Fines for web shops of well-known brands due to fake discounts

This article was last updated on June 11, 2024

Canada: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

Fines for web shops of well-known brands due to fake discounts

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has imposed fines on five online stores for fake discounts. This includes well-known brands such as G-Star and Tommy Hilfiger. The starting price of the discounts was incorrect. This amounts to deception, because the discount is actually lower than customers think or did not exist at all.

For example, one of the companies presented a product ‘of’ 699 euros ‘for’ 629 euros, while the product cost 539 euros in the thirty days prior to the discount. The ACM sees this as a fake discount: consumers think they are getting a discount, but in reality it was more expensive.

People are thus misled. According to the ACM, a discount may only be offered on the lowest price for which the product was offered in the 30 days prior to that discount.

Promised to get better

The fines total 621,000 euros. Clothing brands G-star and Tommy Hilfiger and furniture store chain Jysk have acknowledged the violation and promised improvement. They therefore receive a lower fine.

Leen Bakker and the parent company of koopjedeal.nl have not acknowledged the violation and can still legally challenge the fine.

The regulator discovered fake discounts at more online shops, but only imposed fines on companies that most often violated the rules. ACM conducts a warning discussion with other companies that do not comply with the rules.