𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Shoppers have been warned to avoid Black Friday “rip offs” after retailers were accused of “fake discounts”. An inquiry by MPs heard some prices actually went up during Black Friday, but customers were told they were getting a bargain. Research by consumer group Which? found that eight in ten Black Friday “deals” do not offer a discount at all, the inquiry heard.

John Lewis, the department store famous for its heartwarming Christmas adverts, came in for particular criticism. Former Cabinet Minister Liam Byrne told a House of Commons hearing: “Author of the famous Christmas ad, national treasures, you are telling us actually they are one of the worst offenders for Black Friday rip offs?”. The store denies the claims made at the House of Commons hearing.

Mr Byrne is chair of the Commons Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, which is looking at Black Friday as part of an inquiry into whether consumers need more protection. The date, when shops offer discounts in the run-up to Christmas, falls this year on November 27.

The inquiry heard about a vacumn cleaner sold at John Lewis for £299 before the price rose to £399. Mr Byrne said: “Then the Black Friday deal is £350, but it’s still £51 more expensive than it was six months earlier. That sounds pretty fraudulent to me.”

There was particular concern about the practice of highlighting a high “recommended retail price” for goods, to make it appear that the price had been cut. The Committee heard that John Lewis sold a MacBook at what appeared to be a £150 discount, when the product had in fact only been sold at the recommended price for one day previously.

Other retailers highlighted included Amazon. The inquiry heard that toasters were sold on Amazon for £21.87 as a Black Friday deal, with the price apparently reduced from £29.99. But just 60 days before Black Friday, they had in fact been on sale for just £20.

Sue Davies, Head of Consumer Rights and Food Policy at consumer group Which?, told the inquiry: “People think Black Friday means they are going to be getting special deals … we found that in 83 of cases people could find the product either cheaper or at the same price at other times of the year.”

Claims that a product would usually be sold at a higher price, known as the reference price, were often misleading, she said.

“We think there are real problems with reference pricing and fake discounts for people, over Black Friday but also more generally”.

Ms Davies called for tougher enforcement from media watchdog Ofcom, and by trading standards officials.

She said: “Misleading pricing has been allowed to become ubiquitous … we want Ofcom to really clamp down on some of this scam advertising that you see on social media platforms.”

John Lewis argues that the prices it offers change regularly due to its Never Knowingly Undersold policy, which means it not only ran its own promotions but also matched 25 competitors.

Amazon said it was providing a written submission to the inquiry. The firm says it provides clear pricing information on product pages.

See more of the stories you love from Daily Express and find us easily in Google by making us a Preferred Source. Free and easy-to-do, just click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.