When you buy a product or service, traders are required to provide clear and accurate pricing information.
Component pricing
Traders are required to provide you with a single cash price for the products or services they offer. The single price means the minimum total cost that is able to be calculated at the time the representation is made.
The single price must be clear at the time of the sale and the most prominent price displayed.
Although businesses are still free to advertise using component pricing, they must now also include a total or single price. The total price must be just as prominent in the advertisement as the price of components.
This means that you should be able to identify the total price in the advertisement just as easily as the prices for the components.
The total advertised price must include:
prices for all the components required to make up the final product or service
the minimum amount you have to pay the trader
all taxes, duties and fees you have to pay to purchase the item.
The total advertised price does not need to include:
delivery charges—although the minimum delivery charge should be included separately in the advertisement
optional charges or extras.
Advertisements that involve payment over the term of a contract via periodic payments (such as mobile phone or pay television contracts) must also state a total price but this does not need to be displayed as prominently as the price for components.
Multiple pricing occurs when a trader displays more than one price for the same item or service. If this happens, they must sell it to you for the lowest displayed price or withdraw the item until the price is corrected.
Multiple pricing can also occur where the price published in a catalogue or advertisement is different to the displayed price for the same item or service.
If mistakes in catalogues or advertisements have occurred, they can be fixed by publishing a retraction in a publication with a similar circulation to the original advertisement.
If a trader specifies that a catalogue price applies only in a particular region, they can advertise a different price for the same item or service in a catalogue for another region.
Multiple pricing does not apply:
where a price is entirely obscured by another price
to the unit price that is displayed as an alternative means of expressing the price
where the other price is displayed in non Australian currency.
If you purchase goods or acquire services that are $75 or more the trader must provide you with a proof of transaction.
The proof of transaction must include the:
name of supplier or service provider
supplier’s ABN or ACN
date of the supply
goods or services supplied , and
price of the goods or services.
Generally a proof of transaction includes:
GST tax invoice
cash register receipt
credit card or debit card statement
handwritten receipt
lay-by agreement, or
confirmation or receipt number provided for a telephone or internet transaction.
You can request a proof of transaction from the supplier if the goods or services are less than $75. If you request a proof of purchase, the supplier must provide one within seven days of your request.
Requesting itemised bills from your service provider
Within 30 days of you receiving a service or a bill or account from your service provider you can ask your provider for an itemised bill that shows:
how the price was calculated
the number of labour hours and the hourly rate (if relevant), and
a list of the materials used and the amount charged for them (if relevant).
The service provider must give you the itemised bill within seven days of the request free of charge. The bill must be expressed in plain language, legible and clear.
