Outraged customers have threatened to boycott a UK supermarket after accusing it of hiking up its prices amid coronavirus panic buying.
British grocery store Budgens is charging £4 for a four roll pack of Andrex Supreme Quilts toilet roll, despite a £2.50 RRP sign on the packaging.
Sharing a snap of the loo roll from their local shop, one shocked customer tweeted: ‘Disgusting behaviour at your Crystal Palace branch, raising the price of toilet roll. Anything to make a profit huh? #boycott #disgraceful.’
As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has risen above 1,000, panicked Brits have stripped shelves across Britain bare of essentials, including toilet paper.
British grocery store Budgens is charging £4 for a four roll pack of Andrex Supreme Quilts toilet roll, despite a £2.50 RRP sign on the packaging (pictured)
Sharing a snap of the loo roll from their local shop, one shocked customer (above) tweeted: ‘Disgusting behaviour at your Crystal Palace branch, raising the price of toilet roll. Anything to make a profit huh? #boycott #disgraceful.’
While it’s unclear if Budgens’ Crystal Palace branch has always priced the product at £4, it is certainly much higher than the cost of the item at other UK stores.
Waitrose, for instance, sells the same pack for £2.25 – making Budgen’s offering a staggering 60 per cent more costly.
ASDA sells the identical item for £2.50 – the recommended Andrex price – while Sainsbury’s prices it at £2.75 a pack.
Budgens was also slammed on Facebook for their overpricing amid growing coronavirus fears.
One person posted on Facebook: ‘Disgusting Budgens rip off: This is a photo taken inside a Budgens store in Crystal Palace, clearly cashing in on the current crisis.
The overpriced item comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the UK has risen above 1,000 and panicked Brits have stripped shelves across Britain bare of essentials, including toilet paper (above)
Budgens (pictured) was also slammed on Facebook for their overpricing amid growing coronavirus fears
Yet some social media users weren’t shocked and didn’t have too much of a problem with it
‘This is NOT about the store trying to limit the amount their customers purchase, this is purely about greed.
‘The type of person who would shop in this store is typically someone either cannot get to a bigger supermarket where the prices are generally lower, e.g. an elderly or immobile person, or those who just want to support a small local business.
‘These are the people who keep this shop open and the staff who run it in their jobs.
‘So why the owner feels it makes good business sense to cash in on the current crisis at a time when calls from many are imploring the public to calm down is simply beyond belief.’
A young mother in Glasgow was reportedly in tears after not finding baby milk for her baby who was only three days old, according to Glasgow Live.
One woman said: ‘I spoke to a young guy who told me that a woman with a three day old baby was in tears because she couldn’t find powdered milk, it’s just outrageous.
‘He also said an old lady had been in earlier looking for toilet roll and there was none left, she said she only needed one roll and the poor guy couldn’t do anything to help here because it was all gone’.
Empty shelves at the ASDA in Dalgety Bay in Dunfermline, Scotland, on Sunday 15 March 2020
Shoppers panic-buying toilet rolls in Savers, north London, as cases of coronavirus increase
According to The Sun, one shopper claimed that when she asked in the branch about the cost, she was told it was ‘put up due to high demand’.
Last year, Budgens was selling a nine-pack of the same toilet paper for £4, the publication reports.
Budgens stores are independently owned and operated and so often have different pricing strategy amongst the branches.
MailOnline has requested a comment from Budgens.