Watchdog opens investigations into eight firms over online pricing practices

The competition watchdog has opened investigations into StubHub, Viagogo, AA Driving School, BSM Driving School, Gold’s Gym, Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical over their online pricing practices.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the cases were the first launched using its new consumer protection powers and followed a “cross-economy” review of online pricing and sales practices.

The watchdog said it was also writing to 100 businesses across 14 sectors outlining concerns about their use of additional fees and sales tactics.

CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: “At a time when household budgets are under constant pressure and we’re all hunting for the best deal possible, it’s crucial that people are able to shop online with confidence, knowing that the price they see is the price they’ll pay, and any sales are genuine.

“Whether you’re spending your hard-earned cash on concert tickets or driving lessons, joining a gym or buying furniture and appliances for your home, you deserve a fair deal.

“It’s our job to protect consumers from misleading prices and illegal pressure selling and today marks an important milestone as we take action across the economy to make sure businesses do the right thing by their customers.

“Since the launch of the new regime, we’ve been working hard to help businesses understand the law. But alongside supporting businesses to comply, we’ve always been clear that we will take swift action where we suspect potentially serious breaches of the law.

“This is just the start of our work. Any businesses who break consumer law should be in no doubt we will stamp out illegal conduct and protect the interests of consumers and fair-dealing businesses.”

The CMA said it opened investigations into the eight firms because it had “reason to suspect” they had infringed consumer law in relation to their use of fees, use of misleading time-limited offers or the automatically opting consumers in for optional charges.

Two of the firms – secondary ticketing sites StubHub and Viagogo – are under review regarding the mandatory additional charges applied when consumers buy tickets, and whether or not these fees were included upfront.

The watchdog said it is investigating the AA Driving School and BSM Driving School over their presentation of mandatory fees on their sites, specifically whether these fees were included in the total price the consumer sees at the beginning of the purchase process.

Gold’s Gym is under investigation over its presentation of a one-off joining fee for its annual membership, and whether the way it presented this fee broke the law, specifically introducing it part way through the sign-up process and not including it in advertised membership costs.

The watchdog said it is investigating Wayfair in relation to time-limited sales, Marks Electrical in relation to default opt-ins and Appliances Direct for its use of time-limited sales and default opt-ins.

The CMA said it has reached no conclusions about whether the law had been broken in any of these investigations.

An AA Driving School spokesman said: “We are comfortable that the £3 booking fee for lessons is already transparent and in line with the CMA’s rules, and are more than happy to additionally notify customers earlier in the journey as well, which we have already done.”

A Viagogo spokesman said: “We have continually engaged constructively with the CMA and will be fully cooperating with their investigation.”