The São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro Procons notified Casas Bahia, Americanas, Phillips and Amazon of problems during this year’s Black Friday, which took place on November 26th.
The São Paulo Procon registered 703 complaints from consumers about Black Friday. Of these, 107 were made against B2W, which owns brands such as Americanas, Submarino and Shoptime. Another 96 complaints were filed against Via S/A, which owns Casas Bahia, Extra.com and Ponto Frio. Next are Magazine Luiza (31 complaints), Carrefour (30) and Etna (25).
According to the agency, the main complaints were delay or non-delivery, order canceled after purchase, change in delivery time after finalizing the purchase, product unavailable and false discount.
In São Paulo, Procon notified Via S/A, owner of Casas Bahia, for not complying with the cell phone offer announced during the date. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 smartphone, whose original price is around BRL 3,500, was offered for BRL 700. According to consumers, the company canceled the orders after completing the purchases.
The company had three days to present its defense after the November 29 notification. According to Via, the price variation was due to processing failures and the involved consumers were reimbursed.
“The company reinforces that it acts based on respect for consumers, in line with current legislation and that the cases were serious errors that were corrected as soon as they were identified,” he stated in a note.
According to Guilherme Farid, Procon-SP’s chief of staff, around 2,000 consumers purchased the smartphone and had their purchase cancelled. The case was referred to the supervisory board of the agency, which will individually analyze complaints about the offer and may impose a fine of up to R$ 11 million on the company. The service continues to receive complaints about the case.
According to Farid, companies can claim a “blunt error” when the change in price is absurd and atypical, evidently the result of technical or human error, and consumers take advantage of it to obtain undue economic advantage. “It doesn’t seem to be the case, since the promotion was carried out in the early hours of Black Friday, a date known for its aggressive discounts”, he says.
In Rio de Janeiro, Procon has monitored eight major ecommerce sites since October. Price surveys and promotions of 654 electronics and home appliances that are among the most sought after by consumers on Black Friday were recorded during the period. At the event, the agency also inspected commercial establishments in the capital, Baixada Fluminense and Niterói.
The monitoring showed that, according to Procon, Amazon would have practiced misleading advertising on Black Friday by offering the Smart TV Samsung Cristal 4K 82 inches for R$ 16,799. On an earlier date, the same product was advertised for R$ 8,559, about half the price.
The same happened with a LG notebook, offered for BRL 13,599 on the day of the event and announced for BRL 8,799.91 on a previous next date.
According to Procon, the ads could mislead consumers at the time of purchase. The platform was also notified because of a lack of clarity on its website about which items were part of the promotions on the date, which included discounts of up to 60%, according to the company’s disclosure.
When contacted, Amazon said it has not received notification from Procon-RJ and works “to offer customers every day a wide variety of products, good prices and fast delivery”.
The Rio de Janeiro Procon also notified Americanas (B2W) for the price variation in the 82-inch Samsung Crystal UHD 4K Smart TV ads. Ten days before Black Friday, on November 16, the television was advertised for R$ 8,999. On the date of the event, it was offered for R$ 9,999, with a 10% discount that took the item to the same price practiced ten days before.
The practice is known as “price make-up” and is common on commemorative dates, in which shopkeepers increase the amount they charge for an item closer to a promotion date, says Farid. “It’s the famous ‘take it by half as much’. It constitutes misleading advertising because it leads consumers to believe that they are benefiting from buying on that date.”
When contacted, Americanas said that it was not notified of the case in question by Procon in Rio de Janeiro and will provide clarifications as soon as it is in possession of the document.
“Americanas SA reinforces its commitment to the legislation and regulation of Black Friday. The company emphasizes that only products with the Black Friday seal are part of the event and emphasizes that it immediately provides for the correction of any irregularities identified”, stated the company in note. “Efforts to offer the best experience are reflected in important recognitions such as the 2021 True Black Friday award, which recognizes the best companies and best practices at the event, based on popular voting.” The company also claims that it also participated in the creation of the best practices guide for Black Friday, with the Retail Development Institute (IDV) and Procon-SP.
Phillips, in turn, was notified of misleading advertising due to omission due to a promotion advertisement that lowered the price from R$ 209.90 to R$ 89.90, without specifying which item the discount would be applied to.
In a statement, the company stated that its Black Friday promotions campaign offers products with significant discounts in relation to the prices charged in its ecommerce and that surprise offers such as the one mentioned by Procon “have been a one-off action carried out by different retailers, as a way of instigate and positively surprise consumers”.
According to Procon-RJ, companies have 15 days to present a defense and a fine of up to R$ 10 million can be applied, depending on the size of the company.
Via S/A spoke about consumer complaints to Procon São Paulo and stated that it anticipated the start of its Black Friday offers. “The demands evaluated in Procon were, for the most part, specific cases that were already being discussed. The company reinforces that, for the promotional date, they always maintain uninterrupted customer service via telephone, whatsapp and social networks. its objective and concern to offer the best service and the best shopping experience to the customer.”
Carrefour also spoke about the complaints during the date. “This year, during the Black Friday period, we had a reduction in the number of complaints, but we still had problems and we are working tirelessly to offer the best shopping experience for our customers, respecting the Consumer Protection Code. In order to reverse this situation, we have been investing more and more in improving service and acting in a linear fashion in all channels,” stated the company in a statement.
Sought, Magazine Luiza and Etna did not comment on the complaints until the publication of the report.
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