The Commerce Commission has filed criminal charges in the Auckland District Court against Noel Leeming, alleging multiple breaches of the Fair Trading Act.
The charges relate to the promotion and application of the company’s long-running ‘Price Promise’ as well as other advertising and consumer rights issues.
“For over a decade, Noel Leeming has prominently promoted their ‘Price Promise,’ which is their commitment to match any competitor’s price. We believe their price promise claim was misleading and in breach of the Fair Trading Act,” said Anne Callinan, Deputy Chair of the Commerce Commission.
“Price match advertising gives the impression that customers will be able to show up and get a match for competitor prices. It’s crucial that businesses promoting any price match offer factor in the overall impression of the claims they make, and that all information is clear to customers."
The Commission believes that Noel Leeming’s price promise had many limitations and conditions which weren’t made obvious to customers, making any price matches difficult to obtain.
Fine print should not contradict advertising claims or be used to conceal important information which could be critical to a person’s decision to buy goods or services.
“Noel Leeming has previously been one of our most complained-about traders, and we were concerned about the range of issues consumers raised."
Additional charges relate to advertising where the promoted product or price differed from what was actually available, and to allegations that Noel Leeming provided incorrect or misleading information about consumers’ rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act when complaints were made about faulty products.
“We expect big businesses to be clear and honest in their advertising. Consumers should be able to trust the information they receive when they are buying goods and services. The Commission will take action when we see misleading or deceptive conduct."
In response to the charges, Noel Leeming has strongly rejected the allegations.
“We’re baffled by the Commerce Commission’s decision to press charges. We firmly maintain that we have committed no offence and will vigorously defend this,” said Jason Bell, Chief Operating Officer of Noel Leeming.
“We’re perplexed by the Commission’s claim that price matches were difficult to obtain, when over 250,000 Kiwis saved money with our Price Promise between 2019 and 2021. Our terms and conditions are fair and presented just like other retailers, and when we can’t price match, we often don’t get the sale. Price matching is widely used by the industry, and it helps drive competition. Without it, Kiwis will end up paying more."
Bell said that the business has been built on getting its customers the products they want, when they want them, and at the best possible prices.
"If we don’t get something right, we work hard to ensure fair resolutions for our customers."
Some of the additional matters raised by the Commission occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when all businesses experienced unprecedented pressure.
Bell added that the team went to extraordinary lengths to help Kiwis access the products they needed, handling over ten million transactions.
“It is concerning that significant public resources and time have been spent on this matter for over three years, while overlooking more pressing potential harm to consumers from overseas online retailers operating outside of the rules. The system needs to evolve and hold all retailers selling to New Zealanders to the same standards of care."
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