The Ministry of Consumer Affairs announced on Monday that it will launch an investigation campaign into “possible misleading sales” that could occur during the period Black Fridaywhich will be held on November 28th and in the days preceding. Therefore, the department led by Pablo Bustinduy will undertake “massive price monitoring to detect fraudulent discounts”, that is, to ensure that companies do not increase the price of products before this commercial campaign and then lower it to the original price, which gives the false sensation of being able to purchase a product at a reduced price. Bustinduy assured in a press conference that serious fines can amount to “four to six times the profit obtained” through these techniques and that “companies that try to make money by deceiving consumers will pay for it.”
In this campaign, Consumer Affairs will focus on e-commerce operators, paying “particular attention” to textiles, toys, technology and small appliances.
The ministry assured that it has expanded the catalog of unfair commercial practices that can be sanctioned. For example, the drip pricing technique will be monitored, according to which a part of the total cost of the product is hidden at the beginning of the purchasing process and only appears later. The use of personal data will also be monitored to establish prices for each consumer.
To avoid impulse purchases during the Black Friday It also intends to limit pressure selling techniques, such as the use of “unreal” countdowns or “false shortage messages” or any other mechanism that seeks to generate an “artificial sense of urgency” for the purchase of a product or service. Furthermore, misleading pricing campaigns are also monitored in which attempts are made to relate the low cost of a product to a higher one that “has not been used regularly, generating” savings much higher than the real one.
Bustinduy assured the ministry headquarters that numerous investigations were carried out in previous editions of this surveillance campaign which concluded this summer. Therefore, he underlined that fines with a total value of 350,000 euros were imposed, sanctions approved by the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid.
Given these practices, Bustinduy stressed that “no company is above the law” and that “no business model can be based on the violation of consumer rights.”
In addition to announcing this surveillance campaign, the minister also spoke about the amendment introduced by the PP to the law on sustainable mobility and approved by the Congress of Deputies last week, according to which travelers can request compensation equal to 50% and 100% of the ticket amount in case of delays of 15 and 30 minutes respectively. He assured that it is “difficult to understand that private operators who came to Spain to exploit a very important high-speed rail infrastructure with a gigantic investment effort by the State, have different and less demanding operating conditions than those of the public operator”.
Regarding the case that Brussels has opened against Spain for sanctioning airlines that charge for hand luggage, he said that, despite everything, his position “will not change” and that he is surprised that the European Commission “has positioned itself on the side of the big airlines” and not of consumers.
