PFC Penge Food Centre Sydenham Road

[anonymouse]

Too many times to be a genuine mistake.

I often go into PFC late at night when Tesco is closed I like the shop and the staff are friendly BUT!!!
This has happened to me too many times to be a genuine mistake:

I purchased several items and the assistant rings it up on the till for example let's say the items come to £5.95 the assistant says £8.10. You can't see the actual cash register display so you have to take her word for it unless you're concious of the amount. I queried the amount and she gives the impression it's a mistake and rectifies it.

The problem is this has happened several times and I always make a concious note of what it should be. On the 4th time I accused her of deliberately trying to con me and she just laughed it off. This particular woman never does this to me anymore as she knows I'm on to her.

The other evening I went in and was served by another woman, and I bought two items which should have come to about £2.10 but she said £5.65; I queried the amount and she blamed the till and rectified it.

I cannot be sure but I am totally convinced the staff are pocketing the difference and ripping off late night customers, I have never had this happen to me during the day.

I know this has happened to at least one other customer.

I have always mentally added up my shopping as I go and I always check my change, I know a lot of people don't do this.

Anyone else had this issue?

[somerandombloke]

Yeah 3 nights in a row same woman each time one time short changin me two times overchargin. I may be a bit crap at raeding and writing but my mental maths is excellent i always tot it up in my head she say it was a mistake the 1st 2 times and when I told her on the 3rd time I thought she was tryin to rip me off she said well you don't have to come in here any more. So I dont go in there any more.

[Sydenham]

Not good when you can't trust local businesses - I too often use PFC.

But "game up now" if there was a deliberate scam going on - they are warned - so unlikely that involving law enforcement agencies will be effective. What we don't know is whether police are in the middle of an investigation based on others reporting direct to them. Your experiences might have been useful.

P.S. I once had the opposite at this place - I was given back far too much change and told them they had made a mistake, which they were happy to accept was possible.

[somerandombloke]

Yeah I wuold hope they see the error of there ways. I wonder if they read this forum.

[chrisj1948]

Anyone else had this issue?

Yes.

Regards
Chris

[Hissing Syd]

Yes - when I queried, I was made to feel it was my fault. I was a big fan before then, but I avoid now.

[Robin Orton]

So why doesn't one of you draw their attention to this thread? I see that they can be contacted at pengefood@gmail.com

[somerandombloke]

I did about 40 minutes ago.

[JonnoBass]

Thanks for the warning folks.. Like the majority of people I'm simply too trustful and never bother checking change. Have probably handed over a fair few quid over the past couple of years if this is indeed an actual and ongoing scam. My family and I won't be using PFC again until I see some sort of appropriate & convincing response on this forum.

[The Clown]

Gosh, I agree. This is upsetting. Boycott until resolved. Management may not even be aware but tills point is a good one and something it looks like they could fix to bring confidence back to customers

[owlwise]

This happened to me the other day at the Payless supermarket next door but one from Kirkdale bookshop. The lady overcharged me by about £3 and I queried it and she just apologised and recalculated and charged me the correct amount. Very suspicious.

[mosy]

I've not found myself being overcharged in PFC other than one occasion several years back when a new assistant rang a veg in as kg rather than grams and I think one other years ago when an item was rung in twice (they had a sticky till then, rather than lead footed assistant). The cashiers were obviously oblivious (or extremely good actresses) and mistakes do happen, but those are the only ones I've found in PFC and I shop there regularly. They will always give an itemised till receipt if you ask. I ask, as it helps me keep abreast of seasonal pricing for the more exotic fruit and veg they sell.

A few months back, I did politely query my change in the early hours and was given very short shrift as another described, which was quite unexpected and surprising since she knew me as a regular customer. I realised I'd got it wrong, but I didn't think I deserved that initial response. Maybe it's an automatic "don't try it on" response in the post-midnight hours?

Bottom line, I'm happy to shop there. Incredible range of fresh & fridge produce and stock lines in herbs and spices that anyone in the sticks would give their right arm for.

What is with this "suspicious" thing being echoed in this thread? I'd say prove your suspicions if you claim they are ongoing.

And now Payless is "suspicious" because of one mistake even though an instant apology was given? (I've shopped at Payless as well as PFC for years.) For goodness sake.

I mean, pullease, if you count mistakes, then which shop doesn't make them occasionally - and which customer doesn't for that matter. I often query my change as it's often wrong though balanced either way (my favour or theirs). If in my favour, I always give it back needless to say as not fair not to. One day recently, it was three shops on the trot and I wondered if it was astrological influence or a flashing light over my head (two in my favour, one against).

I take the point that vendors & assistants shouldn't make mistakes but they do given they're not robots. If you think mistakes are consistently in their favour, why not take a camera phone?

