Currys PC World ‘pushes £80 HDMI TV cable which is the same as £40 ones on customers’
The retailer is selling three options of one metre HDMI cables in store – priced at £39.99 for the black version, £59.99 for silver and £79.99 for gold
The retailer is selling three options of one metre HDMI cables in store – priced at £39.99 for the black version, £59.99 for silver and £79.99 for gold
CURRYS PC World has been accused of misleading customers into forking out up to £80 on HDMI cables which are exactly the same as ones HALF the price.
The UK’s largest electrical retailer is selling three options of one metre HDMI cables in store – priced at £39.99 for the black version, £59.99 for silver and £79.99 for gold.
These cables are used to link devices such as laptops, DVD players or games consoles to TVs.
But an investigation by Channel 4 consume programmer Supershoppers, which airs tonight on Channel 4, found sales staff at Currys use false information to encourage customers into buying the costlier cables - even though they make no difference in terms of quality.
Tech expert Professor William Webb told the programme that the only difference between these products was the material they were made from, adding that they "all work perfectly in pretty much any application you can think of".
Yet when Supershoppers went undercover and visited five Currys stores they were given the correct advice only once.
When asked if a more expensive cable would work better with a very high resolution 4K TV, a member of staff said: "The gold ones are a bit better if you have a lot of electronic signals in your house and you don't want an interruption in the service."
He added that the picture quality would be relatively the same in all the cables but still recommended the silver one, which would set you back £60.
A salesman at a different store had no problem upselling the more expensive £80 gold cable.
He said: "If you've spent thousands of pounds on your TV, ideally you'd want to go down this route and get the best out of it."
He then told the undercover shopper that it would also improve brightness and give more "vibrant colours" to the image.
But Professor Webb described this advice as "fundamentally wrong", saying that "even the cheapest [cable] would be perfectly adequate."
A spokesperson for Currys PC World said: “We pride ourselves on helping customers get it right by giving the best and most appropriate advice when buying a new product, including HDMI cables.
"Our range of cables, starting at below £6, offers a number of benefits to customers depending on their needs - including different levels of shielding and various data transfer speeds – while our Silver and Gold series cables also offer lifetime warranties.
"We clearly highlight what each of our cables offers in store. "
It's not the first time Currys has been accused of misleading customers.
Earlier this year, the retailer was found to be raising the price of their clearance sale items - with some items being sold for 67 per cent more than when they were origianlly put on sale.
Just this week, it was also mocked online after it dropped its price for an Apple AirPort – by 3p.
The store claimed the product was in its “clearance” sale despite the tiny discount.
Over 2,000 of Currys customers recently complained about the retailer's "hidden" fees for insurance that they were unaware they signed for.
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