The dud Black Friday deals you should avoid at all costs revealed by Which?
BARGAIN hunters are being warned by Which? about dud Black Friday "deals" that you should avoid at all costs due to their poor quality.
Every year the consumer champion puts thousands of products through laboratory tests to separate the best from the rest.
When it uncovers products that fail to perform, it rates them as Don't Buys.
Some of these products are up for grabs in Black Friday sales this year at retailers such as Amazon, AO.com, Currys PC World and John Lewis.
Which? is now urging shoppers to steer clear of the products during the sale bonanza no matter how good the discounts are.
The dud deals include a stair gate that failed a safety test, a tepid toaster and a vacuum cleaner that doesn't do the dirty work.
The Baby Dan Premier True Pressure stair gate, available for £29 at Amazon, failed the "fatigue test" conducted by Which?.
This test forms part of the EU safety standard and involves clamping the stair gate to a motorised arm that pulls it back and forth 10,000 times.
The failure means the gate could come loose, allowing a child to get through and potentially put themselves in danger, Which? said.
Meanwhile, toast fans should avoid buying the Russell Hobbs Luna 23221 2 Slice Toaster, available at AO.com for £29, it added.
In the consumer champion's tests, the gadget was said to produce pale and uneven toast, with a mixture of brown and under-done areas.
Which products are Which? warning about?
THE consumer champion is urging shoppers to steer clear of the below products this Black Friday, no matter how good the discounts are.
- Baby Dan Premier True Pressure stair gate (£29 at Amazon) - failed a safety test
- Russell Hobbs Luna 23221 2 Slice Toaster (£29 at AO.com) - said to produce uneven toast
- Maxi Cosi Beryl car seat (£255 at John Lewis) - test found the shell was too small to protect younger children properly
- Bush 60185FFWTD fridge freezer (£290 at Argos) - said to be slow to cool down new items to a safe temperature
- Hisense 65A7100FTUK LED TV (£499 at Currys PC World) - Which? claims it has the worst picture quality it has seen in years
- Beko VCS5125AB vacuum cleaner (£69 at AO.com) - Which? called the vacuum "cumbersome" and said it did a "poor job" of trapping small particles
- Marshall Major III wireless Bluetooth headphones (£49 at Currys PC World) - said to be bad sound quality
The Maxi Cosi Beryl car seat - advertised for £255 at John Lewis - also scraped only an average score in car seat crash tests.
Testers found that the car seat shell is too small to protect older children properly, while it's also awkward to fit, Which? added.
Shoppers are also being warned to shun the Bush 60185FFWTD fridge freezer, which is said to be slow to cool freshly-added items down.
This is available at Argos for a price tag of £290.
We've rounded up all the products Which? is urging shoppers to avoid above.
Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home Products and services, said: "We’ve found a host of poor quality products for sale this Black Friday, so don’t dive straight in when you spot what looks like a tempting deal.
"Save money and time by steering clear of these Don't Buy products.
"To nab a quality product that will last the test of time, look beyond the special offer and check out independent, thorough test results."
Our tips for finding the best deals this Black Friday
IT might be tempting to dive in and snap up LOADS of items on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but here’s how you can guarantee you’re getting a good deal.
PREPARE Research the items you want to buy and find out the cheapest price. Websites like , and will give you historical data on prices so you can see how much you should pay.
GET FOLLOWING Follow your favourite shops on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and sign up to its deals newsletter to get the latest on any offers. We post the best deals in our too.
EARN CASHBACK Check websites like and BEFORE you place your order. Cashback websites PAY you to shop. All you have to do is click through their links and the money is added to your online account, usually within 14 days.
The Sun has contacted all the retailers and manufacturers for comment, of which a spokesperson for Amazon said it's "investigating".
John Lewis said: "Our customers’ safety is really important to us and we undertake great care to ensure that the products we sell meet our rigorous requirements.
"This product met all EU and UK safety standards and regulations and as such, we are satisfied that we can continue to sell this product."
While AO.com told The Sun: "AO has over 9,000 fantastic and fair offers available across a range of products and price points for customers this Black Friday.
"Our customers scored the two products identified as over four out of five but Which? is entitled to its opinion."
Rens Joosten, marketing director of Maxi Cosi, told The Sun: "Beryl has recently been awarded three stars from STIWA/ADAC testing and we are proud of the numerous Best Buy endorsements across our portfolio that demonstrate our leadership in safety and innovative design."
Meanwhile, in response to Which?’s testing in July, BabyDan said: "The safety gate has been tested recently by TÜV Süd in Germany and Bureau Veritas in the UK numerous times without any remarks.
"Both of these two test laboratories have great experience with testing safety gates, and the safety gate has always passed the European standard for safety barriers.
"To prove our point Baby Dan has immediately sent the safety gate in question for new testing and we have just received verbal confirmation that the safety gate complies to the European Standard."
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We've rounded up the best Black Friday deals so far in our guide here.
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