Thompson, John Cranston v Magnamail Pty Ltd

[1977] FCA 49

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I ~ A G K A I G ~ I L ........ ........ ........ ...... PT>-. LI>,ITEZ

D ~ f c n i , ~ 1 I t ,

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O R n E i l

ST - J O I N J .

10 August, 1977.

smmy .

TIIE COLTI' G?D;:3S TYAT:

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1. The Defendant is t o pay a p m z l t y cf i ivc hundrrd ool ' larz ($L.CC)

in r e l a t l o n to the first of fence (IVo.G7).

2. The Defendant is t o pal a p e n a l t y o i t e n d o l l a r s (sl.3) In

r e l a t i o n to the second of€ence (No.GS).

3. Ths Defendant 1 s to pay a ycnalty of ten do1:ars ($jC,) i n

relation to the third of fcncc (No.@).

4. The Defendant i s to pay the I n f o r m n t ' s costs .

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Trade Practlcez Act 1974 - Section 45 - False

Stataxnc - mall order purchase - refund of goods returned - miiigatlon of penalty.

John Cranston Thonpson

V.

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Magnamail Pty. Lmited

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44	1 :	G . Nos. 7, 8 and 9 of 1977
Before St.John J. Sydney, 10 Aucjust, 1977.
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- and -

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t o t h e f m c s t d e t a l l and each one 1 s no b iqgc r than 7 . 6 c m .

h igh . . . . They have various chrclned p a r t s s u c h as thl qr l i l .~ ,

h e a d l i g h t s , etc. . . . . . . . . ' I .

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It w a s submit ted on bchalf of the de fendan t company th-lt

Sec t ion 79(2) of the Trade Practlccs A c t was appl lcablc and

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c o u n s e l f o r t h e p r o s e c u t i o n d i d n o t a r g u e to the contr.ery.

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I w i l l t h e r e f o r e treat t h e o f f e n c e s a s h c l n g of t h e .-me

or s u b s t a n t l a l l y simllar na tu re .

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Thc inag,izlnc "New ld?a" i s a m s g s ~ 1 n c p u b l ~ ~ h c d i n ViCY:BI-l>

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con ta in ing 36 pages many of which ccntnln advert lscmt-nts .

The advcIrtiscm9nt in qwst lop occuplcc aXpmxmI; i -e ly km-t !? i rck

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of t h e a r e a of a page WJ t h d i rnrns ions of approxln~tu ly

1 2 inches X 9 i x h e s . The ]nil order ca ta logue 1 s a s:nsllcr

pub l i ca t ion o f some l G pagcs c o n t a m l n q ~ n l y aclvcrt?strnents

for the mal l o rder of goods fro:n the dcrendant co::??any.

The advertlssmeni therein occupies apprc::matt=ly one q l i a l t e r

of the a rea of a page of approxlnakely 9 mches X 0 1nc:hr.s.

I n t h e f i r s t two s d v c r t l s c n c n t s t h c space provided fo,: c u t t l n q

out and ordcr lnq the goods conta ins the fo l lov ing s ra t r -neqt :

"Please send m e t h e s e d e l i g h t f u l v l n t a g c c a r s f o r j u s t

$4.50 on f u l l money-back g u a r a n t c e i f I am not

delighted a f t e r 10 d a y s f r e e t r l a l . "

I n t h e mail order ca ta logue the fo l lowlng words appeared on

the order form inc luded in the ca ta logue:

" I f I am n o t f u l l y s a t i s f i e d I may r e t u r n these

a r t ~ c l e s w i t h i n 10 days and yod will rc-.fund my

money i n f u l l . T h l s i s t h e I*iagnam.w.l Fl i -s t -Class

Warranty. "

