Woolworths has apologised and blamed "simple human error" for advertising the wrong prices on Facebook for some items available through Milkrun. Photo / Supplied
Woolworths has apologised and blamed "simple human error" for advertising the wrong prices on Facebook for some items available through Milkrun. Photo / Supplied
A New Zealand supermarket giant charged over alleged inaccurate pricing and misleading specials faces more scrutiny after advertising false prices.
Woolworths has apologised and blamed “simple human error” for advertising the wrong prices on Facebook for some products from its delivery service Milkrun.
One advert on the social mediaplatform showed 500g Woolworths brand butter was selling for $5.50, while the actual price on the Milkrun app was $9.55. There were also price discrepancies for telegraph cucumbers and Coca-Cola.
A spokesman for the grocery giant said the company would honour the incorrect prices by directly crediting customers the difference, which could take a few days, he said.
The Commerce Commission said it had received multiple inquiries relating to the Facebook ads for Milkrun in the past week.
Vanessa Horne, the commission’s general manager for competition, fair trading and credit, said it was assessing three complaints from the public.
“Every inquiry that comes into the commission is valuable to us. These are the insights we need from New Zealanders to highlight potential issues for us to watch closely,” Horne said.
Woolworths has apologised and blamed 'simple human error' for advertising the wrong prices for produce on its Milkrun in adverts displayed on Facebook. Photo / Supplied
“Businesses must ensure their systems are robust to ensure accurate pricing, even with very large numbers of transactions. If mistakes are made, they must be rapidly corrected and customers must be compensated quickly.”
The commission earlier filed charges against Pak’nSave Silverdale in Auckland and Pak’nSave Mill St in Hamilton.
Horne said the commission could not comment about the case now as it was before the courts.
Consumer NZ said it was concerned that “despite these potential breaches of the Fair Trading Act, Foodstuffs and Woolworths are yet to sort out their pricing”.
“We’d like to see more being done to hold the supermarkets to account. We encourage shoppers who spot any pricing issues to report them to the store and make a complaint to the Commerce Commission,” a spokeswoman 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 Herald was supplied screenshots of adverts on Facebook by a customer excited about the latest apparent cheap deals.
One was advertising telegraph cucumbers for $2.85 and another showed a 30-pack of zero-sugar Coca-Cola for $37.45.
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 Milkrun prices shown in the Facebook ads are wrong and should not have been included,” a spokesman for Woolworths 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.
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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