Two shoppers in Guadalajara got a good deal on a large purchase of whisky thanks to an error by a supermarket and intervention by Profeco, the federal consumer protection agency.
Profeco stepped in after a Soriana supermarket in the Jalisco capital refused to sell the couple 2,340 bottles of whisky at three for the price of two. The shoppers were taking advantage of a Buen Fin promotion that didn’t stipulate a limit per customer. When the store refused to sell them the liquor, they called Profeco.
Buen Fin, or Good Weekend, is similar to the United States’ Black Friday event. It began November 9 and wraps up Friday.
Profeco said it ruled in the shoppers’ favor because the promotional materials for the offer did not state anywhere that the promotion had a limit on the number of bottles that could be purchased.
The agency itself posted a video on its Twitter account showing the two in Soriana with a Profeco official in front of a large pallet containing their whisky. The agency warned business owners to be mindful of labeling restrictions during the Buen Fin sale, saying that the agency would rule in favor of consumers in the event of such errors.
Stories of retailers failing to indicate prices or restrictions adequately or correctly during Buen Fin — and the drastic monetary consequences to the retailer — have become the stuff of legend in recent years. Errors have resulted in consumers getting highly discounted prices on products.
Profeco tends to rule in favor of consumers. Last year, when Walmart in Durango and Mexico City mislabeled prices of electronics during Buen Fin, customers got unheard-of discounts: in Mexico City, customers got a 24,000-peso Samsung HD smart TV for 2,400 pesos.
In Durango, a mistake in which a comma was used instead of a decimal point on labeling, customers were allowed to buy a 32-inch Pioneer brand smart TV — intended to be sold for 3,788 pesos — for just 3.78 pesos.
Sources: El Universal (sp)
