WOCK announces that it will monitor compliance by stores with the new obligation and, when announcing the promotion, announces the lowest price of an item in the last 30 days. The new rules, which have been in effect for less than two weeks, have shown how dishonest some traders have been towards us.
As of January 1st, the Omnibus Directive requires sellers to clearly state whether a promotion is clearly a promotion. It is no longer enough for the seller to cross out the previous price and set a new, lower one. It should also indicate what was the lowest price of the item in the last 30 days. This is done in order to identify situations where the store kept the price of the product fixed, and then raised it for several days, only to lower it again later and call it a promotion.
“Promotional” prices were often higher than in previous weeks. Until now, we have suspected that stores use this practice, and those of us who are interested in a particular product and track price changes may even have evidence of this in the form of photos of price tags from different days. Now, thanks to the new rules, everything has worked out for us, and we see how some stores played dishonestly with us.
The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection will monitor the compliance of stores with the new rules. In response to questions from the Rzeczpospolita newspaper, the press service of the department admitted that the first signals from consumers about the incorrect display of price reductions had already been received. “We also monitor the market ourselves and check whether and how entrepreneurs have adapted to the new rules,” we read in the commentary. - We see that not everyone correctly applies the current legislation. Together with the Trade Inspectorate, we will enforce the law in this area in the interests of consumers. We will announce the details next week.
Obligation to display prices only when a “promotion” is advertised
The 30-day minimum price only applies if the retailer advertises a sale/advertisement/clean-up or uses any other name to make customers believe that a discounted price is currently in effect. There is no obligation to provide the lowest price in the last 30 days if it lowers the price without announcing a promotion.
This is how MediaMarkt stores went, in which no slogans about sales are striking. “Currently, our online store has suspended displaying discounts. The prices we present are in line with the prices at which a customer can actually purchase a product and which we assume is clear to our customers,” Violetta Batug, spokeswoman for MediaMarktSaturn Polska, wrote in response to questions from Wprost.
Exceptions apply to food
Not only online stores, but also stationary stores must adapt to the provisions of the Omnibus Directive. However, its use in grocery stores is limited. Products with a shelf life of less than 30 days are excluded from the new obligation.
“Thus, the regulations imposing the obligation to inform about indicative prices do not apply, for example, to the like. fresh meat, dairy products, fresh fruits and vegetables. The principles of the directive also do not apply to shares other than ordinary shares, i.e. they do not apply if conditional shares are introduced, such as “buy 2, pay 50 percent for the second”. cheaper”, “buy for 50 zlotys, you will get x,” explains Biedronka in the message.
Source: Wprost
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