Hundreds of complaints about an online retailer who failed to deliver goods on time, leaving customers wondering where their purchases were, have resulted in enforcement action being taken by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC.)
Well-known brands including Noni B, Rivers, Katies, Autograph, W.Lane, Crossroads, Beme, and Rockmans are owned by Mosaic Brands Ltd whose customers allegedly experienced delays of up to 40 days in receiving items brought online.
The litigation brought by the ACCC stems from Mosaic wrongly accepting payment for goods that were delayed, or not delivered at all with ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver saying the “excessive and lengthy” delays were “incredibly frustrating and inconvenient for consumers, especially if they decided to buy goods for a special occasion, such as Christmas, based on the advertised delivery times which were not met.”
The ACCC claims between September 2021 and March 2022, 26 percent of deliveries originating from online orders arrived outside 20 days, despite Mosaic advertising parcels would arrive between two and 17 business days.
Mosaic disputes this, and a spokesperson for the retailer argued fulfillment rates were “over the government-mandated benchmark for Australia Post” for the last two years.
“Mosaic Brands believes the ACCC claim is flawed, and we will be vigorously defending it in court,” the spokesperson said.
Further accusations have been levelled at Mosaic regarding consumer rights about refunds on faulty goods.
The ACCC alleges between September 2021 and October 2022, Mosaic wrongly advised customers about the replacement of goods that arrived faulty or damaged and that they were entitled to a refund within six months if an item was faulty—when the law states the time is unlimited.
“If you buy a product or service and discover it is faulty, not of acceptable quality, or does not match its description, you are entitled to a free repair and may also be entitled to a refund or replacement,” Ms. Carver said. “These legal rights are called ‘consumer guarantees’ under the Australian Consumer Law and they don’t have a specific expiry date.”
The latest action is not the first time Mosaic has fallen foul of regulators, in 2021 and 2022 they paid $630,000 in penalties after violations of consumer law.
In the first case, Mosaic advertised hand sanitiser that had an incorrect amount of alcohol displayed on its packaging, and sold masks that were not approved by the World Health Organisation.
In 2022, the ACCC issued two infringement notices relating to alleged false or misleading representations made in promoting products on the website: katies.com.au. The first, a KN95 face mask falsely stated it had been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The secondary fine concerned a hot water bottle advertised as being “ACCC approved,” when in fact, the agency does not actually approve products. Accepting the fine, Mosaic paid $266,400 in penalties.
In the current case, in addition to the infringement notices, the ACCC is seeking an injunction to bar Mosaic from promoting some products.
