 JJB Sports says the free shirts are 'goodwill' and not compensation |
Retailer JJB Sports has issued details of how customers can claim a free England shirt and mug from their shops. It is a response to threatened legal action over the firm's price-fixing of football shirts several years ago.
Customers who can prove they bought a 1999/2001 England shirt or a Manchester United home or Centenary shirt of 2000/2002 will qualify.
The retailer continues to deny any involvement in illegal price-fixing, despite being fined �6.3m.
It lost its final appeal recently in the House of Lords against the fine by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
'Deterrent'
The retailer was fined in 2003, alongside nine other firms, for illegally fixing the price of top-selling adult and junior shirts.
Consumer group Which? has warned that it is now planning to sue JJB in a bid to secure refunds for fans who were overcharged.
Which? is planning to launch the "representative claim" on behalf of customers by using powers granted to it in the 2002 Enterprise Act.
The watchdog hopes that putting its new legal powers into action for the first time will act as a deterrent.
"Companies will learn that fines are not enough and that they also have to stand up to consumers and explain their behaviour," Which? lawyer Ingrid Gubbay told Working Lunch.
"We're not in the business of regulating the market - we're simply here to help consumers to bring actions that they can't bring individually on their own because they're simply not economic," she said.
Claim vs action
The consumer group believes customers have been left out of pocket by �15-�20 per shirt and it intends to fight to get the money back plus damages.
 The price of some England football shirts was fixed, the OFT said |
Anyone affected who wants to be part of this action should sign up on the Which? website, under the consumer rights section.
However, consumers choosing to claim their free England shirt and mug from the firm instead will not be able to be part of the consumer group's action.
To make a claim at a JJB shop, buyers will have to present evidence of a purchase, such as the receipt or the old shirt itself.
Unlike in a class action, all consumers taking part in a representative action must be named, and those choosing the free shirt option will have to pass on their details to JJB Sports who will ensure they are excluded.
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