More than 170,000 customers are getting money back as the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) steps up its enforcement of consumer law.
The regulator has ordered Marks Electrical, StubHub UK and the owner of AA Driving School and BSM Driving School to return more than £1.95 million between them. It has also imposed combined fines of more than £5.8 million.
The cases form part of the CMA’s continued crackdown on hidden fees, drip pricing and automatic paid extras. Since gaining stronger enforcement powers in April 2025, the regulator can decide directly whether a business has broken consumer law, order refunds and impose fines without first taking the company to court.
That makes these cases more than isolated refund schemes. They show how the CMA intends to pursue businesses that hide the true price or charge you for extras you didn’t actively select. If you’re affected, you shouldn’t need to submit a claim. The relevant business should contact you and issue your refund automatically.
However, some businesses have until 2027 to complete the process. You should check whether you qualify, keep your purchase records and know what to do if your money doesn’t arrive.
Marks Electrical: nearly 40,000 customers due refunds
The CMA ordered Marks Electrical to refund around £600,000 after the retailer automatically added paid services to online appliance orders.
The company pre-selected one or both of these services:
- removing and recycling your old appliance; and
- unwrapping your new appliance and recycling its packaging.
You may therefore have paid for an extra service without actively choosing it.
Consumer law bans businesses from using pre-ticked boxes or other automatic opt-ins for optional paid extras. You must give your express agreement before a company adds an extra charge.
The CMA also fined Marks Electrical £720,000. The decision shows that businesses can’t treat default add-ons as a harmless checkout feature, as a result they can now face both customer refunds and a substantial financial penalty.
Who qualifies?
You should receive a refund if Marks Electrical automatically opted you into an additional service when you bought an appliance through its website between April and November 2025, with nearly 40,000 customers affected.
How much will you receive?
Your payment will depend on the services added to your order. The average refund is expected to be around £15.
What do you need to do?
You shouldn’t need to do anything. Marks Electrical should contact you and return the money using your original payment method. If it can’t refund that payment method, it should send you a cheque. The company has until 15 June 2027 to process all affected refunds.
StubHub: 51,350 ticket buyers due money back
The CMA ordered StubHub UK to refund more than £590,000 after the ticket platform added mandatory charges late in the buying process. Customers initially saw ticket prices that didn’t include unavoidable service and delivery fees. StubHub revealed those charges at the final checkout stage.
This is known as drip pricing. It can make a ticket look cheaper than it really is and prevent you from comparing prices accurately. Businesses must include unavoidable charges in the total price displayed at the start. They can’t attract you with a lower figure and reveal the real cost only after you’ve chosen tickets and entered your details.
StubHub was also fined £889,200. This formed another major step in the CMA’s wider enforcement campaign against misleading online prices.
Who qualifies?
You may qualify if you bought tickets through StubHub UK between 6 April and 7 December 2025 and paid mandatory fees that weren’t included in the initial price. The refund scheme covers 51,350 customers.
How much will you receive?
The amount depends on the fees added to your purchase. The average refund is around £10.33 per transaction, so you could receive more if you made several affected purchases.
What do you need to do?
StubHub should contact you and refund the card you used to buy your tickets. You don’t need to submit a claim. The company should complete all refunds by 23 December 2026.
AA and BSM: more than 80,000 learners due refunds
AA Driving School and BSM Driving School must return over £760,000 after failing to include a mandatory booking fee in the initial lesson price. Both driving schools are owned by the AA.
When customers selected lessons online, the price shown at the start didn’t include the compulsory fee. The full cost appeared later in the booking process. A mandatory fee isn’t an optional extra. The business must include it in the headline price from the outset.
The CMA also fined the AA £4.2 million. This was the first time it used its strengthened consumer powers to impose a financial penalty and secure refunds for customers in the same case. It sent a clear warning: hiding even a relatively small compulsory fee can lead to multimillion-pound enforcement action when thousands of customers are affected.
Who qualifies?
You should qualify if you booked lessons through the AA Driving School or BSM Driving School website between 6 April and 15 December 2025 and the initial price didn’t include the mandatory booking fee. More than 80,000 learners are affected.
How much will you receive?
Your refund will depend on how many lesson packages you purchased. The average payment is expected to be around £9.
What do you need to do?
