Chrisco sued by Australian regulator

A Chrisco Hamper Pic Hawkes Bay Today

The Australian branch of Christmas hamper company Chrisco is being sued by regulators across the Ditch for allegedly breaching consumer laws.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which plays a similar role to New Zealand's Commerce Commission, announced today it had launched action against Chrisco Hampers Australia in the Federal Court.

This company, according to Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents, is directed by Richard Bradley, who co-founded the hamper business with his then-wife in New Zealand in 1993 after a similar operation in the United Kingdom.

Chrisco's website says the Bradleys expanded into Australia in 1997.

The regulator alleges Chriso Hampers Australia included an unfair contract term in its 2014 lay-by agreements.

"The term relates to Chrisco's HeadStart Plan, and allows Chrisco to continue to take payments by direct debit after the consumer has fully paid for their lay-by agreement. Under this term, consumers were required to opt out in order to avoid having further payments deducted after their lay-by has been paid for," the regulator said.

It also alleges that between January 2011 to at least December 2013, Chrisco made false or misleading representations to consumers that they could not cancel their lay-by agreement after making a final payment.

According to the regulator, Australian laws gives consumers the right to cancel a lay-by agreement at any time before goods are delivered.

As well as this, the ACCC alleges from 2011 until this month the company charged people a termination fee that was more than its reasonable costs.

The regulator is seeking "pecuniary penalties, declarations, injunctions, non-party consumer redress and costs" from the company and the case is next due to come before the Federal Court in Brisbane in early February.

"Purchasing goods by way of a lay-by agreement is convenient for many Australian consumers, particularly for Christmas," said ACCC chairman Rod Sims.

"The ACCC is concerned to ensure that traders using the lay-by sales method comply with their obligations under the ACL, including those in relation to termination rights and lay-by termination charges," Sims said today.

In 2012, Chriso was fined $175,000 in New Zealand after admitting breaches of the Fair Trading Act for misleading customers about their cancellation rights under lay-by laws