A furniture store ran a huge sale advertising sofas at half price off the was-price. I later found out from a friend that the same sofa had barely ever been sold at the higher price. I paid what I thought was a bargain. Is that legal, and can I do anything now?
Inflated was-prices can breach the Fair Trading Act 1986. The Act prohibits misleading and deceptive conduct in trade and false representations about the price of goods, and a reference price that was rarely or never charged can give a false impression of savings. Regulators generally expect the higher price to have been a genuine price for a meaningful period. Keep the advertisement, your receipt and anything showing the price history. You can complain to the Commerce Commission, which enforces the Act and can prosecute. On a personal level, you may have a claim for the value you were misled about, but recovering a small difference can be difficult. If the sofa is also faulty or not as described, your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act are separate and often more useful.
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