Black Friday Caution to Consumers

2021-11-23

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) wishes to advise the general public to take caution during the Black Friday event which falls on 26th November,2021.

The CCPC is aware that during this activity many businesses offer huge price discounts to consumers ranging from 25% to as high as 75%, while some firms are in a habit of hiking prices of their products and purporting discount bargains when in fact not.

In this light, the CCPC wishes to caution all consumers participating in this year’s Black Friday event to be alert of false or misleading sales promotions initiated to attract unsuspecting consumers to buying goods or services through an illusion of a special or reduced price. 

CCPC is further advising consumers to consider conducting personal research on the products they intend to purchase by cross checking prices of items on promotion and make reference to older pricing in order to make an informed decision.

Consumers are further encouraged to request for receipts from their respective service providers as proof of purchase and lookout for return policies to be sure that the store will not charge them a restocking fee for any item which they may wish to return. 

In addition, consumers are urged to keep documentations such as receipts, warranty and guarantee safe as that is useful to the Commission for initiation of investigations especially in an event where a consumer is denied redress. 

The CCPC takes this opportunity to warn the traders not to involve themselves in deceptive and misleading sales promotions as that is prohibited under the Competition and Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) No.24 of 2010. Therefore, we will not hesitate to name and shame where anomalies are observed.

Namukolo M. Kasumpa

Senior Public Relations Officer