Category Archives: Consumer affairs

Asos to charge shoppers who regularly return large amounts of goods

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Online fashion retailer writes to some customers to say they face £3.95 fee unless they keep up to £40 of order

Asos is to start charging UK shoppers who frequently return large amounts of goods a fee of £3.95 to send items back unless they keep up to £40 worth of their order.

The online fashion retailer, which until now has made free returns of unused items within 14 days an important part of its offer in Britain, has written to some shoppers saying it has updated its “fair use” policy for orders made from 8 October.

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Watchdog to investigate Ticketmaster over Oasis ticket sales

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Competition and Markets Authority to look at how ‘dynamic pricing’ may have been used to increase prices

The competition watchdog has launched an investigation into the Oasis ticket sales fiasco.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will investigate Ticketmaster’s handling of sales for the band’s forthcoming tour, including how “dynamic pricing” may have been used to adjust the price.

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European Commission to examine Ticketmaster’s ‘dynamic pricing’

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Review follows UK competition watchdog’s announcement of ‘urgent review’ into Oasis concert tickets fiasco

Ticketmaster’s ability to raise the price of concert tickets based on demand is being scrutinised by the European Commission, the Guardian has learned, as the UK’s competition watchdog launches an “urgent review” into the Oasis concerts fiasco.

The US-owned ticketing giant has been told it may have breached laws in the UK and Europe for inflating the price of some Oasis tickets from £135 to £350, leaving many fans devastated.

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Branded UK school uniforms cost more than double high-street prices, analysis reveals

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The Children’s Society urges schools and government to ensure ‘undue financial strain’ is not placed on families

Parents are routinely paying more than double the price for branded school uniforms compared with similar items offered by supermarkets and high-street stores, an analysis by the Observer reveals.

Despite government guidance to reduce costs, the analysis shows that parents who are required by state schools to buy clothing featuring official school logos are still paying significantly more than for unbranded blazers, jumpers, ties and sports kit.

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Thames Water lobbied Whitehall to press Ofwat on allowing higher bills

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Exclusive: Debt-ridden company also warned officials of ‘chilling effect’ of any renationalisation

Thames Water has lobbied the government to intervene with the regulator to allow it to charge far higher bills, the Guardian can reveal.

Advisers and board members of the beleaguered water company are understood to have met Whitehall officials in recent weeks to say that allowing it to be temporarily renationalised would have a “chilling effect” on the entire UK’s appeal to international investors, sources familiar with the discussions told the Guardian.

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Support planned for UK households struggling with winter energy bills

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Government discusses measures after criticism over cuts to winter fuel payments

Ministers have committed to help households struggling with their gas and electricity bills this winter after energy industry bosses warned that consumer debt had climbed to more than £3bn.

With Labour under fire for scrapping universal winter fuel payments to pensioners, ministers met energy industry bosses on Wednesday to discuss ways of supporting struggling households through the coming colder months.

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Thames Water says without steep bill increase it’s ‘neither financeable nor investible’

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Debt-laden company tells Ofwat if it cannot charge customers 59% more, it ‘would prevent company turnaround and recovery’

Thames Water has said it will be unable to recover from its funding crisis if it is blocked from charging customers significantly more, as it proposed to pile an extra £228 a year on to household bills.

The debt-laden company said the increase to bills that has been proposed by the industry regulator, Ofwat, leaves its activities “neither financeable nor investible”.

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Keir Starmer warns of tough times ahead to fix ‘Tory ruins’

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Labour leader tells working people rot left by Conservatives is so much worse than imagined and improvement won’t happen overnight

British people will have to endure even worse economic and social ­pressures in the months to come as the Labour government takes “unpopular decisions” to rebuild the country from “rubble and ruin” left by the Tories, Keir Starmer will warn this week.

With the prime minister under mounting pressure from within his own party to help people struggling with rising fuel payments and millions of families in poverty, Starmer will strike a defiant note against those demanding U-turns from his ministers, saying “tough choices” will have to be made before any recovery is possible.

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Millions facing ‘cruel winter’ without fuel payments, Labour MPs warn

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Backbenchers say end to support schemes would be ‘wrong measure’ that ignores struggle of poorest households

• Which benefits are available to vulnerable people?

Millions of vulnerable people face a “cruel winter” owing to a combination of rising energy costs and government cuts to welfare schemes, Labour MPs and campaigners have warned, as Keir Starmer comes under pressure to extend key financial support programmes.

Labour backbenchers are calling on the prime minister to reverse or mitigate the government’s decision to end winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners and to extend the household support fund (HSF), which is due to run out in September.

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Average annual energy bill to rise by 9.5% to £1,717 in Great Britain from October

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Campaigners fear increase by £149 in energy price cap by Ofgem will put more pressure on households

Households will begin the run-up to winter with a sharp increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on energy prices by 9.5% from October.

Under the new price cap, the average annual energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year for gas and electricity, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.

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Ten states join lawsuit against Live Nation and seek triple damages

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Concert giant of monopolistically inflating ticket prices and hurting artists in suit now including 26 states and DC

Attorneys general from about two dozen US states are going after three times the monetary damages originally sought against Live Nation Entertainment and its ticket-selling unit, Ticketmaster. In an updated version of a lawsuit first filed in May, the states allege the concert giant monopolized markets across its industry.

