It could go either way having an experienced lawyer at the helm. She could know how to lubricate the wheels of progress, as well as knowing how to make very very thick grease.
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Her recent employment links leave me personally very concerned. Stepping down from her current links does not mean that sympathy for them evaporates, hopefully impartiality is the outcome but I do not have a good degree of confidence. Outcomes for me will be the proof of the pudding.
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We shall see how the new chair goes.
An earlier Chair of the ACCC was Graeme Samuel, a corporate lawyer, worked for a mergers and acquisition business, and is I think considered a Chair who really drove the ACCC to a new level in consumer and competition monitoring.
I think a lawyer in the job whoâs business is to know the law is far better than an economist and profesional director, as the incumbent is.
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Navigation was never my strong point.
As to the helm, it matters most what the cargo is and whose bill of lading.
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I was doing a search for a heat gun and found that all models from the top manufacturers have the same price. I thought that price fixing was not supposed to be allowed.
e.g. Makita heat gun had 4 models at $82, $100, $125, $159 and all dealers had these same prices
Bunnings did not stock any of the above 4 models but had a custom kit that was a crossover between two of the above models, presumably so that Makita could still price fix the above 4 models.
How do you go about submitting a complaint to government about this and is it worth it?
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Welcome to the Community @smith9,
I moved your post into this topic that began with a similar observation to your own, albeit a different company. Price maintenance/price fixing has been mentioned on the community, such as
and many others. Some use the âagency sales modelâ to circumvent the law as written, especially appliance manufacturer/importers and more recently some vehicle importers announced they are moving to agency models.
FWIW I am in the market for a number of products and the prices across the country for many are within a $1-2 range from highest to lowest, and many shops advertise at well above the price shown on the importers own web site (that we take as an RRP).
Government seems content with it as it is, but your first point of call is probably your MP rather than the ACCC, and you can guess how it might go. It might be educational, or just reaffirm your own observations, to peruse this topic.
There is a reporting form on the ACCC web site and it is often the case that if such issues are not reported, they do not exist as far the the responsible agency is concerned.
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Hi @smith9, welcome to the community and for your first contrinbution.
It is allowed. Suppliers can set recommended retail prices which are often adopted by retailers as this ensures that their price is similar to their competitors. If you look online, many appliance, accessories etc distributor/manufacturer which sell their products or having pricing on the own websites have recommended retail prices which are often replicated by retailers. This also ensure that the distributer/manufacturer doesnât sell itâs products below recommended retail prices which would disadvantage the retailers.
It would be illegal is all the retailers communicated with each other and colluded into setting a price for goods so that they can manipulate the market place - this is called a cartel. This has occurred in the past and the ACCC has taken swift action. Where distributers/wholesalers set recommended retail prices which are adopted by retailers, this is legal and the ACCC wonât take any action as it isnât price fixing/a cartel.
Even the government or their government owned corporations set retail prices of goods or services which are adopted universally, irrespective of whether they are bought directly from a GOC, franchised businesses or independent retailers. A good example are stamps which universally have the same price no matter where they are purchased.
If Bunnings did stock the item, it would have its own unique model number (only sold by Bunnings) which means that they wonât match prices of the same item elsewhere. There are other threads about Bunnings âchanged model numberâ practices so that their âprice guaranteeâ is in effect meaningless in most cases.
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Not the ACCC per se, but Consumer Affairs Victoria. I submitted a complaint about an ongoing warranty repair that I claim has passed a âreasonable timeâ and the company could but refuses to replace the unit like-for-like, details not important beyond they have at each step prioritised their costs above repairing the product in a âreasonable timeâ.
The response from a complaint submission to Consumer Affairs Victoria is (4 Dec 2022)
I understand how impotent and understaffed they are at the best of times yet this demonstrates the reality of the âhelpâ we should receive but remains theoretical rather than real.
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As I understand the role of CAV, they are more focussed on Victorian consumer issues, like residentual tenancies, than Commonwealth issues like the ACL. That is the purview of the ACCC.
If they are being swamped by issues related to the Victorian floods at the moment, then I donât think it is unjustified to alert complaint lodgers to that fact.
The are theoretically the ACCC on the ground as far as Victorians are concerned.
Being told the truth is always good. Knowing they are capturing data for intelligence purposes does provide a certain warm and fuzzy feeling as well as a deeper appreciation of the ACL and how it is enforced, or most often just cajoled along. 
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Thanks from providing another example of Public Disservice.
I would be tempted to write to the local MP and/or responsible minister advising of the lack of service and asking when they will return to providing the services they are chartered and funded to provide. I would also request details of usual staff numbers, including how many are working on flood issues and how many are still âworkingâ from home.
It is really poor form for CAV to advise of the service limitations only after you have gone to the trouble of sending your request. There is no logical reason why this information could not be prominently displayed on the homepage of the website.
It would also be helpful if they were to define âurgentâ and âseriousâ. I am sure that most people would think that their issue fits at least one of those categories.
I simply took this as a novel way of saying, âwe know we are being paid to look after your interests but at the moment we just donât careâ.
Colour me gobsmacked. Consumer Affairs rang today 6/12 and we had a good chat. Without the details being included here and considering the businessâs response to date:
They agreed my rights to a repair in a reasonable time have been violated compounded by the businessâs reluctance to provide an ETA of the repair. Considering the businessâs lack of engagement the way forward is through VCAT claiming a full refund and costs.
Great effort from CAV in spite of the auto-reply, and accepting the reality they donât have ACL enforcement powers.
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Well at least they responded to tell you that they canât do anything to resolve your dispute.
But then neither does VCAT. They can find in your favour, issue an order, but if the company ignores that, then it is off to court for enforcement.
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True. That is how the flawed ACL system works, yet CAV did everything they could and get credit for that.
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In Qld, if the respondent fails to adhere to the settlement/decision it is a no cost visit to the Magistrates to have an order enforced.
â Minor civil dispute decisions
Minor civil dispute orders can be enforced through the Magistrates Court even if they do not involve the payment of money.
You need to provide the court with a copy of the tribunal order and an affidavit (a sworn statement signed by you) confirming the amount not paid or an action which has not been taken.
A justice of the peace, commissioner of declarations or a solicitor must witness your affidavit.
It is free to file the order and affidavit with the courts.
Once filed, the QCAT decision is taken to be an order of the court and can be enforced in the same ways as an order of the Magistrates Court.
You may seek independent legal advice about enforcement options including applying for a warrant of execution or a money order.â
If it is a non-monetary order the refusal to comply may be seen as Contempt of the Tribunal
https://www.qcat.qld.gov.au/qcat-decisions/enforcing-a-qcat-decision/contempt
Perhaps other States and Territories have similar processes?
VCAT have similar processes to Qld, however a fee is involved in getting a Court to enforce the order (the fee can be added to the order to recover the cost).
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