'Why inflate the prices?' SA slams Black Friday 'scam'

26 November 2021 - 12:00 By TImesLIVE
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Many consumers are not happy with this year's Black Friday deals.
Many consumers are not happy with this year's Black Friday deals.
Image: 123RF/pressmaster

Yet again, SA has been disappointed by the “scam disguised as Black Friday". 

Unhappy shoppers flocked to social media on Friday to complain that discounts offered were “not actually” discounts.

On Twitter, the hashtag #BlackFriday trended as customers expressed their grievances. 

Over the past few years, retailers such as Takealot and Clicks have been hyped as the ultimate Black Friday extravaganza. However, both faced backlash for allegedly inflating prices or offering no real discounts.

Previously, Takealot defended its pricing, telling TimesLIVE that in some cases there are two different sellers for the same product on the site. The company says it is possible that one seller is not part of the Blue Dot Sale.

In some cases there is limited stock of an item. Once the Blue Dot Sale stock is sold out the item reverts to its original price. 

“Unfortunately, this sometimes happens while a shopper is in the process of checking out, which seems to have been the case in this instance. Deals are available on a first come, first served basis and stock is only reserved once payment is received,” it responded to one complaint.

Clicks also defended its pricing, saying: “Pricing labels are updated when sales launch in-store. These price tags have been adjusted for the 'Why Wait For Black Friday' promotion.”

On social media, some shoppers said they were not impressed with the less than 50% discounts offered by many shops and prices were not reduced as much as expected.

Other users said Black Friday should be done away with.

Here is a snapshot of what shoppers had to say.


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