The attorneys general had sought damages under state law in the initial version of the lawsuit. By adding claims under the federal anti-monopoly law, states can seek three times the monetary damages, a penalty for especially egregious conduct known as treble damages.

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Asic taking down average of 20 scam websites a day

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Crypto scams accounted for 615 takedowns, the regulator says, as total number exceeds 7,300 in 12 months

More than 7,300 websites have been taken down in the first year of operation of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s service targeting investment scams, the regulator has revealed.

Since the beginning of the program in July 2023, Asic said it had shut down thousands of scam websites that offer fake investment trading platforms and cryptocurrency investments that are often spread online through social media containing false celebrity endorsements.

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Vets extend strike in first industrial action to hit Britain’s pet-care sector

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Staff at a practice in Wales have accused its private-equity-backed owner of poor pay and overcharging customers

Staff working at a chain of commercial vet surgeries have extended their strike, accusing their private-equity-backed owner of underpaying workers and overcharging pet owners as part of the first industrial action to hit the veterinary sector in the UK.

Unionised vets, nurses and support staff at Valley Vets in south Wales, which is owned by one of the largest veterinary corporations in the country, VetPartners, decided last week to stay out until the end of the month, in the latest move in an increasingly bitter dispute.

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‘Kafkaesque’: bank blocks cash transfer, saying it could be an AI scam

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Starling’s fraud team repeatedly refused to allow UK man to send £12,800 to friend in Austria, then froze account

An Edinburgh academic has accused Starling bank’s fraud team of behaving like officers in a police state after they repeatedly refused to allow him to send a €15,000 (£12,800) payment to a friend in Austria, then froze his account when he complained about their “absurd demands”.

John MacInnes, a professor emeritus of sociology and statistics, says he has been left astonished by his treatment by staff at the challenger bank.

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Tory donor Lycamobile handed winding-up order from HMRC amid tax dispute

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Pay-as-you-go simcard seller often filed late returns, had accounts queried by auditors and was embroiled in eight-year VAT battle

Lycamobile, a telecoms company that has given more than £2m to the Conservative party, has been issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs, amid a long-running VAT dispute.

The company, founded by businessman Allirajah Subaskaran in 2006, sells pay-as-you-go sim cards that are popular with low-paid workers wanting to make cheap phone calls to family overseas, as well as in the UK.

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NSW closes loophole to stamp out fires caused by substandard lithium-ion batteries in ebikes and scooters

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New rules declaring the popular devices a form of transport mean the batteries must meet strict international product standards

New South Wales is cracking down on the sale of some ebikes and e-scooters in a nationwide first aimed at reducing the scourge of battery-related fires, while pushing for a nationally coordinated approach to the growing problem.

Low quality ebikes and e-scooters have contributed to a spate of fires across the country, with lithium-ion batteries now the fastest growing cause of fires in the state.

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UK pensioners left on ‘financial cliff edge’ by cuts to winter fuel payments

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New analysis shows tens of thousands of older people may end up worse off than those who retain energy benefit

Tens of thousands of pensioners are on a financial cliff edge because of the government’s decision to radically restrict winter fuel payments, a new analysis has revealed. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, opted to introduce a means test for the payments, with only those on pension credit qualifying, stating it was one of the “difficult decisions” she had to make, as she accused the Tories of leaving £22bn in unfunded commitments.

The decision removes the payments from about 10 million pensioners in England and Wales. Officials said this weekend the policy would be among a package of measures “to fix the foundations of the economy”.

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Labor’s planned anti-scam laws are too complicated, too lenient and too slow, advocates say

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Federal government’s promise to force banks to reimburse scam victims criticised as ‘too vague’ and ‘a mess’

The government’s proposed reforms to laws on financial scams let the banking system off the hook, are inferior to policies applied overseas, are complicated for victims and will not be legislated before Australians lose many more billions of dollars, according to consumer advocates.

The scathing criticism comes after an address by the assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, who vowed on Wednesday to force banks, telcos and social media platforms to reimburse scam victims if their systems prove inadequate, as techniques used by fraudsters grow increasingly sophisticated.

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Surprise jump in number of UK people mainly using cash for daily spending

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Banking body reports increase to 1.5m in 2023 – the highest since before Covid – despite move to cashless society

There has been an unexpected jump in the number of people who mainly use notes and coins for their daily spending, despite the UK moving closer to becoming a cashless society, a report has found.

The volume of contactless and mobile payments increased last year, while the number of cash payments resumed a downward trajectory after enjoying a brief comeback in 2022, the banking body UK Finance noted in its annual report on the UK payments market.

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Bamburgh judged UK’s best seaside destination by Which? readers for fourth year

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Northumbrian village was named as nation’s favourite, just ahead of Portmeirion and St Andrews

Bamburgh, the Northumbrian village known for its sprawling sand dunes and imposing castle, has retained its title as the UK’s best seaside destination for the fourth consecutive year.

A survey of 4,700 people by the consumer group Which? placed the Northumberland coastal village as the nation’s favourite, ahead of Portmeirion in Gwynedd and St Andrews in Fife.

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