25 May 2009 and a new price advertising law takes effect. 29 May 2009 and TPG’s web site is in breach.
When will they ever learn ?
The new law
It’s called ‘section 53C’ of the Trade Practices Act. Basically, it says that any consumer advertisement that mentions any part of the price must also prominently state the whole of the price.
We reported the new law before it arrived.
TPG’s breach
Here’s what you’ll find today on the TPG home page:
The total price for this service isn’t stated at all.
Now, we agree that a web ad can satisfy the law by including the necessary total price on a hyperlinked ‘landing page’. We think a web ad and its direct link are conceptually equivalent to the front and back sides of a paper flyer.
But does the hyperlinked landing page state the total price ? Nope. Maybe it’s somewhere else on the TPG site but if so, it fails the ‘prominence’ test required by the law.
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Is it just me or does Jetstar fall a touch short when advertising $39 flights (eg front page of today’s Fin) but adds $3 for “credit or charge card” in the fine print? How else might one pay for an online flight?
Seems like a pretty strong point, David.
Update … I note that TPG has now pulled this banner from its home page.