Kogan found to have run misleading 'tax time' promotion

The Federal Court has found that Kogan made false and misleading representations about a tax time sales promotion in 2018.

Kogan was hauled to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in May 2019, alleging that the retailer inflated prices ahead of the promotion.

The retailer advertised to consumers via its website, emails and through SMS that they could use the code “TAXTIME” to reduce prices by 10 percent at checkout, and used statements like ‘48 hours left!’ and ‘Ends midnight tonight!’ in the marketing materials.

The court found that the advertisements were false and misleading because Kogan increased the prices of more than 600 products before the promotion, with increases of at least 10 percent, and later reducing the prices shortly after the promotion ended.

ACCC chair Rod Sims said, “We brought this case because we were concerned that the advertised price reductions were not genuine savings.”

“Many consumers who took up the offer on one or more of the 600 or so products in many cases actually paid the same as, or more than, what they would have paid immediately before and after the promotion.”

Sims added businesses must ensure their advertisements do not mislead consumers about the nature of a promotion, and that any promised savings are genuine.

Court proceedings will resume with a hearing on relief, including penalties, at a later date. The ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective notices and costs.