Electrical retailers offering misleading discounts, study finds

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/18/electrical-retailers-misleading-discounts-uk-which

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Shoppers are being misled by the discounts offered at some of the UK’s biggest electrical retailers, a study has found.

Consumer group Which? tracked the prices of more than 100 electrical products sold by Amazon, Argos, Currys and John Lewis, finding a number of savings that either did not exist or were much lower than claimed.

Over the course of the six-month study, for example, Which? found Amazon selling a Canon EOS 70D camera with a lens for £967.99 with the claim that it was a saving of £272 off the recommended retail price (RRP) of £1,239.99. However, Canon’s typical price of £959 for the camera meant customers were actually paying £8.99 more.

It also found Currys offering a Sony Bravia television for £579 with a claimed saving of £170 from the original price of £749. But Currys only sold the television at the higher price for three weeks despite running the advertised “offer” for seven months.

John Lewis was caught lowering the price of its 55JL9000 LED HD Smart TV from the original ticket of £1,699 to £1,599, £1,399 and then £1,299. At one point the retailer claimed that customers were saving £400 when they were actually saving just £100 compared with the previous week.

Which? said many of the strategies fell within government guidance on special offers because retailers used signs to explain them. But consumer surveys suggest that many shoppers would still be left thinking they had made a bigger saving than was actually the case.

When questioned by the watchdog, almost a third of shoppers said they had bought a product only because it was on special offer, while 41% said they waited for offers before buying items.

Shoppers could be better off seeking out the cheapest price and ignoring the offers altogether, the consumer group advised. Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “With many shoppers on the lookout for bargains this Christmas, we’ve found dodgy discounts that might lure people into buying something they could have found cheaper elsewhere.

“It’s time for the government to force retailers to play fair by setting out new, clearer and tougher rules on special offers.”

A John Lewis spokeswoman added that it was not the store’s intention to mislead customers. “We process a high number of promotions every week and have very robust checking procedures in place. However, our processes do rely on manual input and it appears for one of the examples highlighted there has been an individual human error.”

Amazon also told Which?: “We work with product manufacturers to provide our customers with a wide range of information about any given product, including RRPs.

“We aim to provide the very latest information.”

A Currys spokesman said: “We are the only retailer to always show customers when and for how long our ‘was’ prices applied both online and in-store.

“We strictly observe government guidelines on pricing by giving customers clear information.”