House of Fraser fined for over 'misleading' Christmas prices

House of Fraser has been fined 40,000 pounds for using misleading sales tactics in its Welsh stores in the run-up to Christmas last year.

An investigation, led by Torfaen County Borough Council in Wales, focusing on price tags found that some of the prices led shoppers into believing they were getting a higher discount than they really were.

A number of products found in HoF's stores in Cwmbran, Cardiff and Bournemouth featured tags reading "was and now". However the tags failed to specify what the previous price of the product was - which meant that customers were unable to calculated what - if any - discount they were getting.

The department store pleaded guilty to eight offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

This not the first time HoF has been caught out for tinkering with prices, the department store had previously been warned by the Westminster Council in London in 2015 that it was not following Pricing Practises guidelines concerning handbag prices.

Photo: Courtesy of House of Fraser