Store’s ‘50% off’ half true

DIY chain doubled prices on day of ‘discount’ promo

DIY giant Wickes misled shoppers with nonexistent savings on new kitchens, a watchdog has ruled.

The chain was ordered to cut ads promising 50% off cupboards and storage units after the Advertising Standards Authority found it doubled prices on the day of the promotion, so customers paid the same amount.

It said shoppers planning to cash-in on bargain kitchens in a multi-buy deal of five units or more paid the same price as those buying kitchens before the promotion.

For example, the cost of a base unit in the Heritage Bone range had been raised from £159 to £318 when the offer began, “effectively cancelling out any saving,” the ASA said.

It investigated six complaints – including one from Which? – over misleading prices on multi-buy offers.

Which? told the ASA that prices for kitchen units at Wickes doubled between February and August last year when the promotion began.

Wickes said its 50% discount applied to a multi-buy deal and compared the cost of buying five units with that of buying fewer than five. But the ASA upheld the complaints and banned the advert.

It said: “Although Wickes said the 50% discount was not intended as a discount against a previous selling price, we noted a unit bought as part of the 50% off multi-buy offer cost the same as before the promotion began. “Consumers would therefore not make a saving against what they would otherwise have paid for a full kitchen before the multi-buy offer was introduced. We considered that the claimed saving was also not genuine.” Natalie Hitchins, of Which?, said: “Today’s ruling indicates this offer from Wickes should never have been run in the first place.” Wickes yesterday declined to comment.