Dell’s Australia arm has been slapped with a $10 million AUD (about $6.49 million) fine for “making false and misleading representations on its website about discount prices for add-on computer monitors,” the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced today. The Australian regulator said the company sold 5,300 monitors this way.
A for-profit company used a tactic to increase its profits. Shocking.
Honest question: Will the ACCC share the fine with customers that Dell ripped off?
No, but those users are probably free to launch a class action lawsuit themselves, and official government decisions make for good evidence.
The fine usually goes back into the operational expenses of trying to keep up with the flood of complaints about shitty companies the ACCC receives everyday.
Edited to add: IANAL and Dell have already been ordered to offer refunds in addition to the fine so a class action might not apply here. But it’s still something.
That’s good to know, actually. In the US, simply buying the product likely goes with an agreement not to participate in a class-action suit. Accepting the court-ordered refund definitely would.
They put that clause in our sales contracts too but I don’t it can be legally enforces.
I just double checked the class action thing, it looks like Dell has already been forced to offer refunds so a class action might not apply here, IANAL.
Either way, it’s something, even if it isn’t perfect.