But when the social media user clicked through and downloaded the app he found the telegraph cucumbers were being sold for $5.55 – $2.70 more expensive than advertised – and the Coke was $40.35, $2.90 more than the ad said.
The price of butter as advertised on Milkrun's Facebook adverts. Photo / Supplied
The actual price as displayed on the Milkrun app. Photo / Supplied
“The Milkrun prices shown in the Facebook ads are wrong and should not have been included,” a spokesman said.
“This was simple human error and we apologise for it.”
The adverts were live on the platform “for about 48 hours” and were taken down on Sunday when the issue was identified, he said.
Woolworths would honour the incorrect prices shown by directly crediting customers the difference, which could take a few days, he said.
“We will also take steps to ensure the error isn’t repeated.
“Once again, we apologise for this error.”
Consumer NZ has been approached for comment.
Woolworths’ false adverts come just weeks after the Commerce Commission filed criminal charges against the grocery giant for misleading customers with alleged inaccurate prices and misleading specials.
The commission earlier filed charges against Pak’nSave Silverdale in Auckland and Pak’nSave Mill St in Hamilton.
The commission’s general manager of competition, fair trading and credit, Vanessa Horne, said on May 6 the watchdog had filed charges in Auckland District Court for allegedly breaching the Fair Trading Act.
The Commerce Commission's Vanessa Horne said criminal charges had been filed last month against Woolworths and two Pak'nSave stores.
Woolworths said at the time that it was co-operating with the commission’s investigation and carefully reviewing the charges.
Woolworths New Zealand interim managing director Pieter de Wet said: “We have over 3.5 million transactions in our stores each week, and sometimes errors do occur.
“When they do, we try to make things right, through our long-standing and market-leading refund policy. Under that policy, if a customer is charged more than the advertised price for a product, they get a full refund and can keep the product.”
This story has been updated to reflect that the incorrect prices were only in Facebook ads, not on the Milkrun app.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers business, breaking news and local stories from Tāmaki Makaurau. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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