To fill in the gaps on this story, it appears that it was a closing down sale as the shop lease was expiring and they couldn't renew it.
At the last moment the landlord agreed to extend it and the store manager called off the sale halfway through trading hours. The problem was that the store was packed with people that'd come through the doors and filled their baskets when the "Closing down sale" signs were still up in the window. They got to the tills and the prices had doubled compared to what they expected to pay. I don't blame them for kicking-off.
Against the law. Signs offering 50p per item are an "invitation to treat" so once the customer offered their 50p there is an implied contract.
Deliberate false advertising is illegal (e.g. putting up 50p signs with no intention of ever selling the items at 50p), but a change of prices due to a genuine change in circumstances like this is unlikely to be covered.
Having said all that it's incredibly poor management on behalf of the store - comparing how much they would have 'lost' from letting it run for the rest of the day, against the reputational damage and lost customers across the whole chain.
Why were they putting the prices back up after having a "half price closing down sale". Should they not have been closing down?
The story goes that they were closing down due to their lease expiring. At the last minute, the management negotiated a new lease with the landlord thus negating the need to close down.
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