Crazy John’s to repay misled customers

Mobile phone retail chain Crazy John’s has reached a court-enforceable undertaking with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over a “misleading” handset ad campaign.

The ACCC says Crazy John’s will compensate customers who were misled by a promotion advertising “free” or “$0” handset ads.

Crazy John’s has admitted that it engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct.

The company represented mobile phones on some of its plans as “free” or for “$0”, but consumers were paying more for the handset due to higher call rates than those on comparable plans, the ACCC in a statement.

Crazy John’s will provide customers on the relevant 24-month Crazy Phone Plans with a monthly call credit for the remainder of their contract term.

The ACCC said Crazy John’s had agreed also to cease all advertising linked to the misleading promotion and implement an extensive trade practices law compliance program and pay $15,000 of the ACCC’s legal costs.

ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said the ACCC acknowledged the co-operation shown by Crazy John’s in removing quickly all misleading advertising material and offering redress to aggrieved customers

This story first appeared in Inside Retailing.

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