Rip-off Guernsey? The proof is in the Christmas pudding
HAVING seen on TV an advert by Marks & Spencer for a rather good looking Christmas pudding, apparently made of candied fruit, my wife decided to have a treat this Christmas. The advertised price of £12 seemed acceptable. On looking around the shelves of the local Marks & Spencer franchise in St Peter Port, we couldn’t find any sign of this, so decided to ask for help. The member of staff said they would check their stock and after considerable time, we were told that it was in stock but could not be found. We were informed we could order one if we wished – so deciding to do so, my wife took time to fill out the order form with relevant details. Payment had to be paid upon placing the order, when we were told it would be £14. We queried the price, as the advert had quoted £12, and were told that the extra price was a ‘Guernsey only’ price. Is this not a further example of ‘rip-off Guernsey’ for island shoppers?
Name and address withheld.
Ian McLaughlin, Director of Marks & Spencer, Guernsey franchise, responds:
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to reply to your reader’s comments. Marks & Spencer in the UK have a variable pricing structure across the various categories of stores depending on location and type of operation. Depending on the store and the product an individual will see anything from a zero to 16% uplift on the UK price. In Guernsey your reader will see a similar range of uplifts. Approximately 30% of our range attracts a 0% uplift on the UK and across the range this averages out at 8% above UK prices. This uplift on UK prices is critical to the survival of the business and goes some way to supporting the significant additional costs of operating in Guernsey.
With this particular product Marks & Spencer chose to include this Christmas pudding as part of their advertising campaign.
Whilst I have sympathy with your reader’s point, our selling price on this product has been calculated on all of the above in addition to taking into account all the additional costs of operating the food order facility at Christmas. As it is a line that we do not stock on the sales floor, all prices are communicated to our customers in our ‘Christmas Food Order’ brochure. I hope this helps to explain the complexities of the pricing model. If your reader would like to contact me directly I would be more than happy to explain further if required.