Gary (00:01):
There’s a lot of people out there who are thinking, “How much have I paid over the years?” around this kind of false promises and false advertising. Peter Carter is a director at Carter Capner Law, and he is looking into the idea of a class action against Coles and Woolworths regarding this false advertising situation. Peter Carter joins me now.

Gary (00:30):
G’day, Peter.

Peter Carter (00:31):
G’day, Gary. How are you?

Gary (00:33):
Good. I mean, are you just gauging consumer sentiment, or is it more than that?

Peter Carter (00:41):
Well, we were contacted by consumers, and the level of outrage surprised me. As a result, we’re investigating a class action. We’ve had about 2000 people contact us so far, and when we get to around 20,000, we’ll analyze the numbers to work out the loss for each consumer.

Gary (01:08):
Are these people keeping records? Because I wouldn’t know if I was misled two weeks ago. How are you going to prove it?

Peter Carter (01:26):
Supermarket apps record purchases, so the data is available. We’ll be able to work it out if necessary. The deception is significant, and the outrage is justified.

Gary (02:10):
The ACCC’s case used evidence from consumers, such as receipts and photos of price labels. It was consumers that initiated it.

Peter Carter (02:33):
Exactly. It’s great people were vigilant. We all notice prices going up, but when they say, “Down, down,” we believed them. That deception is what the class action aims to address.

Gary (03:00):
Shouldn’t you wait for the federal prosecution’s outcome?

Peter Carter (03:08):
The ACCC’s evidence will help, but we’ll gather additional evidence on other products. The class action focuses on the broader perception that all prices were down, which wasn’t true.

Gary (03:51):
What sort of claims are you expecting?

Peter Carter (04:01):
For example, if a household spends $500 weekly and was deceived by 10%, that’s $50 a week, or $2,000 to $3,000 over time. That’s the scale we’re looking at.

Gary (04:26):
What’s needed for a class action to proceed?

Peter Carter (04:33):
Any consumer in Australia who shopped at Coles or Woolworths can join. We need to reach about 20,000 registrations before analyzing losses. People can register on our website at cartercapner.com.au.

Gary (05:02):
This will be interesting to watch. Thanks for joining us, Peter.

Peter Carter (05:12):
Thanks, Gary. All the best.