Sears shoppers believe they are being misled when it comes to the store’s liquidation sale prices
Sears Canada is now in full-blown liquidation mode, offering customers 20%-40% off their products. However, not only have many customers claimed that are not seeing much on sale for over 20%, but some are claiming that there are no deals to be had at all. Several customers from various locations have come forward to allege that Sears Canada have raised the prices of their merchandise in order to off set the liquidation sale.
Elizabeth MacMillan went to the retailer to take advantage of the liquidation sale and buy a shirt for her son that she had her eye on. However, she quickly changed her mind when she realized that the sticker price was higher than when she first saw it.
"I was really, really turned off," MacMillan said. "It's deceptive."
According to MacMillian, the shirt was originally $7.97, but there was a sticker covering it reading $9.97. With the 20% discount, the shirt would have cost the original $7.97 price.
"It was like, 'OK, that's not cool. I was really, really taken aback,” she said. "It was very misleading, I ended up walking out without buying a thing."
Sears has come out to CBC News and said that the prices were changed long before the liquidation sales began, but amidst everything that has occurred over the last few months,customers are not buying it.
Venece Biggin experienced the same situation, however she did not notice until she had paid for her items and gone home.
"Duped, ripped off," was how Biggin described how she felt when she realized. "This is ridiculous. They shouldn't be allowed to do that."
Biggin plans to head back to the retailer and get the difference back, on a matter of principal.
Putting customer dissatisfaction aside, insolvency lawyer Geoffrey Dabbs claims that Sears Canada was free to raise their prices right before the liquidation, as long it didn’t deliberately mislead customers.
“Advertising a sale with discounts actually has no meaning whatsoever at law," says Dabbs, of Vancouver law firm Gehlen Dabbs. "So when a retailer says it's 20 per cent off, it's 20 per cent off of whatever it felt like selling it for."