You don’t need to claim. AA or BSM should contact you by email or letter. The money should return to the card you used to pay for your lessons. If that isn’t possible, you should receive a cheque. The AA has until 15 April 2027 to complete all refunds.
Why the CMA’s continued enforcement matters
The CMA investigated these businesses as part of a much broader review of online pricing and sales practices. It examined hundreds of companies across sectors including travel, ticketing, driving schools, gyms, homeware, food delivery, parking and parcel services. Its concerns included hidden fees, misleading countdown timers and automatic charges.
The regulator’s new powers have changed what happens when it finds a breach. It can now:
- decide directly whether consumer law has been broken;
- order a business to refund affected customers;
- impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover; and
- act without taking every case through the courts.
Marks Electrical, StubHub and AA/BSM are among the first completed cases in this continuing enforcement programme. Further investigations could result in more companies changing their practices, paying fines or returning money to customers.
For consumers, the message is straightforward: the first price should reflect all mandatory charges, while paid extras must remain a genuine choice.
More companies are under investigation
The CMA’s enforcement work is continuing. It has also opened investigations into several other businesses over possible hidden fees, automatic add-ons and misleading online sales tactics.
These include:
- Viagogo, over mandatory ticket charges;
- Gold’s Gym, over how it presented a compulsory joining fee;
- Appliances Direct, over possible automatic paid extras and time-limited sales; and
- Wayfair, over whether advertised time-limited sales ended when stated.
These investigations remain open, and the CMA has not yet decided that the businesses broke consumer law. However, the completed cases involving Marks Electrical, StubHub and the AA show that future investigations could result in further refunds.
If the CMA orders more businesses to repay customers, you may need to check when you bought from them, what you paid and whether the refund should arrive automatically.
Sign up for the Resolver newsletter to follow the latest CMA enforcement action, find out when new refund schemes are announced and check whether you could be entitled to money back.
Watch out for refund scams
Large refund schemes give scammers an opportunity to impersonate the businesses involved. A genuine refund shouldn’t require you to pay a fee, move money to another account or reveal your PIN, online banking password or complete security details.
Be suspicious if someone contacts you unexpectedly and asks you to click a link or provide card details to “release” your refund. Contact the business independently using details from its official website or your original order confirmation. Don’t use a number or link supplied in an unexpected message.
What if you’ve changed your card or address?
These refunds rely on information held by the business. That may cause problems if your card has expired, your account has closed or you’ve moved home. Contact the business directly if you think its records are out of date. Quote your original order or booking number and ask how it plans to pay your refund.
Don’t send sensitive financial information through ordinary email or social media. Use the company’s official contact channels.
What if your refund doesn’t arrive?
First, check that your purchase falls within the relevant dates and circumstances. Buying during the right period won’t necessarily qualify if the business showed you the correct total price or you actively selected the extra service.
If you believe you qualify, ask the business to confirm:
- whether your transaction is included;
- how much you should receive;
- which payment method it will use;
- whether it holds your current contact details; and
- when it expects to issue the refund.
Keep your receipts, booking confirmations and bank or card statements. Save every response you receive.
The CMA orders the redress, but each business must manage and pay its own refunds. If the business doesn’t resolve the problem, make a formal complaint.
You can use Resolver to contact the correct complaints department and keep your evidence and correspondence together. Resolver also helps you track the company’s response and escalate your complaint if your refund remains unpaid.
Check every online checkout
These enforcement cases involve different purchases, but the same basic rights apply.
A business shouldn’t:
- add an optional paid service without your express agreement;
- use pre-ticked boxes for paid extras;
- exclude unavoidable charges from the initial price;
- reveal compulsory fees only at checkout; or
- describe a mandatory charge as optional.
Check the total carefully whenever you buy online. Remove extras you don’t want and take screenshots if the price changes during checkout.
If a company charges you for something you didn’t select, or adds an unavoidable fee after showing a lower headline price, challenge it in writing. Ask for the charge back and use Resolver to manage and escalate your complaint if the company refuses.
The CMA’s enforcement campaign is still developing, so these three refund schemes may not be the last. Keep your receipts and payment records, watch for new announcements and subscribe to the Resolver newsletter to find out if you’re entitled to a refund.
The CMA’s central refund guidance contains the official eligibility details, payment methods and processing deadlines for all three schemes.
If you have any thoughts on this topic, or any other consumer issues you would like us to cover, feel free to get in touch with us at support@resolver.co.uk