Is it legal to lie in the email subject of a Group Buy? Scoopon Massage Deal

brownbag on 25/10/2012 - 12:39
Last edited 25/10/2012 - 14:48 by 1 other user

Scoopon have a deal at present for a full body massage. 1 hours is $34 and 1.5 hours is $45. So it is misleading and deceptive for the email subject to say, "1.5 Hour Full Body Massage From $34". When I read this, I am led to the conclusion that a 1.5 hour massage is available for $34". I know it says 'from' not 'for', but even that is not true as it means that at least one 'version' of the 1.5 hour massage is $34. So this is misleading and deceptive advertising - in fact the subject title of the email is a lie. Are they allowed to do this?

To be fair to scoopon, I don't think they are the only site to do this, but I do think that somebody needs to crack down on it.

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  spal on 25/10/2012 - 13:01

  I agree. Why don't you call ACCC. It is they who have jurisdiction on deceptive advertising.

  If you contact them, please also post what response you get from ACCC.

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    brownbag on 25/10/2012 - 13:16

    I'll see what sort of comments come up here first. I'm just curious at this stage what people think of this.

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  maldrat on 25/10/2012 - 13:22

  +1

  Yeah it's clearly deceptive. However, if the email body says that a 1.5hr massage is $45, it's unlikely that ACCC will be able to successfully prosecute them. Scoopon can argue that the email must be considered in its entirety. It's a bit like those big billboards with a tiny disclaimer. For example there's one in Springvale that says "CLOSING DOWN SALE" and in small print "as if we are…".

  Complain to the ACCC by all means though. At least a preliminary investigation will give them an incentive to be more honest.

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  cloudy on 25/10/2012 - 13:48

  +1

  I'm not sure if ur issue is illegal, but i sure think having all capitals in either subject or body of emails/threads should be made illegal.

  • 

    brownbag on 25/10/2012 - 13:49

    +1

    That wasn't intentional and I hope your comment was tongue-in-cheek.

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      parisienne on 26/10/2012 - 10:20

      MMMMMMM.I hope for you brownbag that it was too.But sometimes here…..i don't know.At least you received some intelligent feedback from the others.

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  [Deactivated] on 27/11/2012 - 21:40

  +1

  OMG, some people have too much time on their hands, so you opened the email and discovered that its $45. so dont buy the deal . its not like you traveled some long distance and wasted fuel and time and then get told something will cost more, its a dam email.

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  voteoften on 28/11/2012 - 03:07

  I thought about this thread a couple of days ago. Some group buy company (I think it was groupon) had a 7 COURSE meal advertised. It turns out it was a seafood platter. I think 6 or 7 of the courses were on that one platter.

  So completely against the spirit of truth in advertising.

  There should be a definition of courses.

  If it is on one plate or platter, it is one course. If is is bread and or oil, it is not a course. If it is one chocolate, it is not a course.

  There should be standards, ie if it is solely a vegetable dish, it should be a min of X grams per head before it is a course. If it is a starch dish - pasta, rice, polenta, it should be x grams per head and both should be universally accepted as being a stand alone dish.

  Side dishes are not courses.

  IF you have a deal for 10 courses, it might be more accurately described as 2 courses with sides. There is nothing wrong with sides. People like them.

  What people do not like is being led to believe they are in for 7 or 10 course and everything gets dumped on the table at once.

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    voteoften on 28/11/2012 - 03:21

    I think this is the one that when the deal was first released, was being touted as a 7 course feast.

    http://www.groupon.com.au/deals/perth/The-Dock-Seafood-and-O…

    seven seafood-ish items and chips.

    Seafood Platter (one per couple)
    - Six freshly shucked oysters with lemon
    - Four large freshly cooked Shark Bay king prawns with aioli
    - Two smoked salmon blini with cream cheese topped with king salmon caviar
    - Two slipper lobster skewers grilled with honey mustard
    - Four ocean fresh sea scallops seared, with lemon pepper seasoning
    - Six steamed green shell mussels, with lime and chilli
    - Two serves of organic grilled king salmon with lemon butter sauce
    - Serve of hand cut rustic fries with aioli ]

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  AssociatedScoopon @ Scoopon on 19/06/2013 - 15:21

  Hey Guys,

  My name is Mitchell and I'm the new Online & Social Media rep for Scoopon.

  If you have any inquiries regarding Scoopon deals, vouchers or orders just let me know and I'll be more than happy to look into it for you.

  Alternatively, you can submit a help request directly through our Help Centre by clicking on the following link:

  https://helpcentre.scoopon.com.au/home

  Thanks

  Mitchell - Team Scoopon