Receipt Errors in Switzerland: What Are Your Rights at the Till?
If the till charges more than the shelf label said, the label price applies in principle. SECO’s price-indication FAQ (viewed on 9 October 2026) says displaying goods with a price generally counts as a binding offer, unless the mistake is clearly recognisable (Art. 7 para. 3 of the Code of Obligations). This page is not legal advice.
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SECO’s answer covers goods displayed in a shop window or in the shop. In everyday life, though, the problem is often not the wrong label but the promotion that was not deducted at the till, and you only catch that if you read the receipt before you leave the shop.
Legal content checked in August 2026. Viewed again on 9 October 2026: SECO, the Price Indication Ordinance, the Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau, FRC, the Swiss Consumer Protection Foundation, K-Tipp, SRF, 20 Minuten and nau.ch. This page is not legal advice.
Does the shop have to charge the price on the label?
As a rule, yes. The Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau points in its FAQ to Art. 7 para. 3 of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO): displaying goods with a stated price generally counts as an offer. The Fédération romande des consommateurs (guidance of 5 December 2017) and SRF legal expert Gabriela Baumgartner (1 April 2021) agree that price markings on products are in principle binding.
The rule has limits, though. The Bureau notes that it was written for traditional retail; for online shops, part of the legal literature sees only an invitation to the buyer to make an offer. In a shop, the exception is the obvious mistake, for example a gold ring priced at 59.90 francs instead of 599 (SECO). Baumgartner says the actual price must deviate substantially from the marked one. With CHF 99 marked against CHF 269 actual, she reckoned the seller would struggle to establish a material error (Art. 24 CO). We only reproduce what these bodies publish themselves.
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What do you do if a promotion was not applied at the till?
Say so at the till and ask for a correction or a check. Lawyer Sarah Schläppi states on nau.ch (20 June 2026) that you may tell the cashier a different price was marked on the shelf. Often the price is not wrong: last week’s label stayed up, a different variant was in the bay, or a quantity condition was not met. Read the receipt before you leave the shop. 20 Minuten advised exactly that on 23 March 2025, because an error is harder to prove afterwards.
At two big Swiss supermarkets the weekly offers start on Thursday, according to the trade press and a retailer’s press release: at one since January 2025, at the other since 5 February 2026. Other chains keep their own calendars, and on a changeover day an old label can still be hanging. Over a few rappen, complaining costs more time than it returns; over a large pack, the trip to customer service is worth it.
Which price has to be on the shelf?
The one you actually pay. Under Art. 3 para. 1 of the Price Indication Ordinance (PBV/OIP), the price actually payable in Swiss francs (the retail price) must be given with the offer. Public charges and other non-discretionary surcharges must be included in it (Art. 4 PBV), and for measurable goods the unit price per kilo, litre or metre is added (Art. 5 PBV). This wording has applied since 1 July 2022. According to SECO it clarifies existing practice: the price must be known at the time and place of the offer.
How often do shelf price and till price disagree?
| Branch checked (K-Tipp 05/2016) | Products checked | Mislabelled prices |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarket A, branch 1 | 50 | 2 |
| Supermarket A, branch 2 | 50 | 2 |
| Supermarket B, branch 1 | 50 | 2 |
| Supermarket B, branch 2 | 50 | 6, which K-Tipp put at 12 percent |
The two chains answered differently. One said the price tags had evidently not been swapped, the other that its till system is updated daily and that the error sits on the shelf. So a wrong label can cut both ways, and only the receipt shows what was actually charged.
How do you find an overcharge when you only notice at home?
Read the receipt again the same day and compare the promotions you bought with the lines. For how long to keep receipts and what a photo is worth, see how long to keep receipts; for where to find digital ones, digital receipts in Switzerland. Going through all your receipts once a month (analysing grocery receipts, monthly spending review) is when an outlier stands out. Marked-down stock is covered in the guide to yellow-sticker markdowns.
How do you keep your receipts within reach?
Rappn is a free Swiss app (iOS and Android) that compares the current promotions of seven Swiss retailers and turns receipts into a spending overview. You photograph a receipt, upload it from your gallery or enter a purchase by hand; the app also tells you when a product you follow goes on offer. A first step for today: photograph the receipt of your next shop before you leave the store, then check the promotion lines.
If you would rather not collect receipts by hand, the free Rappn app imports the receipts of three big Swiss supermarkets’ loyalty programmes, up to 12 months back, and you add the others by photo; it then shows your spending by category and by month. You need a Rappn account and must be an adult; the programmes’ terms still apply and the operator can restrict the link (how linking works).
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Swiss shop have to charge the price shown on the shelf?
In principle, yes. In its price-indication FAQ, SECO says displaying goods with a stated price generally counts as a binding offer, the exception being a clearly recognisable mistake, which it illustrates with a gold ring priced at 59.90 francs instead of 599 francs. The FRC wrote on 5 December 2017 that displaying goods on a shelf or in a window with a clearly visible and legible price counts as an offer under Art. 7 para. 3 CO, and that the shop must honour it unless the error is easily recognisable by the customer. The Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau adds that this rule was written for traditional retail. This is not legal advice.
What do I do if the promotion was not applied at the till?
You may tell the cashier a different price was marked on the shelf and ask for a correction or a check, as lawyer Sarah Schläppi states on nau.ch (20 June 2026). Timing matters: on 23 March 2025, 20 Minuten advised checking the receipt while still in the shop, because an error is markedly harder to prove afterwards. If no correction follows, SECO points to the cantonal enforcement office.
Am I entitled to a receipt in Switzerland?
You are entitled to a receipt for your payment: Art. 88 CO provides generally that a debtor making a payment is entitled to demand a receipt and, where the debt is settled in full, the return or cancellation of the debt instrument. We go no further than that general rule here, as we found no source for a specific obligation aimed at shop tills. In any case the till receipt is your best evidence: it shows line by line what was charged, while a card or bank statement shows only the total.
Where do I report a wrong price in a Swiss shop?
To the cantonal enforcement office. SECO writes in its FAQ that it exercises overall supervision of enforcement of the price-indication rules and that detected breaches are to be reported to the cantonal enforcement offices, whose address list it publishes. The Swiss Consumer Protection Foundation likewise points to the cantons in its online guide (updated 4 February 2026). A report gets the labelling fixed in the shop, it does not refund your difference: you recover that at the till or at customer service.
How often are shelf price tags wrong in Switzerland?
We found no recent Swiss figures. The best-known published test is ten years old: in issue 05/2016 of 9 March 2016, K-Tipp checked 50 products in two branches of each of two big Swiss supermarkets, in and around Bern. It found two, two, two and six mislabelled prices; the magazine put the last at 12 percent of the products checked in that branch.
Which till errors happen most often?
On 23 March 2025, 20 Minuten listed four patterns described by a cashier: double-scanning identical items, reportedly at least once per shift; mixing up organic and conventional lines and lookalike fruit and vegetables; a multipack charged instead of a single bottle when a pack has been broken open; and a stray barcode scanned by accident. At self-checkouts there are also random spot checks, where the goods are scanned again under staff supervision (SRF Espresso, 23 December 2024).