Jucy accused of raising prices before Black Friday sale

Monday, 9 December 2019

Jucy campervan rentals is being accused of raising prices in the lead up to Black Friday.

Wellington-based Shenbo Xuan booked a Jucy campervan using the company's Black Friday promo code.

He received 40 per cent off the listed price, $52.80, paying $32 a day for his eight day trip in August.

Jucy founders Tim Alpe and Dan Alpe founded the company in 2001. Since then, the rental company has expanded into international markets.

Xuan said he felt like he had got a good deal and was excited for his first trip to Queenstown.

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New Zealand's Jucy have been accused of upping prices just before it's 40 per cent off Black Friday sale.

But when he went back on the website on the Wednesday after Black Friday, the normal daily price for the same campervan during the same time period was listed as $36.

'I was quite upset when I found out. When I was booking, I thought I had saved quite a lot but in the end, while I did save something, it wasn't a lot.'

Xuan said he was disappointed that the total amount he paid for his eight day trip with the 40 per cent discount, $349.83, was only slightly less than he would have paid at the normal daily price during August.

An eight day booking for the same Jucy campervan on the same days in August costs $386.84, with both totals including the booking fees.

Jucy has been approached for comment.

'To be very honest, I think Jucy is very competitively priced. They're already a good deal. They don't need to play these tricks,' Xuan said.

Jucy is not the only company to face criticism over pricing during Black Friday sales.

The Commerce Commission received 11 complaints which mentioned 'Black Friday' of which eight also mentioned 'price'.

Consumer NZ head of research Jessica Wilson says a sale had to be a genuine opportunity to get a discount.

Each of the complaints would be assessed as part of the commission's usual process, a spokesman said.

While many shoppers believed they were getting a good deal during the sale period, price comparison website PriceSpy found the price of some products actually increased over the Black Friday sale weekend last year.

Perfume prices increased an average 3 per cent during the sale.

Consumer NZ head of research Jessica Wilson said a sale had to be a genuine opportunity to get a discount.

'Any retailer that inflates its usual prices before putting them on 'sale' risks misleading consumers about the savings they're getting and breaching the Fair Trading Act.'

Retailers found guilty face fines of up to $600,000, she said.