The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Snooza Pet Products Pty Ltd in relation to its pet futon, a mattress for pets, primarily dogs and cats.
Snooza Pet Products supplied the futon labelled on its calico cover as '100% Australian Wool' and 'All Natural Product', when in fact after testing the actual wool content of the product's filling, it was on average 30 per cent, between July 1998 and December 2004 and since then 50 per cent of the total content.
The balance of the filling was, and is, polyester and, accordingly, the futon was not an 'All Natural Product' and the composition of the filling of the product was not '100% Australian Wool'.
The ACCC was concerned the representations on the calico cover of the futon and on Snooza Pets website and Product Catalogue, that the filling was made solely from wool breached sections 52, 53 and 55 of the Trade Practices Act 1974, which prohibit a corporation from engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct or making certain false claims, including representations concerning the composition of goods.
As part of the undertaking given to the ACCC, Snooza Pet Products will refrain from making similar representations about the futon, offer a full refund of the price of the futon to consumers who believe they have been misled and to implement a trade practices compliance program.
Snooza Pet Products has stopped supplying the incorrectly labelled futon and corrected the representations on existing stock, in its product catalogue and on its website.
Snooza Pet Products will publish corrective notices on its website and a limited number of corrective notices in daily newspapers in each State and Territory within Australia in which the futon has been sold.
Representations made in relation to products supplied in Australia must be correct.