NEWS WRAP...

Chrisco Ordered To Pay $200,000 Fine For Misleading Customer Payments

2 min read
Chrisco Ordered To Pay $200,000 Fine For Misleading Customer Payments

The federal court ruled that Chrisco Hampers Australia pay a penalty of $200,000 for making a misleading clause that customers could not cancel a lay-by agreement after making their final payment.

In their “HeadStart” plan Chrisco would continue to take payments by direct debit after the consumer had fully paid for their lay-by, as the payments would supposedly go towards the following year’s hamper. According to the terms of the lay-by agreement, consumers were required to ‘opt out’ in order to avoid having further payments automatically deducted by Chrisco after their current lay-by had been fully paid.

“We understand that making purchases by lay-by agreement is a convenient way for many Australians to shop, particularly for products such as Christmas hampers and presents” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“The Australian Consumer Law provides that lay-by agreements must be in writing and transparent.  Consumers have termination rights at any time before the delivery of the goods, subject to a reasonable termination charge in some circumstances,” Mr Sims said.

“The importance of the penalty imposed by the Court against Chrisco is that it sends a strong message to businesses using lay-by as a method of sale that they must meet all of their ACL obligations, and do not mislead consumers about their rights” Mr Sims said.

source
Avatar photo
About Author

Cherie Bobbins

Cherie Bobbins creates an authentic account of motherhood from the front-lines with a central theme of empowering other mothers through Cherie's first...Read More hand experiences. Her aim for every piece of content created is to serve someone, sparking them to exclaim, "OMG, Cherie Bobbins totally gets me, it's exactly what I needed and I am not alone!" Residing in Melbourne, experiencing four seasons in one day, Cherie has had an overflowing, clean basket of laundry on rotation since January 2015. Cherie is a life hacker, professional laundry dodger and mother of two. Read Less

Ask a Question

Close sidebar