Undertaking date

Undertaking type

s.87B undertaking

Reference number

D14/197520

Section

Section 18, 29(1)(i), 29(1)(m), 23

Company or individual details

  • Name

    LivingSocial Pty Ltd

    ACN

    141 684 684

Undertaking

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a section 87B court-enforceable undertaking from LivingSocial Pty Ltd (ACN 141 684 684) (LivingSocial).

LivingSocial is an online group buying site which commenced operation in Australia in 2010. Prior to August 2012, LivingSocial also traded under the business name Jump On It.

The ACCC was concerned about LivingSocial's conduct in relation to refund rights, the price of voucher deals and the inclusion of an unfair contract term in its website terms and conditions.  The alleged misrepresentations were made by way of emails, website advertisements and vouchers.

LivingSocial acknowledges that its conduct may have contravened sections 18, 29(1)(i) and 29(1)(m) of the ACL.  LivingSocial further acknowledges that the term in its consumer contracts was likely to have been unfair within the meaning of section 24 of the ACL.

To address the ACCC's concerns, LivingSocial has undertaken to:

• give voucher purchasers refunds in all circumstances where they are entitled to a refund in accordance with LivingSocial's terms and conditions and/or the consumer guarantee provisions of the ACL
• display prices of deals inclusive of all mandatory additional fees except for delivery fees, the minimum charge for which will otherwise be specified if known at the time of publication
• use only comparison pricing statements that are not misleading in representing the savings that could be achieved
• send emails to all LivingSocial subscribers when substantive updates are made to its terms and conditions, advising of the content of the updates
• send an email to all LivingSocial subscribers containing a corrective notice
• develop and implement a compliance program designed to minimise the risk of LivingSocial engaging in conduct that contravenes sections 18 and 29 of the ACL.