the price in the computer was off by several Deutschmarks, only for them to remove the sign in question and say “so, now it’s not anymore” and insist on the higher price.

I have also been in supermarkets when the prices have been raised during the course of the day, so that the price on the shelf changed after I took something off it!

But the absolute winner in excuses was the one last week.  The Displaypreis. (more…)

Today one of our local supermarket chains  (Rewe) was offering a free Schultüte (school cone) to all the children who start school next week.

Not only is the cone filled with healthy fruit and useful things such as a timetable to fill out and a ruler, but the promotion was well organised.

Although we had received a voucher in advance, we went early to make sure that our daughter did not miss out.  Excepting to find a large display – possibly with none left by the time we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to find that they were being kept out of public view and were only being issued on production of the voucher.

So even if this isn’t the cone that will be going with her to school next week, it was a nice thing for them to do and really brought home the fact, that there are only a few days left to go.

Thank you Rewe – and well done!

Our daughter and her school cone at the supermarket

No, that is not a reference to “Dinner for One“, which millions of people in Germany will be watching this evening, but to the sign in our local supermarket with the opening times for New Year’s Eve.

Once again, the word “Silvester” has been mis-spellt with a “y”.  As James would no doubt say, “I’ll kill that cat!”

Happy New Year!