The Federal Court of Australia has ordered three Harvey Norman franchisees to pay a total of $60,000 in penalties for making false or misleading representations regarding consumer guarantee rights.

The Federal Circuit Court also ordered another Harvey Norman franchisee to pay a penalty of $26,000.

The four franchisees are Oxley, Queensland, fined $26,000, Gordon Superstore, in Gordon, NSW, fined $25,000; Mandurah, Western Australia, fined $25,000; and Albany, WA, fined $10,000.

There have been nine judgments to date in proceedings brought by the ACCC against Harvey Norman franchisees, with penalties totalling $234,000.

In addition to penalties, the Oxley and Gordon stores have been ordered to display corrective notices instore and implement a consumer law compliance program.

The Mandura and Albany stores both ceased trade in May 2013.

While the allegations differ from store to store, examples of misrepresentations include:

• the franchisee had no obligation to provide a remedy while the relevant product was still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty;
• the franchisee had no obligation to provide consumers with a choice of remedy if the relevant product was supplied more than three months ago; and
• the consumer would have to pay a postage and handling fee before the relevant product could be returned from the manufacturer.

The misrepresentations were made verbally by sales representatives or store managers in each store.

“These judgments imposing penalties are a clear message to all suppliers, no matter how big or small, that they must not mislead consumers about their rights under the Australian Consumer Law,” ACCC deputy chair, Michael Schaper, said.