ACCC raises concerns over misleading personal introduction service
Mr Eugeni Tsvetnenko, trading as Mobile Adverts, has provided court-enforceable undertakings to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission not to engage in misleading and deceptive conduct with respect to the promotion of personal introduction services.
Mr Tsvetnenko advertised a service named SecureDate in the "she seeks him" section of the Quokka classifieds newspaper, and at the Quokka online service. The advertisements represented the SecureDate service was a personal introduction and dating service, consumers could request to list their own profile, and that the maximum call cost was $4.99.
Following complaints to the ACCC, Mr Tsvetnenko was advised the advertisements appeared to contain false and misleading representations that may contravene the consumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
He accepted the ACCC concerns and cooperated fully with the ACCC, immediately taking action to ensure that similar advertisements would not occur again. In settling the matter, Mr Tsvetnenko has given the following court-enforceable undertakings:
in all future advertisements and marketing he will:
not represent that Mobile Adverts is providing dating or introduction services when that is not the case
not represent that customer profiles can be listed on dating or introductory services advertised by Mobile Adverts, when there is no facility to list customer profiles, and
ensure that the price of the services advertised by Mobile Adverts is the total price, where there are additional costs or charges that apply.
that he will attend trade practices training and implement a trade practices compliance program to ensure similar potential breaches of the Act do not occur in the future.
"The ACCC will not hesitate to take swift and decisive action where vulnerable consumers are exposed to unfair or misleading advertising tactics", ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.
The use of premium SMS and mobile phone based services is rapidly growing in commerce including the areas of personal introduction services and adult entertainment. This case reinforces the message traders need to exercise caution in their advertising to ensure they don't create false or misleading impressions.
"Consumers should also be vigilant of any terms or conditions, and charges which may be applied when subscribing or using SMS or mobile phone based services. The ACCC will continue to monitor the industry to ensure compliance with the Act", Mr Samuel said.
