Tesco puts a cap on price check vouchers as it reshapes comparison service

By Debbie Davies

PUBLISHED: 08:20 GMT, 16 June 2012 | UPDATED: 11:17 GMT, 16 June 2012

Tesco has introduced a cap of £10 on Tesco Price Check vouchers, a new name for its lowest price shopping basket guarantee and new terms for its price comparison service.

Tesco's Price Check service has been available to price conscious customers since last year. Shoppers use Tesco's price comparison website to check the price of their shopping against Asda prices and discover if the equivalent basket would have cost less from Asda. The service gives customers who have paid more a Tesco Price Check voucher to whatever the value of the difference is, up to a maximum of £20.

When the comparison service launched, it offered shoppers vouchers for double the difference. After eight weeks, however, this was changed to just the difference after customers discovered the scheme could be used to make a profit.

New title: Tesco has changed the name for its lowest price shopping basket guarantee from Price Check to Price Promise

Asda launched a similar price comparison website in 2010 called Asda Price Guarantee. It claims many of its customers are hooked, returning every week to compare prices with the hope of saving an extra few pounds off their weekly shop. When Asda is not the cheapest, customers are entitled to receive a voucher refunding them the difference plus 10 per cent.

Tesco claims the changes it is now making, which include a name change to Tesco Price Promise, are the result of talking to customers.

A spokesperson for Tesco said: 'Our plan for the UK business has price and value at its heart. We've been listening to what our customers tell us they want to see from us on price comparison, and we're going to be making some simple changes to our price comparison offer. We are changing the name from Price Check to Price Promise, which is a direct result of our conversations with customers.'

Marketing materials about the new website have been introduced in some stores in Sheffield. 'We want to be sure we're giving customers the best possible information when we start to promote the website nationally,' said Tesco's spokesperson. The new terms are not yet being enforced to allow a change over period, but will be in the next few weeks.

Reshaping: Tesco is changing their services for price conscious customers

The new service is exclusively for Tesco Clubcard customers, reflecting the supermarket's commitment to put Clubcard 'at the heart of everything it does'.

Vouchers will be bar code read rather than having a printed face value manually entered and deducted at the checkout. Like Asda's comparison service, shoppers must have at least eight different items in their basket in order to compare.

The changes have not been welcomed by customers on Tesco's Facebook page. 'If you are so confident of your pricing, why introduce the cap?' wrote a shopper in the name of Andrea Minx.

Customers said they were regularly receiving Price Check vouchers in excess of £10. A shopper using the name Kelly Erker was expecting a Price Check voucher for £17.92 and had not yet printed it. 'When I went to print it this morning, it takes me to the 'Price 'Promise'' site and no voucher. I've noticed that you have now capped the limit at £10. How can I get my voucher?', she asked.

A spokesperson for Tesco said customers using the Price Promise website would find that the new conditions were not being enforced yet, so any vouchers due under the previous terms would still be available to print.

'The vast majority of shoppers will not be affected by the changes. Fewer than 5 per cent of vouchers issued are for over £10 and the vast majority are for less than £2.00 for the minority of customers who find their shopping basket would have been cheaper at Asda,'

Introducing a requirement for eight different items brought Tesco's service in line with competitors. 'The average basket size at Tesco is 10 items,' said Tesco.

Customers on Tesco's Facebook page disagreed.

'I often shop on a daily basis for fresh produce so don't always buy 8 items at a time. Now that I have to buy 8 items from Tesco, I may as well take advantage of the cheaper prices and better price promise that they offer at Asda,' said Ms Minx.

A spokesperson for Asda said: 'We believe Asda does more than any other retailer to ensure its shoppers get the lowest prices in the country – something backed up this week by the Grocer Magazine, who named Asda the UK’s lowest priced supermarket for the 15th year running.'