The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Aveling Homes Pty Ltd (Aveling Homes), a Perth-based home building company, for alleged misleading conduct and false or misleading representations.
The alleged conduct is in relation to review websites Aveling Homes created for its businesses, Aveling Homes and the First Home Owner’s Centre.
The ACCC alleges that Aveling Homes created review websites that represented they were independent of Aveling Homes, and that the appearance, layout and features gave consumers the overall impression that they were affiliated with an independent third party consumer review website, Product Review, when this was not the case.
The ACCC also alleges that the review websites were deliberately managed by Aveling Homes to ensure a favourable overall impression, by obscuring or removing unfavourable reviews.
“We believe the potential for harm from the conduct alleged in this case is significant, as buying or building a home is one of the biggest purchasing decisions for Australians,” ACCC Deputy Chair Dr Michael Schaper said.
“Online reviews are increasingly being relied on by consumers and they should be able to trust that those reviews are independent, unbiased and accurately reflect the range of consumer feedback received.”
The ACCC also alleges that Aveling Homes's marketing manager, Sean Quartermaine, was knowingly concerned in Aveling’s conduct.
The ACCC is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties, injunctions, corrective notices, a compliance program, findings of fact and costs.
ACCC Media: 1300 138 917 or 0408 995 408
Background
Until 1 February 2017, Aveling Homes also operated the brand ‘First Home Owners Centre’.
The ACCC’s allegations concern conduct and representations made on four Aveling Homes websites:
- aveling-homes.com.au (the Aveling Homes website);
- avelinghomesproductreviews.com.au (the Aveling Homes review website);
- firsthomeownerscentre.com.au (the First Home Owners Centre website); and
- firsthomeownerscentreproductreviews.com.au (the First Home Owners Centre review website).
This is the second action taken by the ACCC in relation to online reviews. In November 2016, the ACCC instituted proceedings against Meriton Property Services Pty Ltd.
Figure 1: AvelingHomesProductReviews.com.au (as at 11 June 2016)
