Oral-B accused of using 'potentially dodgy pricing tactic'

Consumer group Which? raised concerns over the brand’s use of Recommended Retail Price (RRP) to highlight discounts that may not reflect real savings.

Following an investigation into the price labelling of 21 Oral-B electric toothbrushes, Which? said 10 of the products could not be found for sale at their stated RRP anywhere online, raising questions over the validity of the advertised savings.

Some of the models examined were sold as bundles that included accessories like chargers or additional toothbrush heads.

Which? claimed that some of these bundles were exclusive to certain retailers during the time of the investigation, suggesting the RRPs and resulting discounts may be "could be largely meaningless".

One product example highlighted was the Oral-B iO10 Eclipse Gold Limited Edition Electric Toothbrush.

Which? said it had a claimed RRP of £853.99 but was priced at £315 on the Oral-B website, meaning a perceived saving of £538.99.

The Oral-B iO5 Black & White Electric Toothbrush Duo Pack had an RRP of £450 on Boots and Oral-B’s website.

However, Which? said it was never available at the RRP during eight price checks over two months and was consistently priced at £145 until late April, when it rose to £165 on the Oral-B website.

They say this "potential misuse could be misleading to customers into thinking they are getting a better deal than they actually are".

Which? acknowledged that its review did not include in-store pricing but argued that both Boots and Oral-B could be breaching rule 3.39 of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing (CAP code).

The code states: "Comparisons with recommended retail prices (RRPs) are likely to mislead if the RRP differs significantly from the price at which the product or service is generally sold."

Boots said its promotions are fully compliant with advertising rules, while Oral-B admitted that the iO5 toothbrush was not sold at RRP but defended its use of RRPs for other models.

A Boots spokesperson said: "We know that our customers enjoy making genuine savings on their shopping at Boots and we strive to deliver great value for money for our customers every day.

"We are fully committed to making sure that our promotions comply with all relevant laws and guidance.

"In line with these guidelines, this promotion shows a saving customers can make on the RRP, which is set by the supplier."

Oral-B also defended its pricing.

A spokesperson for Oral-B said: "We cannot speak to specific bundles offered on other retail sites.

"How retailers choose to bundle products, in this case, the brush and refills, is at their discretion."

According to Which?, Oral-B told them: "We acknowledge that the iO5 duo brush wasn’t being sold at the RRP, however, we can confirm that all the other brushes referenced were.

"Multiple retailers have all chosen to sell the four brush heads for these brushes at the RRP.

"Consequently, many options are available to consumers and we do not consider the reference to the RRP as misleading."

Which? said that for seven other electric toothbrushes sold at Boots, it found no issues with the RRP claims.

Each was available at the stated RRP at other retailers on at least one date during the two-month review.

However, Which? said it had asked Oral-B to identify retailers that had sold the other toothbrushes at RRP during the same period, but the manufacturer declined to provide this information.