An online florist will face court over accusations it misled customers with outdated star ratings and dodgy discounts.
Australia's consumer watchdog is taking Bloomex to Federal Court claiming products displayed on the company's website since at least 2019 have been accompanied by star ratings out of five along with a statement they were based on customer reviews.
Bloomex allegedly hadn't incorporated customer feedback into the star ratings since 2015.
In some cases, the company also included customer ratings pre-dating 2015 from people who brought products from its other businesses overseas, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleged.
Bloomex is also accused of misleading customers with two prices displayed for products on its website: a cheaper one, shown next to a higher "strikethrough" price.
The commission alleges products weren't ordinarily sold for the higher strikethrough prices, so the discounts weren't genuine.
Sales prices can create a sense of urgency and motivate customers to buy a product, the watchdog's commissioner Liza Carver said.
The commission also alleges that Bloomex did not properly disclose a mandatory surcharge of up to $4.95 on orders made on its website since August this year.
Just before customers were about to buy their items, the total price would still reflect their cost without the surcharge, the watchdog claimed.
"If a business displays a price for just one part of a product, the total price must be also be displayed at least as prominently as the partial price," Ms Carver said.
The commission put online florists on notice ahead of Valentine's Day this year and warned customers to do their research about retailers.
Bloomex has been contacted for comment.
It takes orders both on its website and over the phone and has warehouses in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
