Which? reveals biggest duds of the Black Friday sale season
A dangerous child car seat, a poor quality TV, a dodgy laptop and a washing machine that fails to get rid of stains are among the flawed products being sold at discount prices this Black Friday, Which? has found.
Each year Which? puts thousands of products through tough and independent laboratory tests to separate the best from the worst. Those that completely fail to perform and should be avoided at all costs are labelled as a Which? Don’t Buy.
Which? is warning consumers about the Don’t Buy duds on sale at major retailers including Amazon, AO.com, Currys, John Lewis and Littlewoods, to help them avoid being saddled with an inferior product after this year’s Black Friday sales.
Which?’s experts said the only thing worth praising about the Hisense 55A7100FTUK TV which is currently on sale at £419.99 discounted from the RRP of £559 at Littlewoods, is the remote. The picture quality of this 55-inch TV is shockingly bad, described as ‘one of the worst 4K pictures we’ve seen’ by testers, the sound quality was equally shoddy and described as ‘paper-thin and puny’.
Also on the Which? list is the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14-inch 14DA05 which features on the Lenovo website as a Black Friday deal down to £269.99. Screen, keyboard, touchpad, sound and battery life were all slammed for being below par in Which? testing.
At Currys, Which? saw another of its Don’t Buys offered at a discount, this time in the form of the Haier HW90-B14959S8U1 washing machine which was on sale at £409.99 instead of £450. Not only did Which? testing identify that this model is not economical when it comes to water usage, it was also ineffective at getting rid of stains on cotton clothes – a fundamental flaw for a washing machine.
Also at Curry’s, a fridge freezer with no chill factor – the Kenwood KMD70X19 now £579.99 reduced from £629, is also a Which? Don’t Buy. Which? experts found it to be too slow to cool, with an inadequate freezer. If food is not kept in tip top condition, it can spoil faster and can contribute to the mountain of unnecessary food waste.
‘Headache-inducing earbuds’ were also found discounted in this year’s sales with the Sony WF-XB700 headphones reduced from £69.99 to £64.99 on Amazon. Which? experts found the sound to be ‘tinny’ and ‘dull’.
The findings come after Which? revealed nine in 10 Black Friday ‘deals’ are the same price or cheaper in the six months ahead of the big event
Which? is warning shoppers not to rush into any purchases without doing a little research first to make sure they are getting a quality product at a bargain price.
Lisa Barber, Which? Head of Home Products and Services, said:
“A product that doesn’t do what it is supposed to is going to be a terrible deal, no matter how cheap it is – and this year we’ve found some absolute duds in the Black Friday sales.
“If you’re in the market for a quality product at a price that offers outstanding value for money, there are deals to be had, but we suggest you steer clear of these Don’t Buys and seek out reliable reviews and independent testing that you can trust.”
