Kogan.com controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2021
Kogan fined for spam-law breaches
Fine or penalty
Australia's communications regulator fined Kogan $310,800 for sending marketing emails without proper unsubscribe functions. Kogan also accepted a three-year undertaking to have an independent consultant review its systems and implement recommendations, and to provide staff training and complaint reports to the regulator.
Australia’s communications regulator fined Kogan $310,800 for sending marketing emails without proper unsubscribe functions. Kogan also accepted a three-year undertaking to have an independent consultant review its systems and implement recommendations, and to provide staff training and complaint reports to the regulator.
Company response
Remediation — Kogan
Kogan has also accepted a three-year undertaking to appoint an independent consultant to review its systems and implement any recommendations.
Ongoing disclosure — Kogan
Staff will also need to undergo training, and management will need to report back to ACMA regarding consumer complaints.
Source excerpt
Staff will also need to undergo training, and management will need to report back to ACMA regarding consumer complaints.
Major online retailer Kogan has been fined $310,800 for sending 42 million marketing emails without proper unsubscribe functions.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found the company breached Australian spam laws by forcing consumers to set up an account before they could sign-out of the emails.
2020
Kogan fined over misleading tax-time promotion
Fine or penalty
In a 2020 ruling, the Federal Court found that Kogan.com's 2018 tax-time promotion was misleading and fined the company $350,000, ordering it to pay costs. The court found that the promotion involved raising prices on more than 600 products before advertising a discount. The decision concerned the misleading nature of the promotion and the associated penalty and costs order.
The Federal Court fined Kogan $350,000 and ordered it to pay costs after finding that its 2018 tax-time promotion was misleading; the promotion involved raising prices on more than 600 products before advertising a discount.
Company response
Ongoing disclosure — Kogan
The online retailer said it was reviewing the court ruling and could provide a further update once that was complete.
Source excerpt
However, the court found that the advertisements conveyed false or misleading representations as the online retailer increased the prices of over 600 products immediately before the promotion — in most cases by at least 10 per cent.
The tax time promotion the Federal Court ruled misleading in July will cost Kogan $350,000 in fines, the court has now decided.
The retailer was found to have deceived and misled customers in mid-2018 with an end of financial year promotion offering a 10% discount on some products between 27 and 30 June with the code “taxtime” at checkout.
2009
ACCC advertising compliance matter
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission raised concerns that Kogan.com’s discount and price-comparison advertisements could mislead consumers. The company agreed not to advertise discounts without an appropriate prior reference price, to explain the basis of savings claims and to implement a compliance program.