Online retailer Kogan has been handed a rather hefty fine of $32,400 from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for “misleading advertising” around Father’s Day.
The release from the ACCC says Kogan had made false representations about how much three of its computers cost during a Father’s Day promotion on bidding and retail site eBay.
Kogan raised the prices of the computers during the start of the campaign or before, meaning the 20 per cent discount the retailer was advertising only equated to nine per cent once the inflated prices were taken into consideration.
The ACCC further state at the end of the 20 per cent promotion, the advertised prices decreased to where they originally were before the campaign started.
“It is simply unacceptable for businesses to raise prices before applying a discount in order to give consumers the misleading impression that they are obtaining a larger percentage discount than is actually the case,” said Dr Michael Schaper, acting chair of the ACCC.
“Truth in advertising and consumer issues in the online market place are both current enforcement priorities.”
There’s been a number of retailers that have had a fair few fines of late. A few days ago furniture retailer Harvey Norman was dealt a $52,000 blow from the ACCC for misleading representations of consumer guarantee rights.
Similarly, Optus was in the spotlight around a month ago when it made some claims about the speed of its internet offers that just didn’t quite match up. Optus was given a $51,000 fine.