Mitre 10 left red-faced after not honouring price-match guarantee

The staff member at Mitre 10 Mega on Lincoln Rd made a mistake. Photo / File

Mitre 10 has been forced to apologise and hand over a voucher after a store failed to honour its 15 per cent price-match guarantee.

Tom Wu was left fuming on Boxing Day when out hunting for a bargain on a new washing machine.

He first went to Noel Leeming and saw the exact model he wanted - a Simpson SWF12743 - was on special for $398.

Tom Wu (right) has been given an apology and a voucher from Mitre 10 after it didn't honour its price-match guarantee. Photo / supplied

But knowing Mitre 10's guarantee that they'd beat a competitor's price by 15 per cent, he took a photo of the deal and went to the home improvement's Mega outlet on Lincoln Rd.

Wu said he showed a staff member the photo so they could match the price.

But Wu was told the guarantee didn't cover promotions.

"I thought that was a bit dodgy," he said.

So Wu went home and checked the fine print, but the only exclusions were "trade and special quotes, stock liquidations and commercial quantities".

"They should really honour their promise," Wu told the Herald.

He ended up buying the washing machine from Noel Leeming but contacted the Herald with his frustrations because he felt if companies made a guarantee, they "should be prepared to meet that promise otherwise that's just false advertisement".

However, when the Herald contacted Mitre 10 its chief executive Neil Cowie said Wu was correct, a staff member made a mistake and the price guarantee should have been honoured.

Cowie said the person who made the error was "mortified" and passed on their sincere apologies.

Wu was given vouchers to the tune of $60 - the 15 per cent discount he should have got.

He said he'll give the same amount to the Auckland City Mission as it wasn't really about the money for him.