Selling unpriced products and very bad customer service

On the 25th of this month, I was at Roots located in Orange Farm (Roots Butchery, Eyethu Mall). The customer service was very poor. The product my friend and I were buying was not labeled with its price, and an employee told me they planned to label it the next day (I don't know the employee's name). I was already at the till with my friend, ready to pay, and I was embarrassed because I was short on money since the price had changed but was not labeled that day.

I addressed one of the managers, Abadel, whose name I found out later as she initially refused to give it to me (she kept asking why I wanted it, and when I said I wanted to report her, she still refused). Someone else eventually provided her name. One of the employees at the tills, Shantel, kindly gave me the money I was short of. I then called another manager because the first one barely communicated. The other manager, Chris, was also unhelpful when I tried to address the labeling issue and Abadel's refusal to give her name. Instead, Chris accused me of being drunk, though I had only had one beer. Even if a customer were drunk, that's no excuse for poor customer service. Chris ended up calling the mall's security to kick me out. We left peacefully.

I am very upset about the product not being labeled while being sold. Do they not know their own policies?

The Consumer Protection Act (CPA) governs the display of prices in retail stores. According to Section 23 of the CPA:

1. Clear Price Display: All goods must have a displayed price, either on the product, shelf, or nearby in a manner that is visible and clear to consumers.

2. Unlabeled Items: If a product does not have a price displayed, the retailer may not charge a consumer for it until the price is clearly displayed.

3. Mistaken Pricing: If there is a pricing error, the retailer must either:

Honour the lower displayed price.

Correct the mistake and allow the consumer to decide whether to purchase the product at the correct price.

Therefore, if a product at Roots Butchery is not labeled with a price tag, the store must display the price before charging the consumer. If you encounter a product without a price, you can request the price to be displayed before deciding to purchase it.

If a customer buys a product without a price label being displayed, the situation can be addressed as follows:

1. Consumer Rights: Under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), consumers have the right to receive fair and transparent pricing information.

2. Retailer Obligation: The retailer is obligated to display prices clearly. Selling an unlabeled item could be considered a breach of this requirement.

3. Resolution: If a customer unknowingly buys an unlabeled product, they can:

Complain to the Store: Request a refund or an adjustment to reflect the fair price.

Contact Regulatory Bodies: If the issue is not resolved by the store, the customer can lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Commission (NCC).

Ultimately, the retailer must ensure all products have clear and visible pricing to avoid such situations.