00:01In a stunning judgment, Justice Michael O'Brien has found that Coles misled shoppers on the discounts it charged on
00:10its down-down promotional program.
00:12And it did this because it didn't sell the product at the higher WAS price for long enough.
00:19So based on Coles' own policies at the time, Coles had a policy that it must sell a product for
00:2812 weeks at a higher price before it could be reduced and put on the down-down discounting program.
00:34And it didn't do this on a number of items that were examined as part of the case.
00:40He found that 13 out of 14 down-down promotional tickets that were used weren't sold for long enough at
00:48the higher price.
00:50And so what was shown on the ticket, the higher WAS price with a slash-through and then a discounted
00:56price, was misleading because the product was sold usually at a lower price for a much longer period preceding that
01:05higher price and then the promotion.
01:07And an ordinary shopper would want to know what the previous regular price had been.
01:15And because of that, it was not a genuine discount and it was misleading.
01:20And so a stunning judgment today.
01:23Coles has been defending the case and fought it bitterly and will be very disappointed in this outcome.
01:29We took these proceedings because we were concerned that the Coles' promotional pricing practices in the down-down program were
01:40making it hard for consumers to identify genuine value for money in their purchases of essential products.
01:47We received complaints from consumers.
01:50We know how important it is for consumers to obtain real value in their supermarket purchases.
01:58So we decided to test these pricing practices in court.
02:03So I've received a statement from them.
02:06It says its priority has always been delivering value to customers.
02:11It also pointed out that the court found that price increases did result from supplier cost price increases and were
02:21commercially justifiable.
02:23This was part of the judgment where the judge pointed out that Coles hadn't inflated the higher price in order
02:31to make the discount look bigger than it really was.
02:34That wasn't part of the case.
02:35So Coles has pointed out that that was significant for it.
02:40But it hasn't said whether it will appeal the case.
02:44So, you know, it said it's reviewing the judgment.
02:47It's only just come down.
02:48But, you know, it's important guidance for shoppers and retailers about discount pricing.
02:55So it will be fascinating to see whether Coles does appeal the judgment or whether it just, you know, submits
03:03to the judgment that's been determined today.
03:05And the penalties will be determined by the court at a later day and could be substantial.
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03:11And that's it.
03:11So you will be clear here to see the court.
03:13And I might forget to use to call for how to install folks baby delivery.
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