Some New World customers may have been overcharged due to 'pricing issue' impacting North Island stores

Some New World customers may have been overcharged due to 'pricing issue' impacting North Island stores

A pricing issue is affecting several New World supermarkets across the country and may have led to some customers being overcharged for items.

A Foodstuffs spokesperson said refunds would be issued to anyone who had been affected.

The spokesperson said it was aware of two supermarkets, one in Auckland's Takapuna and the other in Willis St, central Wellington, that had closed but were re-opened by 4pm on Monday.

Do you know more? Email iwitness@rnz.co.nz

At others, self-checkouts have been closed and staff are checking the accuracy of prices for all items.

A sign at New World Mt Roskill said a system update had not yet been loaded into the checkout system and expired specials may still be displaying at the checkout, while new promotional prices may not be showing correctly.

A sign at New World Metro on Willis St said the store was temporarily closed because of the problem, and its team was working to resolve the issue.

Customers outside the Willis St store.

Members of the public reported to RNZ that New World in Paremata, in Porirua, along with New World Stonefields in Auckland had remained open but had closed self-checkout services.

A Stonefields local said there were "massive lines" and staff at every checkout were double checking prices against the website/online systems.

The Foodstuffs spokesperson said a technical issue was found on Monday morning which meant some promotional prices weren't being applied correctly in North Island stores.

The issue had been resolved at Pak' n Save and Four Square, the spokesperson said and staff were working urgently to restore the affected promotions at New World.

"We're sorry to customers affected and thank them for their patience while we get this sorted.

For any customers who have been overcharged, we will refund the full amount paid for the overcharged product in line with our Refund Policy."

Club+ customers who scanned cards and were overcharged would automatically be refudned, the spokesperson said.

"Any other customers who think they may have been affected can contact or visit the store where they shopped to receive their refund..."

The spokesperson said the issue was not connected to its Club+ loyalty programme, which was still working.

Auckland shopper Meg Luff was struck by long queues at New World Mt Albert on Monday morning.

"I didn't know what was going on until I got to the checkout, and then I realised they were scanning things twice and I was like 'are you charging me double?' But then she explained that the specials weren't coming through on the main computer," she said.

"They were having to scan it on the handheld scanner to see if it was on special, and then double-checking that against the computer, so it took forever for a bag of groceries, I only went in to get a few things but it took forever. It was quite tedious."

Luff was pleased that New World was offering refunds to overcharged customers.

"That would be great. I actually forgot to take a receipt, so that's a bummer for me."