OFT to investigate six furniture retailers over pricing
The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate six carpet and furniture retailers with regard to misleading reference pricing.
The OFT has claimed that some retailers could be exaggerating price cuts by publicising deals such as ‘Was £800, Now Half Price’ or ‘Now £400, After Event Price £800’ leading customers to think that they are getting a better bargain.
As yet the OFT has not formally identified the retailers concerned.
In a statement the OFT said: “We have now sent consultation letters and draft undertakings to a number of businesses. It should not be assumed at this stage that any breach of consumer protection legislation has occurred.
Never Miss a Retail Update!“These investigations build upon the findings of the OFT’s Advertising of Prices market study, published in December 2010, which identified a number of harmful pricing practices including false reference prices.”
The timing of the announcement has caused some alarm amongst retailers as they look ahead to the key bank holiday trading days.
