As malls roll out various sales and discounts ahead of the holiday season, some shoppers have raised awareness about laws governing price tags on items.
A Reddit user on Saturday, December 13, shared their experience purchasing an apparel item with two price tags and urged fellow shoppers to assert their rights as consumers.
In the “r/philippines” community, the Redditor said they were about to be charged P399 for an item marked at P349.
“Nasa price tag law na ‘yung lowest price dapat,” the Reddit user told the cashier.
“Kung makakalusot pala siya, uubra. Pero this is wrong!” the Redditor added.
The Reddit user then cited Republic Act No. 71, or the Price Tag Act, which prohibits sellers from offering items for sale without any price tag, label, or marking.
“All articles of commerce and trade offered for sale to the public at retail shall be publicly displayed with appropriate tags or labels to indicate the price of each article and said articles shall be sold uniformly and without discrimination at the stated price,” the law states.
“Ipaglaban ang karapatan ng mga mamimili! Lalo na ngayong kapaskuhan,” the Redditor said, a post that earned 3,800 upvotes and more than 170 comments.
Ipaglaban ang karapatan ng mga mamimili! Lalo na ngayong kapaskuhan
byu/CertifiedAH inPhilippines
Other Redditors also shared their own shopping experiences in the discussion thread.
“This happened to us sa Megamall naman. Nakalagay na all FILA shoes, 2 for P3,499. Naka-ilang beses ko pa itanong kasi if individual bibilhin, may magkakaiba ng presyo lalo if pang-lalaki and pambabae,” a Reddit user wrote.
“Nung nasa cashier na, they were trying to charge me the whole price kasi magkaiba daw ‘yung price, dapat daw same price para ma-avail ‘yung promo. Nilaban ko talaga siya kasi kahit dalawang mas mahal ‘yung kunin (P2,699 original price then P2,499 ‘yung isa), same lang na P3,499 dun sa nakalagay na prices. Ending, nagtawag ng staff ng FILA tapos binigay na for P3,499 both,” the Reddit user added.
“Nangyari sakin ‘to!! Sa NBS naman and nakalagay P65 lang ‘yung tape then nung babayaran na, nagtataka ako P350 siya?! Eh nakalagay sa mismong price sa box ng mga tapes na same variant P65 lang, so pinaglaban ko talaga na alam ko, kako, nasa batas ‘yun na kung ano ‘yung price dun na naka-display, ‘yun ang susundin,” another Redditor said.
“Did this sa S&R also. I took a photo of the sale price kasi may kutob na ako na mangyayari ‘yun. It was Lysol Laundry Sanitizer priced at P999 each, pero pagdating sa cashier, naging P1,699. Always take a photo of the sale price and red tags. Hindi pwede ‘yang ganyang rason na ‘nagkamali’ lang,” said a different user.
The Department of Trade and Industry office in La Union also posted about the law cited by the Reddit user in their post last September.
“Mahigpit na ipinagbabawal ang pagbebenta ng anumang produktong walang price tag, label, o marking ayon sa Price Tag Act or Republic Act No. 71,” it said.
Other Redditors also cited the DTI Department Administrative Order No. 09 (Series of 2002), which contains provisions on price tagging.
Section 6 (d) states the following:
The price tag sign shall be attached to the shelf and properly secured in order to minimize the tampering, misplacing, transfer, or loss of the same. The establishment shall ensure at all times that the price indicated on the shelf is the same and/or consistent with the price as stated in the Price Verification Counter and/or the Cash Register counter upon payment.
In case of inconsistencies in the price shown on the shelf, on the product itself or in the database price, which appears when the item is scanned, the price which appears the lowest shall prevail.
The DTI also raised awareness about the issue last year, sharing a Facebook post that read: “Ayon sa RA 7394, kung magkaiba ang presyo sa shelf tag or price tag, dapat mas mababang presyo ang babayaran.”
Republic Act No. 7394, or the Consumer Act of the Philippines, governs consumer rights and protection in the country.
“Ang tag ng presyo ay dapat din na pareho at hindi nagbabago sa presyong nakasaad sa Price Verification Counter at sa Cash Register Counter sa pagbabayad. Tandaan, kung sakaling magkaiba ang presyo, ang mas mababang presyo ang dapat na bayaran ng konsyumer!” DTI previously said.
Malls are known to host major sales and offer large discounts during the holiday season, making them popular destinations for people shopping for gifts or outfits for parties and other social gatherings.
However, some merchants fail to remove original price tags during these events, leaving shoppers confused about an item’s actual price.
