The competition regulator has imposed a fine on specialist retailer Marks Electricals for breaching consumer law.
The retailer must also refund customers who were automatically opted into paid services they had not expressly agreed to.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined Marks Electrical £720,000 and ordered it to repay £600,000 to affected shoppers – around £15 per person.
Customers buying goods such as dishwashers and washing machines were opted into recycling services.
The problems occurred between April and November last year. The CMA said that Marks Electrical “stopped the conduct immediately” when an investigation was launched and “engaged constructively”, entitling it to a 40% reduction in the fine, which would otherwise have been £1.2m.
CMA executive director of consumer protection Emma Cochrane said: “The law is absolutely clear that automatically opting customers into extra charges is never ok.
“Buying a new washing machine, dishwasher, or cooker is expensive, and people should have the right to decide if they want optional extras – not be landed with costs that they did not agree to.
“All businesses need to check their policy on automatic opt-ins. The bottom line is that they should not be used. If businesses break the law, we’ll continue to issue fines and secure refunds for people.”
The retailer said: “Marks Electrical takes its obligations under consumer and competition law seriously and remains committed to maintaining high standards of transparency and full compliance for the benefit of its customers.”
It said the fine would be paid from existing cash resources and that, as of the end of March, it had a cash balance of £4.4m.
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