📋 Tender Overview
Online electronics retailer BXT International Limited and its related companies together known as Becextech have been warned by the Commerce Commission for conduct that the Commission considers has likely breached the Fair Trading Act. The warning follows a Commission investigation into the Hong Kong based company which sells electronic goods such as mobile phones computers tablets and digital cameras through its website. In the Commissions view Becextech has likely breached the Fair Trading Act byfailing to clearly disclose that some mobile phones it was selling were refurbished thereby misleading consumers into believing that they were buying new mobile phones at discounted pricesselling extended warranties that did not contain the mandatory information required to be disclosed to consumers by the Fair Trading Actmaking unsubstantiated and false or misleading representations about the price of goods by representing certain goods as being available at discounted prices and on-sale without having reasonable grounds to support the level of discount claimed.Commission Chair Anna Rawlings says consumers are protected by law against advertisements that create misleading impressions about a products features and previous use. Like any trader carrying on business in New Zealand Becextech must comply with the Fair Trading Act and ensure they are not misleading consumers. That includes not giving a misleading impression that products are new if in fact they are refurbished and complying with mandatory requirements when selling extended warranties. It is the Commissions view that Becextech failed to do this said Ms Rawlings.Becextech also made special on sale price claims that in the Commissions view could not be backed up and were misleading. By law businesses must have reasonable grounds for making a pricing claim at the time it is made. Consumers need to be able to rely on the accuracy of business claims. Specials and deals need to offer consumers genuine savings when compared with the price they might ordinarily expect to pay and products should not be promoted in ways that entice customers to buy under false pretences says Ms Rawlings.As a result of the Commissions investigation Becextech has agreed to make changes to its practices includingadding refurbished as the first word in relevant product descriptionsstopping the sale of extended warrantiesaltering pricing practices to ensure that any discount claims made refer to a price recently charged by the company as well as being able to be substantiated.The warning letter has been published on our case register.
