Retailers Woolworths Group and Coles Group says they will defend the class action launched by Gerard Malouf & Partners in relation to alleged misleading promotional pricing practices. It follows the ACCC commencing Federal Court proceedings against the two in September on the same matter.
The ACCC accused Woolworths and Coles of breaching Australian Consumer Law after investigations revealed consumers had been misled through discount pricing claims on hundreds of products. The commission alleged the retailers took products that had a long-term unchanging price and increased their price by at least 15 per cent for a brief period of time. Then they put the products on a ‘Prices Dropped’ (Woolworths) or ‘Down Down’ (Coles) promotion, dropping the price to lower than the spike but higher, or the same, as the original long-term price.
The ACCC alleged the conduct involved 266 products for Woolworths at different times across 20 months, and 245 products for Coles at different times across 15 months.
Gerard Malouf and Partners said the action was a potential breach of Australian Consumer Law.
“Unlike the ongoing ACCC proceedings, which focus on regulatory penalties, this class action specifically aims to secure consumer compensation. GMP Law seeks to return money directly to affected shoppers by recovering the difference between the advertised discount prices and the actual prices charged,” the firm said in a statement.
