House slammed by Australian shoppers for misleading sale sign at a Melbourne store

A frustrated shopper has complained about a ‘misleading’ sale sign she spotted at  Australian kitchenware store House. 

The Melbourne mum was drawn to the store by a banner out the front that appeared to advertise ’80 per cent off storewide’.

However, she later noticed the sign included the words ‘up to’ in ‘minuscule’ writing, meaning sale prices on each item could vary from anywhere between one per cent and 80 per cent off.

It’s not known whether clearer signage was on display throughout the store or not.  

‘I thought this sale was fantastic until I got to the register to pay,’ the said in a post to Facebook. 

‘I personally think it crosses the line of being misleading when the fine print is so small you can barely see it when walking into the store,’ she said encouraging members to zoom in on an image of the poster.

Many users were confused as they could not even spot the fine print when enlarging the image on their devices.

‘I did zoom in… What am I missing?’ one woman wondered, and another said: ‘Still don’t see the fine print. Totally misleading.’

After spotting the ‘deceptive’ detail, shoppers were outraged.

‘They’ve definitely triple jumped over the line between confusing and misleading advertising,’ one member said. 

‘Gee wiz, that is pushing the envelope, isn’t it!’ a second exclaimed, and a third wrote: ‘Bait advertising. I don’t understand how it’s allowed for so long’. 

A tiny ‘up to’ was hidden in ‘minuscule’ writing, meaning sale prices on each item could vary from anywhere between one per cent and 80 per cent off

‘Horrible marketing. Whoever has thought this was a good idea should maybe not be in marketing,’ laughed a fourth.

‘Poor staff. Imagine working there, copping the abuse,’ someone pointed out.

Some noticed another tiny detail hiding in the sign.

They spotted ‘RRP’ or recommended retail price after the ‘off’, meaning the discount was only applicable on an item’s full cost rather than any previously reduced rate. 

‘See the RRP near the F also. No way would I shop there,’ a mum noted.  

Many said they would have argued with the House salesperson to get the 80 per cent off. 

‘I’m not a Karen but I would have argued that one, then vowed to never shop there again!’ a woman commented. 

But not everyone was bothered by the ‘cheeky’ marketing tactic, arguing that 80 per cent is a generous discount and House sale prices are ‘very low’.

‘If you want stuff, buy it, if not, move along. Does this really matter when you can score something at a great price?’ one customer asked. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted House for comment.