On Thursday, I bought a flapjack from the shop in the student union. The price at the till did not match the price on the ticket. Accordingly, I emailed the shop. Sadly I’ve not received a response.

The email read as follows:

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Hello.

I’ve just bought an “RJ Flapjacks” Fruit Flapjack from the Union shop.

When selecting my flapjack from the vista of oats and dried fruit, I noticed that there was a sign, attached directly in front of the box of fruit flapjacks (possibly even attached to the box itself), indicating that they were on offer at just 35 pence.

That swayed my decision.

When it was put through the till, I was told by a member of your staff (Laura) that the cost was 51p. I queried this, and she informed me that despite the position of the label adjacent to the box, the offer referred to another type of RJ Flapjack. A smaller one, she said. One that was thinner. I queried this, not least becasue I wasn’t aware of RJ’s making smaller and less substantial flapjacks. Laura carried on, telling me that not only was it a different flapjack (not, apparently, on the shelf or in stock) that was on offer, but that in any case the offer had finished.

Assuming that Laura was right, your methods of pricing stock seem far away from a Union that prides itself on ethical considerations.

On an aside, I pleased to see the rigour with which Laura entered into her job: when she saw that I had given her £1.01 for the 51p sale, rather than just a £1 coin, she cancelled and re-entered the transaction in order to ensure that there was no possibility of her giving the incorrect change.

Alex