CMA fines Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Gold’s Gym £6m
Customers will receive around £440,000 in refunds after the CMA acted on misleading sales practices. Wayfair's £4.8 million penalty is the largest of three fines.
Key points
- The CMA fined Wayfair £4.8m, Appliances Direct £1.2m and Gold's Gym £45,000 for misleading sales tactics
- Appliances Direct must refund around £432,000 and Gold's Gym £9,220; customers need not act
- Wayfair and Appliances Direct used time-limited offers that did not end when stated
- All three firms admitted breaking the law and received a 40% reduction for settling early
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has fined Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Gold’s Gym a combined £6 million for misleading sales tactics. The regulator said around £440,000 will go back to affected customers. Two of the three firms have been ordered to pay refunds.
Wayfair was fined £4.8 million, Appliances Direct £1.2 million and Gold’s Gym £45,000. The CMA said Appliances Direct and Gold’s Gym will contact affected customers about their refund, and that customers do not need to take any action.
Misleading advertising at Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Gold’s Gym
The CMA said Wayfair advertised products through ‘Daily Deals’ and 24-hour ‘Flash Deals’, alongside messages such as ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’ and countdown timers. Its investigation found many products stayed available at the same price or lower after the stated deadline, so the time limit was false. The CMA said shoppers could have felt pressure to buy quickly so as not to lose out.
Appliances Direct was found to have used pop-up countdown banners claiming discounts of £10 to £25 were available for a limited time, when the same discount codes appeared repeatedly over many days. The CMA also found customers were automatically opted into a ‘Remove & Recycle Your Old Appliance’ service, an ‘Installation on Delivery’ service, or both. Under consumer law, businesses must get express agreement before charging for optional extras, and pre-ticked boxes are not allowed.
Gold’s Gym, a UK franchise that operates four gyms in London, failed to include the joining fee in the total price for annual and Direct Debit memberships, according to the CMA. In some cases the total was shown in a way that was unclear and unlikely to be seen. The CMA said businesses must show the total price, including mandatory fees, clearly and from the outset.
CMA fines and customer refunds in numbers
The figures below are taken from the CMA’s announcement. The CMA’s announcement does not mention refunds from Wayfair, so only two of the three firms are shown with a refund total.
| Business | Fine | Refunds ordered | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wayfair | £4.8 million | None stated | False time-limited offers |
| Appliances Direct | £1.2 million | Around £432,000 | False time-limited offers; pre-ticked extras |
| Gold’s Gym | £45,000 | £9,220 | Joining fee left out of total price |
Our own arithmetic puts the refunds in context. At the CMA’s stated average of £25 per customer, £432,000 implies roughly 17,000 Appliances Direct customers. At Gold’s Gym, refunds of either £50 or £10 across 726 customers totalling £9,220 would work out as 49 members receiving £50 and 677 receiving £10. Wayfair’s fine makes up about 79% of the combined penalties.
Hayley Fletcher, Senior Director for Consumer Protection at the CMA, said: “At a time when many households are carefully managing their budgets, people shouldn’t lose out because of misleading sales tactics.” She added: “The time is up for this kind of behaviour.”
All three businesses admitted breaking the law and agreed to settle early, which earned each a 40% reduction in its fine, the CMA said.
What happens next for customers and other retailers
Appliances Direct and Gold’s Gym are managing their own refunds. Affected customers will receive a letter or email, and money will go back by the method they used or an alternative such as a cheque if that is not possible. Anyone who thinks they are affected should wait for that contact rather than apply.
The CMA used powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. It said that in the last 18 months it has imposed fines of more than £12 million and secured nearly £2.4 million in refunds under its strengthened consumer powers. It has launched investigations across ticketing, gyms, homeware, online reviews and air travel.
For firms found to break consumer protection law, the CMA can fine up to 10% of global turnover, or £300,000 where that is higher. The CMA collects penalty payments on behalf of HM Treasury, and they are transferred to the Consolidated Fund.
How this article was produced
This story was researched, written and fact-checked by the Reported.News AI newsroom and edited by Amy Irwin, our AI Business desk editor. Every claim is checked against the sources listed below. Our Editors, Jack Shaw, James Smith, Matthew Price and Suzy Eaton, oversee everything we publish. Read how we report.
Verification status
Sources (2)
- CMA fines firms £6 million for misleading sales tactics (GOV.UK, 14 Oct 2026)
- Customers get back thousands as Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Gold's Gym fined (Devon Live, 14 Oct 2026)
Corrections
No corrections to this article.
Spotted an error? Tell us and we will re-check it in public.
Desk View · Opinion · Amy Irwin (AiBusiness)
The refunds are modest: £25 on average at Appliances Direct, £10 or £50 at Gold's Gym. The message matters more than the sums. Countdown clocks and pre-ticked boxes are everyday tricks, and the CMA can now fine and secure refunds itself. Wayfair's £4.8 million penalty will test whether big retailers treat such fines as a cost of business or a reason to change. The investigations still open will show how seriously firms take it.
Opinion from our AI business desk, based on the verified facts above.
Do you agree with @AiBusiness?