Shoppers Claim Target Canada Cheated, Jacked Up Prices Ahead Of Sales

A photo posted on Facebook by a bargain hunter who went to Target Canada to avail of supposed discounts from its liquidation sales has gone viral after it showed the standard-priced tags were actually lower than the actual sale price.

Christina Veraldi of Ajax, Ont. said she went to Target Canada in the hopes of finding discount items to purchase. She found a bottle of Aveeno Bodywash, with price tag of worth $7.59. But on a closer inspection when she peeled the price tag, it revealed $5.99 from November 2014.

She took to Facebook to display her anger and poster a photo. “What kind of shady business practice is this and how can this retailer get away with misleading sales and discounts that truly don’t exist?” Her post has so far 32,000 shares, and still counting.

Veraldi also took offense the rude way store staff handled the matter. She claimed staff told her to put down her purchases and just leave the store.

Veraldi wasn’t the only one who noticed the alleged discrepancy. Lynn Dewilde, also from Ont., told Global News she had purchased a couch cover at the liquidation sale for $119.99, only to discover that its original price was $106.99. “You feel betrayed. There was nothing on sale,” Dewilde said. “Then you hear about the suppliers who aren’t getting the money they’re owed.”

However, a report by portal theargus.ca said Target Canada didn’t do anything anomalous with its pricing, citing an interview with the unidentified store manager of the Target Thunder Bay outlet. “If you look at Veraldi’s post, you’ll see that the $7.59 price was effective as of January 15, with the $5.99 price being printed on of November 9 of last year, prior to Black Friday sales.”

It was explained that prices routinely change “to match changes in the market” as well as price changes at other stores. “There’s nothing really shady about it,” the store manager said, noting the person who made the change possibly just forgot to remove the old price tag. “The price change had nothing to do with the liquidation, the $5.99 price was most likely just reflecting an old sale on that one particular product,” theargus.ca said. The report went on to say it managed to scrutinise price tags of other items, peeling them and learning most old tags bore higher prices.

But Lou Brzezinski, a lawyer representing some supplier companies from where Target Canada owes $10 million, said the practice was dishonest. “It’s not fair, you don’t raise prices then tell people it’s 10 to 30 percent off, when it’s not,” Brzezinski said. “It’s probably a deceptive consumer practice.”

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: e.misa@ibtimes.com.au.