Boots Ireland spared court conviction over misleading Black Friday toothbrush and perfume sale
BOOTS IRELAND WAS spared a court conviction today after last month admitting breaking pricing laws during a 2023 Black Friday sale.
The breaches found on electric toothbrushes and perfume price tags triggered a Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) investigation.
On 26 May, the retail giant pleaded guilty before Judge Anthony Halpin at Dublin District Court to consumer law that compelled traders to base any discount on the lowest price in at least the previous 30 days and to display this price clearly on any price tag or advertisement.
Judge Halpin adjourned the case until today for the retailer to pay €4,624 toward the CCPC costs and €1,000 to the Little Flower Penny Dinners charity.
Finalising the prosecution, he noted that Boots Ireland had complied and he applied the Probation of Offender's Act, leaving it spared a recorded conviction.
At the prior hearing, Judge Halpin noted defence submissions that the breach was due to a human error and that the firm was remorseful and had no prior offences on record.
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Judge Halpin remarked that Boots was a very reputable firm in Ireland with branches and employees throughout the country, and he noted a senior compliance officer from the company had travelled over from the UK to attend the proceedings.
It was among the first batch of prosecutions under the new sales pricing rules introduced in 2022, the European Union (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) (Amendment) Regulations.
Cathal Ó Braonáin BL, for the competition regulator, said the offence arises when a retailer announces a reduced selling cost without announcing the product's lowest price in the preceding 30 days.
Boots was found to have committed three pricing breaches for the 17 November, 2023 sale, including advertising an Oral-B toothbrush for €470 with a prior price of €999.99, despite it having been sold at €470 just days before.
Two more errors were for another Oral-B toothbrush and a Dior perfume, both advertised at higher previous prices than their actual recent lowest costs.
The defence stressed how 104,000 products were on promotion for that Black Friday, and these offences represented a tiny number of items on sale.
A full review of internal processes has been carried out, and guidance, protocols, and governance were updated.
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