Online shopping

Kogan tax time promotion found to be false or misleading

The Federal Court has found online retailer Kogan Australia Pty Ltd (Kogan) breached the Australian Consumer Law by making false and misleading representations about a tax time sales promotion, in proceedings brought by the ACCC.

Kogan ran the online promotion from 27 to 30 June 2018, advertising to consumers that they could use the code ‘TAXTIME’ to reduce prices by 10 per cent at checkout.  The promotion was advertised on Kogan’s website, in emails it sent to more than 10 million consumers, and in SMS messages to more than 930,000 consumers.

Safety review of baby bouncers, rockers and inclined sleep products

The ACCC will today begin a safety review of products designed for infants such as bouncers, rockers and inclined sleep products.

The market review will be on inclined baby products used for sleeping, where the baby’s head and back are inclined, and may include a harness or belt to secure the baby into the product.

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported that at least 74 infant fatalities have occurred in the United States while using bouncers, rockers and recliners.

Australian businesses hit hard by email scams

Australian businesses reported more than 5800 scams with losses exceeding $7.2 million in 2018, a 53 per cent increase compared to 2017, according to the ACCC’s Targeting scams report.

Much of this increase is due to the $3.8 million reported lost to sophisticated ‘business email compromise’ scams. When combined with losses reported to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network, these scams cost Australian businesses over $60 million.

ACCC reviewing sharing economy policies as part of international sweep

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is assessing the review policies of sharing economy platforms as part of an international initiative targeting online reviews and endorsements.

This review is part of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN)’s annual internet sweep, involving over 50 consumer protection agencies around the world. This year the focus of the sweep is ‘Online Reviews and Endorsements’ and the ACCC will be focusing on the way in which reviews operate in the sharing economy.

International consumer protection enforcers issue guidance for online reviews and endorsements stakeholders

The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) has released a set of guidelines for market participants involved in the collection, moderation and publication of online reviews and endorsements.

Global enforcers have found that online reviews and endorsements are proving useful to consumers when, for example, booking travel accommodation and other travel-related products and services. It is important that consumers can trust the reviews and endorsements they use to help make these buying decisions.