Competition Bureau fines furniture chain $3.25M for inflating prices, false advertising
Canada’s Competition Bureau has fined a furniture giant for $3.25 million.
According to Canada’s Competition Bureau, The Dufresne Group and its affiliates, Dufresne Furniture and Appliances and some Ashley HomeStores, offered certain items at inflated regular prices and advertised them at significant discounts.
This excludes Ashley HomeStore locations in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which are locally owned and not operated by The Dufresne Group.
The Bureau’s fine came after an investigation into The Dufresne Group’s marketing claims.
Customers were made to believe they were taking advantage of “significant savings.”
Per the Bureau, these claims were made on the stores’ websites and in-store and other advertising channels.
In addition to the $3.25 million penalty, the Dufresne Group has also agreed to pay $100,000 to the Competition Bureau “to resolve concerns over their marketing practices in Canada.”
“Tactics that pressure consumers to make a purchase quickly, like limited-time offers, must be truthful. All businesses in Canada should review their marketing practices and make sure they comply with the law,” said Competition Bureau Commissioner Matthew Boswell in a statement.
The company also committed to having its marketing tactics comply with the Competition Act and establishing and maintaining a corporate compliance program to promote compliance with the law.
“‘Limited time offers’ and ‘countdown clocks’ types of urgency cues could create the false or misleading impression that consumers must purchase a product quickly prior to the end of a promotion when, in fact, the promotion is renewed or replaced by another,” the Competition Bureau said in a release.
“The Bureau strongly encourages anyone who suspects that a company or individual is making deceptive marketing claims to report it by using our online complaint form.”
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