The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a major investigation into online appliance retailers Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical, saying it is concerned they may have broken consumer law regulations.
The CMA is launching its inquiries under the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which introduced new rules to combat things like fake reviews, drip pricing and misleading time-limited offers.
Using its new powers, the CMA has launched investigations into a total of eight businesses, including the two online appliance retailers, which it says it has “reason to suspect” have infringed consumer law.
More specifically, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical are being investigated to determine whether their time-limited sales ended when they said they would, or whether customers are being automatically opted in to purchasing additional services.
At this stage, the CMA has reached no conclusions about whether the law has been broken in either case.
The organisation says it will now engage with Marks Electrical and Appliances Direct, and gather evidence to consider whether it thinks either retailer has infringed consumer protection law.
These investigations mark the first enforcement cases opened by the CMA using its new powers, which enable it to decide whether consumer laws have been broken, rather than having to go through the courts. If the CMA finds there has been an infringement of the law, it can order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers as well as fining companies up to 10% of global turnover.
Discussing this first wave of new investigations, Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive said: “At a time when household budgets are under constant pressure and we’re all hunting for the best deal possible, it’s crucial that people are able to shop online with confidence, knowing that the price they see is the price they’ll pay, and any sales are genuine.
“Whether you’re spending your hard-earned cash on concert tickets or driving lessons, joining a gym or buying furniture and appliances for your home, you deserve a fair deal. It’s our job to protect consumers from misleading prices and illegal pressure selling and today marks an important milestone as we take action across the economy to make sure businesses do the right thing by their customers.
“Since the launch of the new regime, we’ve been working hard to help businesses understand the law. But alongside supporting businesses to comply, we’ve always been clear that we will take swift action where we suspect potentially serious breaches of the law.”
Cardell concluded: “This is just the start of our work. Any businesses who break consumer law should be in no doubt we will stamp out illegal conduct and protect the interests of consumers and fair-dealing businesses.”
The CMA plans to provide an update to its investigations by March 2026.