U.K. regulators accuse Pride Mobility, retailers of limiting competition
By HME News Staff
Updated Wed September 25, 2013
LONDON - Customers in the U.K. browsing the Internet for deals on seven models of Pride Mobility scooters between 2010 and 2012 found only suggested retail prices. The lack of difference in pricing resulted from agreements and practices between Pride Mobility and some of its retailers, according to The Office of Fair Trading (OFT). In a Sept. 24 news release, the OFT said those practices “infringed competition law,” although it noted its findings are provisional and that the companies involved may now respond to its objections. “The Internet is a vital tool for shopping around,” stated Louis Christofides, competition law director at OFT, in the release. “If retailers are prevented from advertising their discounts online, consumers are significantly restricted from identifying and obtaining lower prices, and it is harder for innovative and efficient retailers to win new customers.” The National Pensioners Convention welcomes the OFT's investigation, and it calls for more consumer protections, according to an article in The Telegraph.
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