The Ministry of Consumer Affairs sanctions seven companies for false discounts during Black Friday.

MadridThe Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption, and the 2030 Agenda has sanctioned seven online retail companies for false discounts during Black Friday 2023. Specifically, the ministry found that the companies, whose names have not been revealed, raised the prices of several products days before the Black Friday sales campaign, as Consum explained this Friday in a press release.

A large part of Black Friday sales are made through online commerce., which opens the door to deep discounts, but is also a sweet spot for these deceptive practices, as well as for cyber scams.

This practice constitutes a serious violation, and for this reason the ministry has imposed fines of up to 348,000 euros. Specifically, the department headed by Pablo Bustinduy points out that it constitutes a violation of Article 20 of the Retail Trade Regulation Act, which stipulates that to display a discount, the lowest price the product has had in the thirty days prior to the discount must be indicated.

Of the companies that have been sanctioned, three have admitted to engaging in these deceptive practices, decided not to appeal the sanctions, and have paid the fine, although it has been reduced, according to the ministry. The remaining companies did not admit guilt, so the sanctions remain high. Furthermore, the sanctioned companies have been prohibited from repeating these practices in the future.

However, Consum's general management has concluded an eighth case through conventional termination, which requires the company to undertake a series of commitments to modify its conduct in order to comply with current regulations. Consum has closed this investigation after monitoring hundreds of prices during Black Friday using a tool developed by the European Commission that allows real-time visibility into whether offers comply with regulations. The ministry is currently investigating possible fake discounts during the 2024 campaign, so new cases could be opened.

Preliminary warning

The Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) has been warning of scams and fake discounts during this campaign for years, especially on electronic products, which are often the most requested, as could becheck the ARA in 2022In fact, a study published by this organization in November of last year certified that "more price increases than decreases were detected in electronics and household appliances during Black Friday week." The analysis revealed that 42% of the electronics products analyzed last Black Friday had prices higher than the minimum prices set in September and October.