Mitre 10 Australia Ltd has admitted that it engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct and made a false representation about the price of goods when it advertised its '20% off storewide' sale in February this year.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission raised concerns with Mitre 10 that its television and website advertising failed to adequately disclose that a number of products were excluded from the sale held on February 13-14, 2009.
The television advertisements, which aired on almost 900 occasions across two days, included small print text about 'terms and conditions instore' but did not say what these were. The internet advertising on Mitre 10's home page did not refer to any terms and conditions.
ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said companies must ensure terms and conditions applicable to any sale were adequately disclosed to consumers. When promoting a sale any exclusions must be clearly defined.
As part of court enforceable undertakings accepted by the ACCC, Mitre 10 has undertaken not to repeat the conduct and to implement a rigorous and comprehensive trade practices compliance program designed to minimise the risk of future breaches of the consumer protection provisions of the Act.
A copy of the undertaking provided by Mitre 10 including further background on the matter and details of all measures Mitre 10 has undertaken to implement will be available on the ACCC's website.
