Price change - can they do this?

smp77

I needed to buy a new sofa and being a single parent I don't have a lot of spare cash and don't want to get in debt. I found a sofa I really liked from Argos that was listed in the sale at the end of June that had been reduced to less than half price. It was on sale for £297 instead of the original price of £599. I thought that with the original price being £599 it would be fairly decent quality and that I was getting a bargain. I had until 3rd of July to order it and get this offer.
When I went to track my order, I noticed that exactly the same sofa is now in the sale for £349 (which I know is more than I paid which is not a problem, plus it lists the previous sale price I paid) however it now states its a £50 saving because the original price is now listed as £399!!!! So they have literally knocked £200 off the original selling price...but why?! I feel this is so misleading because although I saved money on the sofa I was lead to believe I was getting a better deal than I have, plus I thought the sofa would be better quality than it is because it was listed as a higher price! Can they legally do this? I am pretty miffed!!!!! :-( advice would be gratefully received!

Looksguywalker

The price of furniture especially when buying it from Argos is no indicator of quality.

smp77

Which is a very fair point, but at the end of the day can they change the original selling price? It is still misleading!!!

esuhl

Companies try tricks like this all the time. Have you seen all those "special 1/2 price" bottles of wine in supermarkets that you'd never noticed being sold at full price before? I'm sure they just get one or two bottles, "officially" sell them in a couple of shops for £15, then a few months later flood the country with cheap plonk (worth maybe £5) and stick up big "half price - only £7.50" signs.

It's the same with everything -- you need to base your estimate of quality on the price you actually pay, not on the psychological games that all shops play.

Having said that, there are laws that limit the way that companies can represent sale and "original" prices. There are a lot of "loopholes" that most shops will exploit to their advantage, but (in my unqualified opinion) it sounds like they may possibly be breaking the law here.

Assuming you ordered the sofa very recently and did so online, you can probably use the DSRs to reject it.

Otherwise, it might be worth having a word with Trading Standards...

bris

Do you really think dfs sofas @ £2500 slashed to £500 for a short time only, is really a bargain, or that new kitchen you always wanted was really sold for 10k now half price plus take an extra 20% off.
It's all marketing, I didn't think it would work anymore, but just goes to show there is life in them old sales ploys yet.

smp77

I understand all the sales ploys, I really am not thick to not understand that! I just want to know if legally they are allowed to change the full price like that!

I know that buying a sofa from Argos is not going to get me the best quality sofa but my financial position didn't give me a lot of choice. I like the sofa, it does what it says on the packet! I just am annoyed at the sneaky sales ploy and blatant lie and just wanted to know if they legally can get away with it!

Hintza

They can charge any price they like. They might have improved terms with their supplier etc.

What is more worrying you based your buying decision on perceived quality based on price. It's a bit like buying in any of the sheds (furniture, beds etc) the true value will probably be 30% of what they claim to be the RRP.

prowla

Yes they can change the price; the product might've been coming to the end of the line and they've had a sale and then subsequently reduced the selling price.

With furniture, the price it's worth is the price you'll pay.

Lip_Stick

I bought a 2 seater leather sofa from Argos about 4 years ago that was originally about £600, and around £450 for the chair. I got them half price. Whilst it was being delivered they reduced the chair again by £50 so I phoned up and got a £50 cheque sent to me. :j

The point I'm actually trying to make though, is that this sofa is fab. The cushions have kept their shape, and it's so comfy. You hear of people paying £1000's for a sofa and it not lasting a couple of years, and you also hear people knocking Argos for their furniture. So hopefully OP, you'll have got a decent sofa at a very good price, whatever the original price was.

molerat

Where I used to work we sold an item at its normal price, £100. It then went on sale for the requisite number of days for £180 then went down to half price, £90. All perfectly legal. We always called it the £10 off sale.

esuhl

Hintza wrote: »

They can charge any price they like.

That's true, but they can't sell an item for £1000 for a day in a single shop and then advertise it as "£100 - 90% off!" in hundreds of shops indefinitely. But I'm not sure exactly where the line is drawn, legally.

This page from Consumerline suggests you contact them if you have a complaint about price mis-representation:
http://www.consumerline.org/search/?cat=Buying+Goods+%26+Services&item=Misleading+Prices