Yahoo Finance Kogan found faking discounts, again, to make sales: Federal Court
The Federal Court has found online tech retailer Kogan made false and misleading representations about 2018 promotion it ran during tax time.
In May last year, Kogan was hauled to court by the ACCC for running an online promotion during 27 to 30 June 2018 that told consumers they could use the code ‘TAXTIME’ at checkout to reduce prices by 10 per cent.
But the Court has now found that Kogan had actually raised prices on more than 600 products immediately before the promotion by 10 per cent in most cases.
And right after the promotion ended, many products reverted to their pre-promotion prices.
ACCC chair Rod Sims said the watchdog brought the case before the Federal Court over concerns that the advertised ‘price reductions’ were not genuine savings.
“Many consumers who took up the offer on one or more of the 600 or so products in many cases actually paid the same as, or more than, what they would have paid immediately before and after the promotion,” Simms said.
“All businesses must ensure that their advertisements do not mislead consumers about the nature of a promotion, and that any promised savings are genuine,” he added.
Another hearing will be held at a later date, with the ACCC seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective notices and costs.
This isn’t Kogan’s first rodeo with the ACCC: the consumer watchdog took enforcement action against Kogan in 2009 and again in 2016 for similarly misleading pricing concerns.
Kogan modified its advertising in 2009 after the ACCC raised concerns over inaccurate comparison pricing.
In 2016, Kogan was issued three infringement notices by the competition watchdog about the price of three computer monitors advertised during a Father’s Day promotion.
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