Coles and Woolworths shoppers could claim $5,000 over alleged pricing tactics
It's the second class action investigation against Coles and Woolworths since the ACCC accused them of allegedly making misleading discount pricing claims.
Coles and Woolworths shoppers could claim up to $5,000 back from the supermarket giants if they are found to have deceived shoppers with their pricing tactics, a leading lawyer has said. Carter Capner Law is the second Australian law firm investigating whether a potential class action suit against the supermarkets is viable alongside the ACCC's legal action against them.
“Early estimates suggest that households could claim between $2,000 and $5,000, depending on the amount spent and the impact of the deceptive pricing,” law director Peter Carter said. It comes after the firm was inundated with an "avalanche of calls from outraged customers".
Both supermarkets are accused of violating Australian consumer law by the consumer watchdog after allegedly making misleading discount pricing claims on hundreds of widely sold supermarket products with their "Prices Dropped" and "Down Down" sales campaigns.
Class action prompted by 'customer outrage'
Carter said the firm initially had no plans to commence a class action after ACCC's announcement that it was suing the grocery giants for allegedly deceiving customers with hundreds of sale prices. But after speaking about it to the media, the company were inundated with Coles and Woolworths customers "demanding action and compensation".
He believes Australians already doing it tough through the cost of living crisis felt "betrayed" by the supermarkets. The class action doesn't depend on the ACCC's case against the businesses, he added.
“The evidence the ACCC has collected would be useful, but the claim relies on their breaches of the Australian Consumer Law sections 18 (misleading/deceptive conduct), 20, 21 (unconscionable conduct) and 29 (misleading representation re price of goods)," he said.
Flinders University research fellow in law Dr Joel Lisk previously told Yahoo that the class action is "a positive" for shoppers.
"The ACCC proceedings aren't about getting refunds for customers," he told Yahoo. "But if they are successful it would mean customers have, in theory, been misled and deceived and could be entitled to damages."
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Compensation 'starts to add up' for customers
Last month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged the supermarkets' conduct involved 266 products for Woolworths at different times across 20 months, and 245 products for Coles at different times across 15 months.
When it comes to damages, it's something Dr Lisk said "starts to add up" financially for consumers. He thought it was "hard to say" at this stage if financial penalties to businesses found guilty of wrongdoing would impact misleading and deceptive conduct in the future.
"If [fines are] seen as just the cost of doing business it doesn't really dissuade businesses from engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct," he said.
"Seeking damages from business for the losses that individuals like us have incurred is one way of doing that. But of course, we're talking probably about dollars and cents in transactions when businesses like Coles and Woolworths deal in the billions."
Shoppers can register their interest to receive advice about their compensation entitlement and join the class action led by Carter Capner Law or with GMP law here.
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