The Federal Court has ordered The Good Guys to pay $13.5 million in penalties after finding the appliance retailer engaged in misleading conduct over its store credit and “StoreCash” promotions and failed to provide credits to thousands of eligible customers.
The proceedings related to 116 promotions run by The Good Guys between July 2019 and August 2023 in which it offered customers store credit (also called StoreCash in some promotions) if they spent a minimum amount, bought a specific brand or product, or used a particular payment method. The amount of credit varied between $10 and $1,000 depending on the promotion.
The Good Guys admitted its advertisements for those promotions did not disclose, or adequately disclose, the expiry period of the store credit — which for the majority of promotions was as short as seven or 10 days — or, in most cases, that customers would only receive a store credit if they remained opted in to The Good Guys’ marketing communications.
“We took this court action because we were concerned that The Good Guys had failed to adequately disclose some really key conditions attached to these store credit promotions,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
“The chance to earn store credit may have encouraged some consumers to make a purchase at The Good Guys they otherwise may not have made or to choose this retailer over others. We were concerned some of those consumers may not have done so had they been aware of all the conditions.”
“When advertising promotional offers, all businesses must clearly disclose any key terms and conditions or limitations to avoid misleading consumers. Businesses that fail to do so could potentially face court proceedings and large penalties,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
The Good Guys also admitted it failed to provide about 21,500 consumers with store credit within the time frame it had specified. “Businesses that use promotional programs to attract consumers and differentiate themselves from their competitors must ensure they provide any gifts or rebates to eligible consumers in the time period they said they would,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
As well as the $13.5 million penalty, the Court ordered The Good Guys to provide redress to certain customers who took part in promotions that did not disclose, or adequately disclose, the expiry period by issuing store credit with a longer expiry. The retailer will contact consumers eligible for redress, the ACCC said.
The Good Guys has already remediated consumers who did not receive their store credit because they failed to meet the condition requiring them to remain opted in to marketing material, and the roughly 21,500 consumers who did not receive their credit within the specified time. The company co‑operated with the ACCC, admitted liability and agreed to make joint submissions to the Court about orders, including penalties.
The Court accepted joint submissions that part of the conduct contravened consumer protection provisions of the ASIC Act, on the basis that the supply of store credit and StoreCash is a financial service; ASIC delegated its powers under the ASIC Act to certain senior officers of the ACCC to take the enforcement action. The Court also found The Good Guys contravened the Australian Consumer Law by failing to provide store credits to approximately 21,500 consumers within the time specified.
The Good Guys is an Australian household appliance chain that operates both physical stores and an online business; its parent company is JB Hi‑Fi Limited (ASX: JBH). The ACCC instituted proceedings against the retailer on 11 July 2024 as part of a wider focus on consumer and fair trading concerns in the supermarket and retail sectors, with particular attention to misleading pricing practices.
