Offer advertising: Dispute over discounts – Penny is subject to court

In the legal dispute over price information in a prospectus, the discounter Penny suffered a defeat before the Cologne Regional Court. The judges declared certain forms of representation of advertising inadmissible (Az. 84 O 92/24). This emerges from a message from the court.

The Baden-Württemberg consumer center had previously sued. The judgment has not yet been final. In the event of repetition, there is a risk of fine of up to 250,000 euros. When asked, Penny announced: “We look at the detailed reasoning and then decide whether and what steps we will initiate.”

The discounter chain had advertised a discount for yogurt with a crossed-out price and the statement “-58 percent”. Reference size was a non -binding price recommendation (RRP). The consumer advice center criticized that customers would be misleading. The judges gave their right. They rely on the pricing regulation. This stipulates that with a price reduction, the lowest price that a dealer has requested in the last 30 days must always be specified. A percentage discount must refer to this.

Several similar complaints – also against Aldi Süd and Amazon

Most recently there were several procedures on the same topic. Aldi Süd lost to the European Court of Justice and then twice before the Düsseldorf District Court-because the 30-day low price was not correctly shown. This week, the online retailer Amazon also received a defeat in front of the Munich Regional Court. The Baden-Württemberg consumer center had sued. The Federal Court of Justice is currently examining a similar lawsuit by the competition center against the discounter net.

Penny had already recognized one of the omnipotence applications of consumer protection officers in advance. It was about advertising for a chocolate bar, in which the reduced price for app customers was only shown. A price was missing for other customers. Penny explained to having changed this.