Undertaking date

Undertaking type

s.87B undertaking

Reference number

D08/53422

Section

s. 53(a)

Company or individual details

  • Name

    Hoover Floorcare Asia Pacific Pty Ltd

    ACN

    086 345 575

Undertaking

Hoover Floorcare Asia Pacific Pty Ltd (Hoover) is a national importer and distributor of Hoover vacuum cleaner products which it supplies to retailers throughout Australia.

Between 2004 and 2007, Hoover made alleged misrepresentations in various mediums about two of its products, by claiming;

  • the Powerforce H5003 Vacuum cleaner had “2200 watts maximum cleaning power” when the Powerforce was only able to achieve 2,000 watts; and
  • the Hoover Handivac JVC 2026 hand held vacuum cleaner had a power output of 12 volts or 9 volts when the Handivac contains a 6 volt battery.

Hoover has acknowledged that the represented power outputs were not able to be obtained, and that it has engaged in conduct that was potentially misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive, in contravention of section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA).

The ACCC has accepted undertakings from Hoover pursuant to section 87B of the TPA to address the conduct.

Hoover has undertaken that it will:

  • only make a representation about the power output of its vacuum cleaners where that representation is correct and can be verified;
  • include extra attachments if needed to achieve the represented power output or indicate prominently that they are not included;
  • discontinue distributing publishing material that misrepresents the power output of the two products;
  • request that retailers display a notice in their stores regarding the conduct;
  • cause to publish an information notice, once, regarding the conduct in the Weekend Australian newspaper and on the Hoover website; and
  • establish a compliance program to assist Hoover in preventing future breaches of the TPA.