The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is cracking down on retailers that are making misleading claims to their customers.
The consumer watchdog said an emerging concern it has is the delay in delivery and non-delivery of consumer products. One of the major reasons customers choose to shop at a particular retailer is due to delivery timeframes.
The ACCC has released its compliance and enforcement priorities for 2024 and 2025, noting it is expanding its enforcement into the consumer electronics sector.
Consumer electronics attract a high volume of complaints, especially when many consumers are caught between retailers and manufacturers, who often obfuscate and shift blame on who is responsible when there is an issue.
The ACCC and other consumer agencies said they have noticed an increase in complaints from consumers concerning delays.
“There is a concern that misleading conduct by retailers about delivery timeframes can not only impact consumers’ decisions, but it will also have an impact on those businesses that are accurately representing the true delivery timeframes,” the ACCC said.
“Whilst improving compliance by businesses with the consumer guarantee regime is important, there is a need to consider what more should be done.”
The ACCC has listed several changes that need to be made, including strengthening laws, access to justice to be improved and a better culture of compliance by manufacturers in their dealings with retailers and by retailers in dealing with consumers is essential.
One important reform the ACCC considers necessary is for failure to honour consumer guarantees to be a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law, which would result in penalties.
In a speech at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the consumer watchdog will continue its focus on consumer protection.
“In the digital economy, the ACCC will focus on consumer protection and fair trading issues for small businesses including misleading or deceptive conduct in influencer marketing, online reviews, price comparison websites and in-app purchases – especially in the video gaming industry,” she said.
Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC would also continue to prioritise improving business compliance with consumer guarantees this year, especially in the sale of home electronics and delivery times for online purchases.
“A key concern that has recently emerged is the delay in delivery and non-delivery of consumer products. Delivery timeframes are a key consideration for many consumers when choosing a retailer,” Cass-Gottlieb said.
Product Safety
The ACCC is also prioritising product safety and sustainability around electrical products, which includes lithium-ion batteries.
Following a recommendation from the ACCC, the assistant treasurer recently issued a proposed recall notice for specified LG solar storage batteries that can overheat and catch fire without warning.
The ACCC’s Lithium-ion Batteries Report published in October 2023 included recommendations for clear and accessible educational resources for consumers on lithium-ion batteries, and the improvement of incident data to expand and standardise data collection practices around the hazards of consumer electrical products and recommendations regarding the electrical safety framework.
For this year and next, the ACCC said it will build on these recommendations to demonstrate the importance of safe battery design and supply and to work across Government to progress harmonisation of the electrical safety regulatory framework for household electrical consumer products.
The ACCC said it will also continue its examination of the automotive and caravan sector, including through enforcement investigations.