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30 M A Y , 1074 a n d ‘,!lot he h j d flrst b~~zc r r? a<:qt>:.~nLcd L Y ~ I J tlio

mod=l caLs i n S o u t h A f r i c z I n 197Q. The dcic-ndant cc:.!;, 113y

commenced mai-kctlnq the rcodc~l c a r s 311 @ctGhcr-, 1974 cn!! 7?hcAll

q u c c t l m e d a s t o w h t h c r c o n p l a i n t s i :~~rc 1,1<)+ ; , l x x t l.ht

produr t l?e s t a t e d t h a t let tcrs had ?JJ~,TI iecplvcci rec!u-!ski:q

a re fund but spzc i f ic compls ln ts ab to the rz-oduct \,‘?re not

made. IIe wcnt on t o say sane 14,080 scts of c a r s had b.?,?n

scl d and the percentagc of reZunds .,;as j u s t over 3 . 5%. /.S

a r e su l t o f t he adve r t i s emcn t of 12 rlarch i n ti:c+ X t ? v I&c

some @ l 5 sets o f c a r s were sold and a f t e r i:hc. i n z e r c s t rL

t he Trade P rac t l ces Corrmlssion hat? bscn aroused zn an:c:r!c?;ri

adveztisemeIlt was p laced I n d magazihc cal lcci Televls lon

Times 011 2 3 Octu lxr , 1976. A mail ordir ca ta loyue prznt-.-d

i n South A f r i c a a r r i v e d i n Austr ,? l la in Septelnbcr , 1956 and

was sent s t r a i g h t t o a company ca l lcd “Catamai l“ vrh~ch

d i s t r i b u t e d t h e c a t a l o g u e beCo1-e Mr. Von Mel lcn thm

r e a l l s e d t h a t t h c o f f e n d m g W O I - ~ S were 3n t h o s e c a t a l o y ?

adve r t i s emen t s fo r t he scts of c a r s . The company cont lnucd

t o accep t o rde r s bu t when Zorwardlng thr goods, placccl

a s t i c k c r on t h e box contalr l ing them, corrcct lng the ctatc:rncnt

t o t h e e f f e c t t h a t parts terc chromcd.

M r . Von Mellenthin was no t cha l l enged a s t o any of t h e

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s ta tements he made by counsc l for the prosecutjon and h15

e v i d c n c c a s t o making refunds i s t o soine e x t e n t c o n f l m c ?

because one of the pcrsons \rho rcqu?stcd a reZurld w’3s a

M r . Wlll lams, a n o f f i c e r of t h e ‘l’radc P r a c t i c e s Corwnlccjun,

. -,’4

I t h l n k I am e n t i t l e d t o takc ln to acccuak :'le pr3.c~ of the

Items sold. To bc mislead and thexS3y Jncldiced to ~ 1 - y i

smal i amount of moncy i s noc as F - , e r L D u s &S would be thc cdse

of a large amount. De€ence cc>un,cl enlpll;x.?j.seCI the t?:,p-:r:,scd

r i g h t t o claim a re fund and the dcfendmt ccmpmy's pol lcy

i n r e l a t i o n t o refunds which was t o make t L e m ~ + ~ e t h ~ r t h c

claim f3r them was msdc w l t h l n t h a t tel: ?>ys ~ p c 1 f 2 ~ 6 01- rct .

I t secrns t o me t h a t the r lgh t 1.0 claim a re fund and thc crl~s:s:-nt

practlce of g iv ing one wi thouc any reason having to be p u t

forward 1s a matter which mitigates t h c offe?ce. I al.so fcel

t h a t M r . Von Mcl len th ln t r i l l h<? more c a r e f u l i n fuir.ure as t o

the accu racy of s t a t cmcn t s mcde i n a d v e r t i s c m c n t s . On the other

hand I do not r ega rd the o€ fence as t r i v l a l .

I n a l l the c i rcumstances , and applymy Sec t lon 7 9 ( 2 ) of tile

A c t I t h i n k the a p p r o p r i * t e p e n a l t y f o r thc f l r s t offewx

(No. G 7 ) 1s $500 and $10 on cach of the o t h e r o f € m c e z .