Viagogo, AA and Wayfair in online pricing probe
Eight companies are being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority for their use of fees and misleading time-limited offers.
Viagogo, StubHub and AA Driving School are among eight businesses being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for their online pricing and sales practices.
The CMA suspects the eight firms, also including BSM Driving School, Gold’s Gym, Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical, have infringed consumer law in relation to their use of fees, misleading time-limited offers and/or the practice of automatically opting consumers in for optional charges.
These are the first cases launched by the CMA using its new consumer protection powers and follow a cross-economy review of online pricing and sales practices in more than 400 businesses across 19 different sectors. The regulator identified potential compliance concerns in 14 sectors, including drip pricing and the use of misleading countdown timers, which are banned under the new regime.
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 are included upfront.
The AA Driving School and BSM Driving School are being investigated over their presentation of mandatory fees online. Specifically, whether these fees are included in the total price the consumer sees at the beginning of the purchase process.
According to the AA, the CMA is only looking at the location of its booking fee in the sales journey rather than pricing, specifically a £3 booking fee “already flagged” before you pay.
“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,” says an AA spokesperson.
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Gold’s Gym is under investigation over its presentation of a one-off joining fee for its annual membership and whether the way it presents this fee breaks the law, specifically introducing it part way through the sign-up process and not including it in advertised membership costs.
Homeware retailers Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical are being investigated to determine whether their time-limited sales ended when they said they would, or whether customers are being automatically opted in to purchasing additional services.
Specifically, Wayfair is being investigated in relation to time-limited sales, Marks Electrical with regards default opt-ins and Appliances Direct in relation to both time-limited sales and default opt-ins.
If the CMA finds there has been an infringement it can order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers, as well as fine firms up to 10% of global turnover. The regulator claims today marks an “important milestone” in protecting customers, with the CMA planning to take “swift action” where serious breaches of the law are suspected.
“This is just the start of our work,” says chief executive Sarah Cardell. “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.”
Alongside investigating the eight businesses, the CMA is sending advisory letters to 100 firms outlining concerns about their use of additional fees and online sales tactics.
The letters target a variety of sectors where the regulator identified potential concerns, including fashion companies, cinemas and package travel operators, which collectively serve tens of millions of UK consumers every year.
These communications effectively put businesses on notice to review their practices and ensure they are in line with the law to avoid future enforcement action.
Practices such as failing to include mandatory charges upfront, introducing unavoidable fees at checkout and presenting misleading headline prices that exclude compulsory costs have been unlawful since 2008.
Today (18 November) the government also announced reselling tickets to live events for a profit is set to be banned in a bid to tackle touts and resale sites. The news follows an agreement made by Ticketmaster last month to give fans 24 hours notice if a tiered pricing system is being used. This is after the CMA found the ticketing site “may have misled Oasis fans” with unclear pricing when tickets went on sale for the band’s 2025 reunion tour.
