Iconic PC maker Dell has been fined for misleading customers in Australia. On Monday, The Federal Court ordered Dell Australia to pay AU$10 million (US$6.5 million) for making "false and misleading representations," about discounted bundled monitor prices on its website. Dell Australia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell Technologies, admitted it had misled customers with its monitor offers.
The Dell PC monitor discount process went something like this:
- A person decides to buy a Dell Computer online
- After adding a desktop or laptop to their shopping cart, some personalized offers were shown
- A range of monitors were listed as add-on-options
- These monitors would be presented in a thumbnail with a current price and a larger price in strikethrough text
- The strikethrough price implied the bundle customer could make "a significant saving" decided the court
- Also the strikethrough prices weren't even genuine representations of previous pricing
- It turns out that the bundled monitor offer prices were sometimes higher than if the monitor was bought separately
Dell also admitted that statements like “Total Savings”, “Includes x% off”, “Discounted Price” and “Get the best price for popular accessories when purchased with this product," were misleading to customers.
If the above sounds somewhat shocking, but familiar, we wrote about the Federal Court's litigation back in early June. At that time Dell was ordered to make refund payments plus interest to every affected customer, as well as paying a contribution to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) costs.
More than 5,300 add-on monitors with overstated discounts were sold by Dell Australia between August 2019 and December 16, 2021.
ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver said that action was taken against Dell Australia "because consumers rely on accurate information about prices and discounts to make purchasing decisions." She also warned any company thinking about advertising discounted product prices to ensure accuracy.
Dell's fine could probably have been even bigger if it had not co-operated during the proceedings and admitted wrongdoings with regard to Australian Consumer Law.
Monitor buyers would be wise to check around before agreeing to any bundled discount. We have some updated buying guides for monitor buyers, and regularly scour the internet for the best offers on PCs, peripherals and components.
