Retailer Noel Leeming has been given an official warning today after it sold products that it didn’t have in stock during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Commerce Commission said the official warning came after it received more than 100 inquiries about the Noel Leeming Group (NLG), with customers saying they did not receive the products within the delivery times the retailer had promised.
Customers told the Commission they were experiencing difficulties contacting NLG when asking about delivery delays, and did not get a refund for delayed deliveries when requested.
The Commission found NLG would have likely breached the Fair Trading Act after accepting payment for 37 Amazon Kindles it didn’t have in stock. NLG removed the product from sale on April 6, then offered customers a refund on April 16.
It also found NLG misrepresented the expected delivery time for another product - a DJI Ronin-SC Control Cable - in June. The Commission found NLG didn't take any steps to find out from its supplier why the product was delayed, the availability of the product or expected delivery times.
“Noel Leeming Group faced unprecedented consumer demand and delivery services were significantly impacted at this time,” Commission Chair Anna Rawlings said.
“However, it should have taken a more cautious approach to representations it made about product availability and delivery time frames”.
1 NEWS has contacted the NLG for comment.
In April, 1 NEWS heard from disgruntled customers who said they faced long wait times on customer service calls. They also said they had ordered products from Noel Leeming, but they were not delivered.
At the time Noel Leeming said out of stock products being sold online were "isolated incidents".
In 2018 the retailer was fined $200,000 for misleading consumers about their rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act, following a Commerce Commission prosecution. It saw Noel Leeming convicted on eight charges under the Fair Trading Act.
Only the courts can determine whether a breach of law has happened. A Commerce Commission warning letter is intended to portray its opinion about whether a breach had happened.
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