Eight companies are currently under investigation due to concerns regarding their online pricing practices, with an additional 100 businesses expected to receive warnings. The firms being scrutinized include StubHub, Viagogo, AA Driving School, BSM Driving School, Gold’s Gym, Wayfair, Appliances Direct, and Marks Electrical.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is conducting these investigations to examine how fees are displayed online, potential misleading time-limited offers, and the automatic opt-in of optional charges for customers. Specific focus is on secondary ticket selling websites StubHub and Viagogo for additional charges applied during ticket purchases.
AA Driving School and BSM Driving School are being probed for their fee presentation methods on their websites, particularly the timing of fee displays during the purchase process. Gold’s Gym is being investigated for its one-off joining fee presentation during annual membership sign-ups.
Wayfair is under scrutiny for time-limited sales, Marks Electrical for default opt-ins, and Appliances Direct for a combination of time-limited sales and default opt-ins. The CMA emphasized that while there are suspicions of consumer law violations, no final decisions have been reached yet.
This initiative marks the first cases under the CMA’s new consumer protection powers. The watchdog is also reaching out to 100 businesses to address concerns about additional fees and sales tactics. CMA Chief Executive Sarah Cardell stressed the importance of ensuring transparent pricing and authentic sales for consumers, regardless of the products or services purchased.
Both AA Driving School and Viagogo have responded to the investigations, with AA Driving School indicating compliance with transparency rules and Viagogo expressing willingness to cooperate. The Mirror has reached out to Gold’s Gym, Wayfair, Marks Electrical, and Appliances Direct for comments. It is noted that BSM Driving School falls under the AA’s ownership, while Viagogo and StubHub share the same parent company.