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The Commerce Commission has filed criminal charges against retail electronics chain Noel Leeming for allegedly misleading customers with its “Price Promise”.

The commission alleges multiple breaches of the Fair Trading Act by Noel Leeming which is owned by The Warehouse Group.

“For over a decade Noel Leeming has prominently promoted their ‘Price Promise,’ which is their commitment to match any competitor’s price. We believe their price promise claim was misleading and in breach of the Fair Trading Act,” Commerce Commission deputy chair Anne Callinan said.

“Price match advertising gives the impression that customers will be able to show up and get a match for competitors’ prices… we believe Noel Leeming’s price promise had many limitations and conditions which weren’t made obvious to customers and made any price matches difficult to obtain.”

Callinan said it is crucial businesses promoting any price match offer factor in the overall impression of the claims they make, and that all information is clear to customers.

“Fine print should not contradict advertising claims or be used to conceal important information which could be critical to a person’s decision to buy goods or services,” she said.

“Noel Leeming has previously been one of our most complained-about traders, and we were concerned about the range of issues consumers raised.”

The commission also alleges Noel Leeming gave incorrect or misleading information about consumers’ rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act when customers complained about faulty products.

“We expect big businesses to be clear and honest in their advertising. Consumers should be able to trust the information they receive when they are buying goods and services,” Callinan said.

Noel Leeming chief operating officer Jason Bell said they were baffled by the Commerce Commission’s decision to press charges.

“We firmly maintain that we have committed no offence and will vigorously defend this.

“We’re perplexed by the commission’s claim that price matches were difficult to obtain, when over 250,000 Kiwis saved money with our Price Promise between 2019-2021.

“Our terms and conditions are fair and presented just like other retailers, and when we can’t price match, we often don’t get the sale. Price matching is widely used by the industry, and it helps drive competition, and without it, Kiwis will end up paying more.”

Noel Leeming, which contributes 33.1% of The Warehouse Group’s annual revenue, reported full-year sales of $1 billion in 2024, down 5.3% on the previous year.

Online sales were $102.7 million, down 11.7%, and made up 10.2% of overall sales. Noel Leeming’s operating profit fell 36.6% to $17.3m in 2024.

The Warehouse said Noel Leeming’s performance reflected difficult trading conditions, impacted by reduced discretionary spend and an increasingly competitive market.

Foot traffic into stores was disappointing, down 8.5% .

“Post Covid-19 replacement cycle demand has not yet come through, as disposable income for high-ticket items tightened.”