On 1 February 2006 Collection House Limited & Lion Finance Pty Ltd gave an undertaking to the ACCC that within 30 days of the commencement of the undertaking, Collection House and Lion Finance (as the case may be) will:
send correspondence to the address last known by Collection House or Lion Finance (as the case may be) for each and every person in respect of whom Collection House or Lion Finance (as the case may be) conducted collection activity in relation to an alleged debt which, at the time of the collection activity, may have constituted a contentious debt
should the person to whom correspondence is sent advise Collection House or Lion Finance (as the case may be) that they wish to take advantage of the offer in respect of a contentious debt, provide an ex gratia payment to the person equivalent to the amount collected, without any admission of liability
when the correspondence sent does not result in a response from a consumer, Collection House or Lion Finance will use its best endeavours to contact the relevant consumer to make the offer in respect of the contentious debt
establish and maintain a register of communications and provide a copy of the Register of Communications to the Commission at the conclusion of the six-month period after the commencement of these undertakings or on request.
The ACCC was concerned about misleading representations made by Collection House & Lion Financing regarding their right to collect 'old debts' that were potentially statute-barred. 'Old debts' are those for which a period prescribed in state and territory based statutes of limitation (usually six years) has lapsed without any recovery action.
ss. 52, 53(c). Misleading or deceptive conduct, false representations in relation to performance characteristics
On 15 February 2006 McGloins Pty Ltd gave an undertaking to the ACCC that for a period of three years it will:
only supply hot water bottles with representations of compliance with the British Standard when it is able to provide genuine certification of compliance for each specific model supplied via an annual independent test report
establish and maintain a trade practices compliance program.
Pegasus Investments & Holdings Pty Ltd trading as Coastline Agency
ss. 52, 53(a), 55. Misleading or deceptive conduct, falsely representing that goods are of a particular standard, quality, value, grade, composition, style or model, misleading the public as to the nature, the manufacturing process, the characteristics, suitability for their purpose or the quantity of any goods
On 15 February 2006 Pegasus Investments & Holdings Pty Ltd gave an undertaking to the ACCC that it will:
refrain from selling in Australia any footwear product that is labelled ‘100% WOOL LINING’ and/or ‘AUSTRALIAN MERINO WOOL’ where to the knowledge of Pegasus that representation is or may be false
within 30 days of the undertaking coming into effect, cause to be published at its own expense, a notice, in The Australian newspaper
offer to all customers who purchased the ‘ugg boot' style footwear which falsely represented that it contained ‘100% WOOL LINING’ and/or ‘AUSTRALIAN MERINO WOOL’ and who establish that they had been misled by the representation, a refund equalling the cost of the footwear purchased
introduce a policy whereby it will conduct independent spot testing on each shipment of footwear to ensure that it is accurately labelled
implement and maintain a trade practices compliance program.
ss. 52, 53(a), 55. Misleading or deceptive conduct, falsely representing that goods are of a particular standard, quality, value, grade, composition, style or model, mislead the public as to the nature, the manufacturing process, the characteristics, suitability for their purpose or the quantity of any goods
On 15 February 2006 Rogue Footwear Pty Ltd gave an undertaking to the ACCC that it will:
refrain from selling in Australia any footwear product that is labelled ‘100% WOOL LINING’ and/or ‘AUSTRALIAN MERINO WOOL’ where to the knowledge of Rogue that representation is or may be false
introduce a policy whereby it will conduct independent spot testing on each shipment of footwear to ensure that it is accurately labelled
implement and maintain a trade practices compliance program.
Andrew Binneter (Tamarama Fresh Juices Australia Pty Ltd)
ss. 52, 53(a). Misleading or deceptive conduct, falsely representing that goods are of a particular standard, quality, value, grade, composition, style or model
On 28 February 2006 Andrew Binneter gave an undertaking to the ACCC that he will attend practical trade practices training covering ss. 52 and 53 of the Act and the ACCC has agreed to resolve its issues concerning Tamarama by accepting this undertaking.
The ACCC was concerned that the labelling of certain of its fresh juice products sold from July 1999 until 27 May 2004 may be misleading or deceptive. Tamarama informed the ACCC that it was of the view that the labelling was not in contravention of ss. 52, 53(a) or s. 55 of the Act.
Since 27 May 2004 Tamarama has not manufactured Tamarama branded products. A copy of this undertaking will be available on the ACCC’s public register shortly.
Sken Pty Ltd
ss. 52, 53(e). Misleading or deceptive conduct, false or misleading representations with respect to the price of goods or services
On 28 February 2006 Sken Pty Ltd (trading as Premier Suzuki) gave an undertaking to the ACCC to:
disclose any dealer delivery fees that are payable by consumers to Sken and that are not included in the price of the motor vehicle advertised for sale by Sken
publish a corrective advertisement
update its existing corporate trade practices compliance program.
The ACCC was concerned that Premier made price representations that did not state that dealer delivery charges were applicable to the advertised price of $15 990 when such charges did apply.
