Shufersal Ordered to Pay Customer 20,000 NIS for Refusing Discounted Price on Cherry Tomatoes

Shufersal supermarket chain must compensate a customer 20,000 shekels after refusing to honor a promotional price for cherry tomatoes at its Kfar Saba branch. The court ruled that the store charged the customer 16.90 NIS instead of the advertised 3.90 NIS, claiming the 'Lobello' variety was excluded from the deal, although no such exclusion was initially posted. Only after the customer complained was a handwritten note added to the sign excluding that variety.

The Small Claims Court judge, Ofir Katavi-Riblin, criticized Shufersal's conduct, citing a second incident where the chain advertised lower prices for blueberries and avocados in a promotional flyer but refused to honor them at checkout. The judge wrote that Shufersal appears to lure customers with promotional messages it does not intend to honor, misleading them with price signs that do not match the higher checkout prices, thus unlawfully collecting significant sums from consumers.

In the first case, the customer was charged a higher price despite the sign showing a lower one, and after contacting customer service, was offered only a small credit and the option to buy at the advertised price. In the second case, the customer received a promotional SMS flyer with discounted prices, but the store claimed the flyer was invalid, even though it was proven valid at the time of purchase.

The court emphasized that these were not isolated incidents but part of a troubling pattern of misleading consumers, many of whom would not bother to challenge the higher prices or file complaints over small sums. Shufersal has appealed the ruling, arguing the court ignored its defense that it had agreed to credit the customer the price difference and that the compensation ruling was a fundamental error.