Sports Direct could face fines: store misleads customers with fake discounts
Sports Direct’s use of recommended retail prices (RRPs) could be breaking the law and misleading customers, a Which? investigation has found.
The consumer champion looked at the pricing of 160 popular products at Sports Direct and found items are being sold with RRPs that appear to be misleading, with researchers unable to find products sold at that RRP price anywhere else online.
They also found the company was using obscure terms such as manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) or suggested retail price (SRP). Which? argues that these can be interpreted as being the same as RRP.
Overall, for 58 of the 160 products investigated, Which? found no retailer selling them online at or above the Sports Direct reference price.
Which? believes some of Sports Direct’s uses of RRPs could be considered "misleading actions" under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
Which? has reported Sports Direct to the competition regulator - the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
According to the Advertising Standards Authority, price comparisons must not mislead by falsely claiming a price advantage.
Which? legal expert Lisa Webb said: "If Sports Direct is misleading customers by inappropriate use of RRPs to dupe them into thinking they are getting a good deal, then the competition regulator needs to step in and take strong action to stop this from happening."
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