Reids - misleading advertising or not?

Trying to get a feel on whether my instinct was wrong on this one:

We were in Reids last weekend, looking at a sofa suite. The items were individually reduced:

3-seater: Now €999
2-seater: Now €929
chair: Now €699

We wanted a 3+1 = €1698

We went away to think about it, and to our joy, they took an extra 10% off everything yesterday (can't rant about that, can I?). Going to save nearly €170.

My query is regarding a sign they had up:

Cash only price
€799 - 3-seater when purchased as part of a group
€15XX - 3-seater and 2-seater group

We were looking for a 3 and a 1. Worked out the price to be €1428. However, the sales guy (full of his own importance but that's another issue) came along and said NO, that the €799 offer applied only to the 3-seater and 2-seater group.

(He also added, yeah loads of customers get confused by that. Not sure how we can get away with it. But, hey, we're not as bad as Land of Leather are we. And they use leather match on the sides of their seats.... blah, blah)

Anyway, that's beside the point!

Was I reading it wrong? How is a 3+2 a group and the 3+1 NOT a group???

Unfortunately, what you'll find in this situation is that it's their shop, so only their rules apply. So therefore, no matter what you think, or how you read things, a group in their shop can be anything they want.

Most likely, they're not shifting the 2-seaters, so are lumping them into an offer. A lot of people may think that if they're getting a 3+2 for cheaper than 3+1, that they'll make room and get the bigger/better/brighter thing.

There's no recourse in this situation to the Advertising Standards (because it's not advertising as such, just a notice), or to the Director of Consumer Affairs - they're not breaking any legislation.

I'd suggest going back to possibly a different salesperson (at complete opposite end of the day to when you met the original one), and to try to see if a little friendly banter, leading to some haggling, might work. Or try a different Reids store.

Though, with my own experience of Reids, they're unlikely to budge on this, even to the point of them not making the sale at all.

Yeah I know. We tried to dig our heels in but it just didn't work. And I walked off and called Blanchardstown as well, asking for a quote on the same, and got the same answer.

He's right about Land of Leather, just some advice - don't buy anything on credit (no matter how attractive it seems) from them, and anything you do purchase- check extensively for damage (incl. recliners etc.) before accepting delivery / signing a docket, as their aftersales service is simply appalling (at least the HQ in Newry) - well over [broken link removed] who have contacted Watchdog about them can't be wrong...

other links ;
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They do have really good bargains, but you can basically forget about backup & guarantees !