The Federal Court has ruled that Coles made false or misleading representations about ‘Down Down’ discounts, in proceedings brought by the ACCC.
The proceedings related to 245 common products sold by Coles. The ACCC alleged that Coles temporarily increased the price of each product by at least 15 per cent for a relatively short period of time, before placing it on a ‘Down Down’ promotion at a price that was still higher than, or the same as, the price it had previously sold for before the price increase.
The ACCC alleged that the discounts were illusory and that the representations were false or misleading, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.
The hearing involved an agreed list of sample products from the total of 245. The products include Arnott’s Shapes biscuits, Band-Aids, Bega cheese, Cadbury chocolates, Coca Cola soft drink, Colgate toothpaste, Danone yoghurt, Dettol multi-purpose wipes, Fab laundry liquid, Kellogg’s snack bars, Kleenex tissues, Libra tampons, Lurpak butter, Maggi two-minute noodles, Nescafe instant coffee, Palmolive shampoo and Weet-Bix cereal.
The court found that Coles made misleading representations in 13 of the 14 ‘Down Down’ tickets that were considered in the liability hearing.
“We welcome the Court’s finding that Coles breached the Australian Consumer Law,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
“The ACCC brought this case in the public interest because we considered that Coles’ pricing practices within its ‘Down Down’ program made it harder for customers to identify genuine value for money while shopping for household essentials.”
“We had received complaints by consumers about the ‘Down Down’ discounting claims made by Coles. We understand how important it is for consumers to get value for their supermarket purchases, and decided to take action to test the discounting practices in Court,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
“This case has increased transparency and accountability in relation to Coles’ Down Down program.”
The court will determine penalties and other orders sought by the ACCC at a later date.
