Australia supermarkets sued over fake discount claims
澳大利亚超市因虚假折扣索赔而被起诉

Australia's consumer watchdog is suing the country's two biggest supermarket chains, alleging they falsely claimed to have permanently dropped the prices of hundreds of items.
澳大利亚消费者监管机构正在起诉该国最大的两家连锁超市,指控它们谎称已永久降低数百种商品的价格。
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) claims Coles and Woolworths broke consumer law by temporarily raising prices before lowering them to a value either the same as or higher than the original cost.
澳大利亚竞争与消费者委员会 (ACCC) 声称,Coles 和 Woolworths 暂时提高价格,然后将其降低到等于或高于原始成本的价值,从而违反了消费者法。
Coles said it would defend itself against the allegations, while Woolworths said it would review the claims.
Coles 表示将针对这些指控为自己辩护,而 Woolworths 表示将审查这些指控。
The grocery giants, which account for two thirds of the Australian market, have come under increasing scrutiny in the past year over alleged price gouging and anti-competitive practices.
这些占澳大利亚市场三分之二的杂货巨头在过去一年中因涉嫌哄抬价格和反竞争行为而受到越来越多的审查。
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the alleged conduct, if proven to be true, is "completely unacceptable".
总理安东尼·阿尔巴尼斯 (Anthony Albanese) 表示,如果被证明是真的,那么被指控的行为是“完全不可接受的”。
"This is not in the Australian spirit. Customers don't deserve to be treated as fools," he said at a press conference, at which he also revealed draft legislation for a previously promised "code of conduct" for supermarkets.
“这不符合澳大利亚的精神。顾客不应该被当作傻瓜对待,“他在新闻发布会上说,在新闻发布会上,他还透露了先前承诺的超市”行为准则“的立法草案。
ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said Coles and Woolworths have spent years marketing their 'Prices Dropped' and 'Down Down' promotions, which Australian shoppers now understand to represent a sustained reduction in the regular prices of products.
ACCC 主席 Gina Cass-Gottlieb 表示,Coles 和 Woolworths 多年来一直在推广他们的“降价”和“降价”促销活动,澳大利亚购物者现在明白这代表着产品正常价格的持续下降。
But in many cases "the discounts were, in fact, illusory", she added.
但她补充说,在许多情况下,“折扣实际上是虚幻的”。
The watchdog's investigation - sparked by complaints and the ACCC's own monitoring - found Woolworths had misled customers about 266 products over 20 months, and Coles for 245 products across 15 months.
该监管机构的调查——由投诉和 ACCC 自身的监控引发——发现 Woolworths 在 20 个月内误导了 266 种产品,在 15 个月内误导了 Coles 的 245 种产品。
The products included everything from pet food, Band-Aid plasters and mouthwash, to Australian favourites like Arnott's Tim Tam biscuits, Bega Cheese and Kellogg's cereal.
这些产品包括宠物食品、创可贴膏药和漱口水,以及澳大利亚最受欢迎的产品,如 Arnott 的 Tim Tam 饼干、Bega Cheese 和 Kellogg's 麦片。
The ACCC estimated that the two companies “sold tens of millions" of the affected products and "derived significant revenue from those sales".
ACCC 估计,这两家公司“售出了数千万件”受影响的产品,并“从这些销售中获得了大量收入”。
“Many consumers rely on discounts to help their grocery budgets stretch further, particularly during this time of cost of living pressures,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
“许多消费者依靠折扣来帮助他们的杂货预算进一步增加,尤其是在生活成本面临压力的时期,”Cass-Gottlieb 女士说。
"It is critical that Australian consumers are able to rely on the accuracy of pricing and discount claims."
“澳大利亚消费者能够依赖定价和折扣声明的准确性至关重要。”
The ACCC is seeking that the Federal Court of Australia impose "significant" penalties on the two firms, and an order forcing them to increase their charitable meal delivery programs.
ACCC 正在寻求澳大利亚联邦法院对这两家公司施加“重大”处罚,并下令迫使它们增加其慈善送餐计划。
In a statement, Coles said the company's own costs were rising which led to an increase in product prices.
Coles 在一份声明中表示,公司自身的成本正在上升,这导致产品价格上涨。
It had "sought to strike an appropriate balance" between managing that and "offering value to customers" by restarting promotions "as soon as possible" after new prices were set, it said.
该公司表示,它通过在设定新价格后“尽快”重新启动促销活动,“寻求在管理和为客户提供价值”之间“取得适当的平衡”。
The company takes consumer law "extremely seriously" and "places great emphasis on building trust with all stakeholders", it added.
该公司“非常重视消费者法”,并“非常重视与所有利益相关者建立信任”,它补充说。
Woolworths said in a statement that it would engage with the ACCC over the claims.
Woolworths 在一份声明中表示,它将就这些索赔与 ACCC 进行接触。
"Our customers are telling us they want us to work even harder to deliver meaningful value to them and it's important they can trust the value they see when shopping our stores."
“我们的客户告诉我们,他们希望我们更加努力地工作,为他们提供有意义的价值,重要的是他们能够信任他们在购买我们的商店时看到的价值。”
Amid growing scrutiny of the supermarkets, the government commissioned a review of the country's existing Food and Grocery Code of Conduct.
在对超市的审查日益严格的情况下,政府委托对该国现有的食品和杂货行为准则进行了审查。
The review recommended a stronger, mandatory code of conduct be introduced and policed by the ACCC, so they can protect suppliers as well as consumers.
该审查建议 ACCC 引入更严格的强制性行为准则并对其进行监管,以便他们能够保护供应商和消费者。
The new code will set out standards for the companies' dealings with providers, who say they are being unfairly squeezed, and introduce massive fines for breaches.
新准则将规定公司与供应商交易的标准,这些供应商表示他们受到了不公平的挤压,并对违规行为处以巨额罚款。