Currys PC World is selling Xbox One S bundles at ludicrously hiked up prices, putting customers at risk of massively overpaying.
Update: Since the publication of this story, Currys has removed a number of the overpriced Xbox One S deals – a welcome result!
Even better, Dixons Carphone PR Manager JP has confirmed to Trusted Reviews that the listings are indeed pricing errors, and that refunds will be available to anyone who purchased the bundles at the inflated prices.
Hey Sean – tried to call. You're right, it's definitely an error and in the unlikely event anyone orders this we'd definitely refund.
— JP (@HelloJP) November 10, 2017
Another staffer also responded:
Hi Sean, we are aware of the pricing error, and it will be amended shortly. – Gemma
— Team Knowhow (@TeamKnowhowUK) November 10, 2017
There are still a number of £1,000 bundles live on the site, but they seem to be slowly disappearing into the ether.
We’ve found five remaining bundles that are still significantly overpriced: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Original article: At this time of year, you’d normally expect retailers to be marking down prices in order to flog more units before Christmas. Black Friday deals are just around the corner, but Currys appears to be bucking the trend somewhat – at least with the Xbox One S.
A series of Xbox One S bundle listings have gone live on the UK retailer’s website at hugely inflated prices, with unsuspecting customers potentially set to pay around four times the true cost of the product.
For instance, a Microsoft Xbox One S (500GB) bundle that comes with Minecraft, Call of Duty: WW2, Quantum Break and Halo 5 is priced at an incredible £1,000.
Currys is even offering a finance deal that would see you paying £50.06 per month for the bundle over 24 months, amounting to a total cost of £1,201.44 – based on a 19.9% variable interest rate.
Another bundle – which includes the 1TB console, three games and a spare controller – is charged at an even loftier £1,000.01.
To put it in perspective, the Xbox One S (500GB) currently retails on Amazon for £189.85.
And most Xbox One S bundles on Game price somewhere in the region of £200 and £240, typically bagging you the console and between two and four games – with a Now TV subscription to boot, on many of the deals.
It seems especially odd that the pricing is so high for the Xbox One S given that the newer, more powerful Xbox One X was only released last week. This would usually force the price of older models down, as retailers seek to shift stock amidst hype for the newer version.
We’ve reached out to Currys PC World on Twitter to see if there’s any explanation for such a significant price hike.
It’s likely that this is simply just a pricing error, and that Currys isn’t actually trying to charge such lofty mark-ups. In any case, we’d hope that the retailer wouldn’t actually expect customers to pay these prices and will offer refunds for anyone caught out.
Related: Best Xbox One deals
Do you think Currys should refund anyone who pays these prices? Let us know via Facebook or tweet us @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
