Coles put commercial interests above its customers – and was caught red-handed
Summary
An Australian court found that supermarket Coles misled customers with its "Down Down" discount campaign by showing fake price reductions. Coles changed its rules for how long a higher "was" price had to stay before dropping prices to create discounts, which made some deals misleading.Key Facts
- Coles runs the "Down Down" promotion, which claims products are cheaper than before.
- The court ruled Coles misled shoppers by showing discounts that were not genuine.
- Coles had rules ("guardrails") requiring products to be sold at the higher "was" price for a set time before a discount.
- In 2022, Coles shortened the time from 12 weeks to 4 weeks to match competitor Woolworths' practice.
- Customers reported items with supposed discounts that were actually more expensive recently.
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) found hundreds of products affected.
- The court noted Coles changed its practices due to pressure from Woolworths, its main rival.
- Coles may face fines of tens of millions of dollars and might have to change how it promotes discounts.
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