The Public Communications Officer emailed the radio station I am listening to.
He stated they have around 6000 specials every week.
'These pricing errors are isolated and a result of human error'

He states ' If a customer finds this has happened, we will refund the product and the customer will get the product for free'

He said this was Countdown's Policy across the board and can be found on their website.

'

oh funny funny ha ha 
You would to if you were sitting here filling in a pivot table with 47 lots of Highs and Lows.
I am patiently waiting for the smart people to come up with a better solution here
Then of course behind me I am working on 2 old slow PCs that are driving me nuts with the click and wait scenario.
But the sun is trying to surface so thats a plus

I do a lot of work for several companies in supermarkets. Mainly checking tickets & expiry dates.
There are 3 basic types of tickets
The white "shelf" ticket normally lives there all the time. But if it reprinted when the product is on special, it will reflect the "special" price, not the base price.
The "special" ticket is normally used when product is reduced by price or excess stock to clear. (Someone said on the radio today that she actively removes special tickets that don't seem correct. My pet hate!)
The "One Card" or similar ticket is used when a further supplier discount is applied.

As in the stuff.co.nz article, the consumer should "compare unit pricing – where the price is given per unit of measurement, such as per 100 grams – when comparing products."
But this information is not always printed on the label.

You must also remember, the people who print these tickets are not Rocket Scientists, most of them don't even put the ticket in the correct place.

If in doubt, check the price with customer service.
If they wont help, go higher up the ladder. Don't take "that's the way it is" for an answer.