A consumer group says shoppers have uncovered more than 300 examples of dodgy supermarket specials.

Consumer NZ said in 78 cases, items listed as “specials” were not even an opportunity to save.

And the group said during its campaign to clean up supermarket pricing, shoppers found 54 instances of being charged more than the shelf price.

“The volume and frequency of misleading pricing and promotions on our supermarket shelves is concerning,” said Consumer NZ chief executive Jon Duffy.

In September, the watchdog asked for people’s help to call out what it labelled as misleading pricing.

“Due to the volume of complaints, it took a while for our small team to work through and categorise them all,” Duffy said.

He said Consumer NZ shared some complaints with supermarkets, and asked the businesses to improve pricing and promotional strategies.

According to Consumer NZ, Countdown operator Woolworths had taken concerns on board.

 “Woolworths also told us it has a clear and comprehensive refund policy,” Duffy said.

“If a customer is charged more than the price on the shelf, the customer can ask for a full refund for the item, and keep it free of charge.”

Consumer NZ said New World and Pak’nSave operator Foodstuffs had largely rejected concerns about pricing practices.

“Foodstuffs stated the number of complaints it received about pricing and ticketing practices were low compared to the number of transactions it processed.”

The consumer group said it believed some “systemic issues” should be raised, so it had written back to Foodstuffs.

“It’s our view, in the current cost of living crisis, pricing errors are putting further strain on shoppers.”

The consumer watchdog said shoppers were vulnerable if supermarket specials could not be relied on as genuine.

“We continue to see widespread pricing issues across the duopoly. More needs to be done to protect consumers and Consumer NZ’s campaign will continue until we see evidence the sector has upped its game.”

Last month, Stats NZ’s food price index showed fruit and vegetable prices had risen by 23 per cent in the past year.

And a Canstar survey of 20,000 shoppers, also last month, found the cost of paying for groceries was the biggest economic worry for Kiwis, usurping the cost of housing.