Angry shoppers yesterday accused stores of ripping them off with bogus discounts as millions of people flocked to the Boxing Day sales.
High street stores enjoyed record takings, with more than £3billion in total thought to have gone through the tills and footfall up on last year.
But within hours, consumers vented their anger on Twitter after discovering some items were originally cheaper before the Boxing Day sales began.
Angry shoppers yesterday accused stores of ripping them off with bogus discounts as millions of people flocked to the Boxing Day sales
Consumer groups warned shoppers to be on their guard against such ‘pseudo-sales’, in which prices are inflated just before they are discounted so that the deal looks better than it actually is.
Yesterday there were concerns shoppers may have fallen victim to such tactics after furious messages appeared on Twitter from shoppers who claimed they had been ripped off.
Chelsea Corcoran wrote: ‘The shoes I wanted are more expensive in the sale than they were originally, what??’
Eleanor Hampton wrote: ‘Confused how some trainers are now more expensive in the sale than before Xmas’.
Helena Emmanuel added: ‘Went on the @ZARA website and a cardigan I saw two days ago in the shop is now more expensive on the sales page. B***** scam.’
High Street stores had record sales this Boxing Day though some shoppers feel they could have been duped into thinking items were cheaper than they ever had been
Meanwhile, Keith from Belfast took a photograph of an apparently dubious ‘sale’ item in the outdoor clothing store Trespass.
A huge red sale label claimed the men’s trousers were reduced from £76.99 to £38.49, while the original tag showed the usual price was apparently just £34.99.
He wrote: ‘Either @trespass don’t know how a sale works, or they’re trying to cheat people. Check the different prices.’
Meanwhile City worker Colin Jäger, from Hampshire, wrote: ‘@Homebase_uk I’m not impressed how you increased the prices of what I wanted to buy by 28% just before your 20% sale.’
‘It now costs more!!! ‘Disgraceful practice of putting up prices just before announcing your 20% sale – what a con!!’.
Consumer group Which? has urged shoppers to be vigilant of such tactics and warned them to ‘know their shopping rights for the Boxing Day sales’.
Thousands queued to be first through the doors at Selfridges in London on Boxing Day
Under Trading Standards rules, pre-sale prices should be the last price at which goods were offered –and the goods should have been at that price for 28 consecutive days in the previous six months.
Which? has previously attacked supermarkets for pulling a similar stunt. Some stores were found to inflate prices for just a few days, before promoting their products as being half-price or better for weeks afterwards.
The consumer group said chains were exploiting loopholes in fair-trading legislation to advertise offers on items such as fruit and wine ‘that might mislead you into thinking you are getting an extra-special bargain when you are not’.
Yesterday Guy Anker, managing editor of MoneySavingExpert.com urged customers to be careful when shopping in the Boxing Day sales to ensure the discounts advertised were genuine.
He said: ‘We know that prices are being manipulated in some stores, which is disingenuous. Shops put the price up a few days before they put the goods in the sale, which dilutes the true value of the sale. It is easy to get seduced by labels offering 50 per cent off or three for two. What is more important is whether it is good value.
Though record sales were taken, this year marked the first year there were more online shoppers than those on the High Street
‘Just because it is in the sale it does not automatically mean you are getting the best price.’
Yesterday, retailers were celebrating bumper sales. Selfridges said online sales figures for Christmas Day were double last year’s, but in a sign that shoppers have not yet deserted the high street, 120,000 people visited its Oxford Street store yesterday.
Manchester’s Trafford Centre said it believed it was the biggest Boxing Day sale in its history, while in London, 1.4million shoppers spent an estimated £50 million in the West End. Elsewhere, fights reportedly broke out between shoppers keen to snap up the best deals.
Twitter user Kopsend wrote: ‘Punch-up in Next in Ipswich. People are going mad’, while Peter Foulkes said: ‘Next sale is manic – a woman started a fight with a guy over a £6 T-shirt’. Georgia Welsh wrote: ‘Fight in River Island sale because someone pushed in.’
Overwhelmed shoppers took to Twitter to describe fights breaking out in stores like River Island and Next
Many shoppers admitted snapping up the discounted designer goods so they could sell them online. Student Richie Ling, 21, who emerged from Harvey Nichols, in Leeds, said: ‘I have spent over £2,000 so far today.
‘I’ve bought three Gucci handbags and four Gucci wallets. Some of them will be gifts for my family, the rest I’ll be putting straight on eBay. ‘I got almost 50 per cent off some of the items so it could potentially be a good earner – the presents might even pay for themselves.’
None of the shops mentioned in the complaints were available for comment last night.
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