Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleges OEM misled customers and breached consumer law.
A statement from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), reported by Financial Review, alleged that HP has breached Australian consumer law by misleading its customers.
The allegations are that HP has been informing its customers that broken devices could only be “remedied” at HP’s discretion, and that they could not receive a replacement for faulty devices until the devices had been repaired multiple times. It was also alleged that HP told customers that returns or exchanges were only permitted at the company’s discretion.
The statement from the ACCC read “The court orders the ACCC is seeking include declarations, injunctions, civil pecuniary penalties, disclosure orders, adverse publicity orders, non-party redress for consumers affected by HP’s conduct, the implementation of a compliance program and costs,” with Rod Sims, ACCC Chairman reportedly commenting that “it’s a pretty important company and a pretty important issue.”
A scheduling conference regarding the matter is due to take place on 7 December.
A HP spokesperson reportedly said that the OEM “takes seriously the matters raised by the ACCC and will fully investigate and respond appropriately.”
In September, The Recycler reported that the ACCC also planned to take Australian ink cartridge supplier Artorios Ink to court following allegations that the company was misleading businesses over supplying ink cartridges during 2011 and 2012.