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The legal battle between sports chain JJB Sports and Which? about overpriced football shirts has been settled out of court, with the retailer promising to return cash to consumers who were overcharged.
Fans who paid up to £39.99 for certain England and Manchester United football shirts during specific periods in 2000 or 2001 and joined the Which? case against JJB Sports will get £20 each. Those who bought affected shirts but didn’t join the case can claim £10.
JJB was part of a cartel of seven companies fined more than £16m in 2003 for fixing the price of the football shirts. Which? used its powers under the Enterprise Act 2002 to launch an action for damages.
Tom Morrison, an associate at Rollits, says JJB was always going to be in a weak position following the earlier finding of anti-competitive behaviour.
“In light of this, it seems that JJB has decided to settle rather than risking a dangerous test case with a potentially worse outcome which may set a precedent for the future.”
The Office of Fair Trading, he says, has indicated that it will now focus on high-profile competition law cases of economic significance and therefore wishes to reduce the pressure on the enforcement system by encouraging similar class actions in the future.
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