Misleading advertising charges for two in WA

TWO Western Australian companies have been taken to court for misleading advertising, one by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the other by the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection.

Alliance WA has given the ACCC court-enforceable undertakings over its mobile phone and call plan advertising, including an undertaking to provide refunds to customers that had been misled.

The company’s officers admitted that its advertising may have led consumers to believe that the advertised mobile phone and call plan, including all calls, would cost no more than the amount shown in the advertisements as the “Total Cost $Y. That’s it!”.

In fact, the amount shown in the advertisements as the “total cost” was the cost of the mobile phone only and any calls made by consumers were subject to an additional per second charge.

The Department of Consumer and Employment Protection prosecuted Bayswater Car Rental and its proprietor Arnoldus Kluck following discrepancies between the company’s advertised price and the actual price of hiring vehicles.

The company ran a series of newspaper advertisements including the promoting of hire cars for $14 per day when extra charges, including those for mandatory insurance, took the actual price to $26 per day.

Media Monitors growth continues nationwide

MEDIA information company Media Monitors Australia has acquired South Australian-based Imedia’s customer base.

Media Monitors CEO John Croll said the acquisition gave his company the chance to strengthen its relationships with South Australian organisations.

Imedia founder Gerry Blackshaw said the offer to sell his company’s customer base to Media Monitors had been retirement driven.