The ACCC is urging consumers buying flowers this Valentine’s Day to ask where their flowers are coming from and make sure they are not being misled into thinking large ‘order gatherers’ are locally-based florists.
The ACCC has filed an appeal against the $1 million penalty ordered by the Federal Court against Employsure for making misleading representations that it was, or was affiliated with, a government agency, in Google ads published between August 2016 and August 2018.
Energy retailer CovaU Pty Ltd has paid $33,300 in penalties after the ACCC issued it with three infringement notices for alleged contraventions of the Electricity Retail Code.
The ACCC has reasonable grounds to believe that CovaU contravened the requirements of the Code by advertising the prices of three residential electricity plans on its website without stating a percentage difference to the comparison price set by the government, between 27 June and 19 July 2021.
The ACCC has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Western Australian funeral services provider Bowra & O’Dea Pty Ltd, in which Bowra & O’Dea admitted that it advertised prices for its funeral and cremation services which did not include all unavoidable costs and acknowledged that it entered into contracts containing alleged unfair contract terms.
The ACCC is aware of the significant public concern about the pricing of rapid antigen tests and is contacting suppliers and monitoring the situation very closely.
The ACCC will be examining claims that the current pricing levels of rapid antigen tests are due to challenges in obtaining supply of those tests.
Food distributor and retailer HBC Trading Australia Pty Ltd (HBC Trading) has paid penalties of $26,640 after the ACCC issued it with two infringement notices for allegedly making false or misleading representations about its Chef’s Choice-branded ‘alcohol free pure vanilla extract’.
Ford Motor Company of Australia Pty Ltd (Ford) has paid penalties totalling $53,280 after the ACCC issued it with four infringement notices for allegedly misleading consumers about the performance features of the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1, in four different versions of brochures promoting these vehicles which were published by Ford.
The ACCC has accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Tasmanian funeral services provider Gerren Pty Ltd, trading as Parkside Funerals, in which it admits that it made false and misleading representations in its invoices about the price of its funeral and cremation services, and acknowledges that it entered into contracts containing unfair contract terms.
Parkside Funerals has also paid a penalty of $13,320 after the ACCC issued it with an infringement notice for an alleged false and misleading representation about the price of its services.
The ACCC has instituted Federal Court proceedings against online retailer Booktopia Pty Ltd for making false or misleading representations to consumers about their rights to refunds and other remedies for faulty or damaged goods.
The High Court yesterday handed down its decision in Port of Newcastle Operations Pty Ltd (PNO) and Glencore Coal Assets Australia Pty Ltd (Glencore).
The High Court decided that Glencore was able to seek an access determination under Part IIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act in respect of navigation charges at the port.
However, the ACCC is concerned about the implications of yesterday’s decision regarding the calculation of the navigation charge for port users to export coal from the Port of Newcastle.