[Rachael]

I agree with mosy that you can't take one instance of overcharging as anything other than a mistake.

If, however, there is a trend at PFC, that needs to be addressed to the owners. The only way of finding out if it is a trend it to ask if others have had the same experience. I'm glad the owners have been emailed and hope their response can be made public.

[anonymouse]

My experiences were not one offs. They were persistent over charging. Not short changing.

The till display is hidden from view. I'm very good at mental arithmetic and I know what the items should total. So for example if the items come to £8.75 the woman would say £11.25 .

Again this is not short changing it's asking for more than what's potentially been rung up.

She accused me of being a crazy woman.

[owlwise]

They should be reported to the local Trading Standards.


trading.standards@lewisham.gov.uk

[mosy]

anonymouse, do you usually ask for a till receipt? Suggestion: If you think the amount asked for might be wrong, say nothing and pay it with a note, not coins, to avoid confusion. Have the assistant put the change down on the counter (so you can't have touched it), then ask for the till receipt. If you are proved right, ask to speak to the manager (and hold up the inevitable queue until he appears).

Looking at your example hypothetically, an assistant might have misread the till when asking for money (easily done perhaps, well, 6,8,9s can be confused), but most assistants look at the till to read how much change to give, so if their tills show change, it means an assistant must have read the till wrongly twice if the items were rung in correctly and gave a lower total. The reverse numbers for change of 4,2,1 respectively aren't likely to be misread. Misreading twice (if they have that type of till) is incompetence at best.

It is odd in a different way though if indeed deliberate. Why would an assistant be daft enough to make big "hits" which might well be noticed when notoriously successful scams take an unnoticeable penny or two from lots of customers (and PFC always have lots)?.

Also, people writing on here who think it's happened more than once don't say if it's the same assistant.

For your example, would it be a trading standards matter If the correct amounts are being rung into the till? I'd have thought it simple dishonesty by an employee (if it were and could be proved), or in the worst case fraud if management was somehow involved which I personally strongly doubt.

I'm happy to be neutral on this, but since I've had no cause for concern over several years I'll happily carry on shopping there.

[Sydenham]

Am I the only shopper at PFC who has been given more change back than expected (see my earlier post)? I'd love to hear about others who have experienced this - it can't have just been me.

And at Jewsons today I bought 3 bags of sand but the yard man only marked one down on the docket. I made sure he updated this to 3 before I went to the counter to pay. I didn't want to be the cause of any stock issue, or be accused of being in collusion with the employee.

It's nice to see the look of surprise on the shopkeepers face when you point these kind of mistakes out, and then give them the money back.

Good to point shortages out - but get the manager involved, not just the person who served you; keep records of what happened; and report to police / trading standards officers so they can build up intelligence and a wider picture.

And just stop shopping there if the ambience and attitude and behaviours don't appeal to you.

[gpdgentleman]

I also think that something fishy goes on here. Before I go on, I have to say that I think the PFC is an excellent shop, well stocked with many choices,and with many things that can't be easily found elsewhere.

However, I went in the other day to buy a big bag of coarse-ground black pepper: I never buy this sort of thing at Sainsbury's et al as you get a tiny jar (45g) costing £1.50-£2, whereas these 400g or sometimes 454g bags are much better value at 'ethnic' shops (for want of a better term). I remember a 400g bag had previously cost £5.99 at PFC.
Having found the product two days ago (indeed priced at £5.99 on the shelf) I was amazed to be asked for £7.49 by the cashier! Naturally I didn't pay, and went back to the shelf to check. Sure enough the shelf label said £5.99 and said so to a young man who seemed to be 'managerial'. He made some comment amount about the barcodes on the shelf pricer being different to the barcodes on the package or some such nonsense, obviously hoping I would go away and forget about it. I calmly explained that under law, if the shelf pricing says £5.99 then they must, by law, sell the item for the same price. He then brushed it aside with the usual "The boss isn't here today". Yeah right.
It's obvious from this site that I'm not the only person who thinks that 'sharp practices' are in operation here. Maybe they do need a visit from Lewisham Town Hall Trading Standards?

[Parker1970]

I calmly explained that under law, if the shelf pricing says £5.99 then they must, by law, sell the item for the same price.

Mostly right. They should in the interest of customer service sell it at £5.99 but they are also entitled to refuse to sell the product at all, remove it from the shelves for 24 hours and put it back once the shelf edge label has been corrected.

I do shop there, but only for the rarer items (Chilli oil for example), but as I had read this thread before I am always double checking my transactions in there.

[MagmaTimes]

Interested to read all this. I too have left the shop scratching my head about how the total bill could have been so much. I'll double check the amounts from now on.