Retail bosses have slammed moves by PM Andy Burnham to clamp down on “misleading” price discounts.
As part of what has been billed a “cost of living” tour of Britain, Burnham has promised a swathe of measures to help Brits struggling with everyday costs such as shopping bills.
Today the government announced it would seek to protect consumers from “rip-off” claims about discounts, which make savings look larger than they really are.
It said it would launch a consultation to assess whether tactics such as “fake claims about previous prices, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices” should be added to the list of practices banned under existing laws.
Writing in The Guardian yesterday, Burnham said: “If something is advertised as half price, it should actually be half price.
“We’ll make sure that when families snatch a deal, they can be confident they’re actually saving. That’s the least they deserve when budgets are so tight.”
However, retail leaders strongly rejected claims that they were pulling the wool over the eyes of shoppers.
“We support the government’s efforts to crack down on unscrupulous sellers – whether it’s sneaky subscriptions or questionable discounts. Strict rules on promotions already exist, and BRC members work tirelessly to ensure consumers benefit from genuine savings on the discounts they offer,” said Tom Ironside, BRC director of business and regulation,
“Government must now ensure Trading Standards are sufficiently resourced to enforce all rules current and new effectively in order to clamp down on those bad actors who mislead consumers and undermine responsible businesses.”
A retail source said: “We haven’t seen any evidence from the government to back up what is being claimed here but this smells like a Which? press release.”
Sources said they feared that headlines generated by the announcements could add to an unjustified impression that supermarkets were exploiting the cost of living crisis, despite findings to the contrary in recent investigations by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Campaign groups led by Which? have repeatedly accused retailers, including supermarkets, of “misleading and dodgy pricing practices”.
Burnham’s announcement follows hot on the heels of new Chancellor John Healey’s pledge to combat “price-gouging” and monitor signs of shoppers being ripped off by retailers, in an opinion piece in The Telegraph a week ago, which received a furious reaction from retail bosses.
In another announcement today, Burnham said he was speeding up new protections against so-called subscription traps, bringing forward their introduction from next spring to January.
The rules will force businesses to provide clearer information when people sign up for services and make it easier for them to cancel. Customers will also be given a 14-day cooling-off period after a trial ends or a long-term contract renews.
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