ACCC conducts "internet sweep"

[chris]

The devil's in the detail: ACCC conducts "internet sweep" into online shopping fine print.

If you sell goods online make sure your fine print is up to scratch, as the consumer watchdog is conducting an internet sweep of websites today as part of an international campaign.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's sweep is part of annual co-ordinated action by 40 consumer protection agencies from around the world to focus on fine print in online shopping as part of the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network.

This was the article in SmartCompany: http://www.smartcompany.com.au/reta...et-sweep-into-online-shopping-fine-print.html

It was also on the TV news.

So if you’re selling online, it’s probably worth having a look at your websites and make sure your fine print is good to go

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Cooper Mills DomainLawyer]

This is something that many online businesses dont take seriously enough. We regularly see Australian businesses using American terms and conditions, some of the things they contain are actually illegal!

We see some pretty concerning breaches of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (the new version of the Trade Practices Act) in the domain name industry, for example where .au domain names are advertised as being $15 per year. The problem here is that you cant buy a .au name for a 1 year term, you actually have to buy a 2 year licence. So really the price is $30 which is actually what a customer has to pay.

The ACCC hasn't got around to our industry yet - I guess when they are finished bashing up Telcos and ISPs they will start looking at this and other industries.

 

[findtim]

I get annoyed when it says a price then later it adds GST, i was under the impression it had to state the full price.

I recently did an ecom site and the sales are going via NAB, i had to show NAB all the products were listed inclusive of GST and that i had a notation on every product of this before they would approve the clients application to trade online using NAB services.

tim

 

[Cooper Mills DomainLawyer]

I get annoyed when it says a price then later it adds GST, i was under the impression it had to state the full price.

I recently did an ecom site and the sales are going via NAB, i had to show NAB all the products were listed inclusive of GST and that i had a notation on every product of this before they would approve the clients application to trade online using NAB services.

tim

Tim I agree, the GST inclusive price needs to be advertised. When the GST was first introduced the ACCC went after real estate agents and other businesses, but I havent heard of any recent prosecutions, even though the practice still continues