Appendix One: Fair Trading Act Awards and Settlements
Name Provisions (allegedly) breached Description Penalty/Settlement
Insight
Infotech
Limited
(2007)
Product Safety Standards (Baby
Walkers) Regulations 2001
Defendant small retailer company was found guilty in the District
Court of selling unsafe baby walkers, having acquired them from
another party. Defendant co‐operated with Commission in
attempting to find this other party. Walkers were found to collapse.
$10,000 fine
Tony’s
Vineyard
Restaurant
(2005)
Misleading and deceptive conduct The defendant company was found guilty of a misleading and
deceptive conduct charge for having made available menus with
inaccurate prices on a website. The website was rarely used and the
menus were simply “out of date”.
$1,500 fine per charge
GE Money
Settlement
(2011)
Misleading and deceptive conduct GE Money admitted breaching the Fair Trading Act by publishing
misleading advertising that suggested that a debt consolidation loan
would make consumers “better off each month” with “more cash
left in your wallet”.
$60,000 donated to the
Federation of Family
Budgeting Services
Vodafone
New Zealand
Limited
(2011)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Vodafone was found to have misled Vodafone Live! Customers
about internet charges that they would incur when accessing sites
outside of a specified list.
Fine of over $400,000
The Home
Finance
Company
Limited
Misleading and deceptive conduct A property promoter and related companies were found guilty of
misleading people that they would own properties that they
supposedly invested in, when their names were never registered on
the titles. He had failed to make clear that his arrangement did not
$237,048 fines and court
costs
$42,764 reparation
(2011) give them ownership until the end of the 30 year period of the
investment.
NZ Korea
Health
Limited
(2010)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Defendant company plead guilty to misleading labelling of “royal
jelly” as New Zealand made and of high potency when it was
neither.(假蜂王浆)
$16,000 fine
$12,000 fine for an
associated individual
Leslie Day
and Malcolm
Jones (2010)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Two directors of a building company pleaded guilty to multiple
charges related to falsely claiming that their company had Master
Builder certification.
$15,000 fine each
$97,000 reparation
$30,000 emotional harm
reparation
Affinity Car
Rental and
Euro Car
Rental (2010)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Two car rental companies and their directors plead guilty to 18
charges relating to misleading consumers about responsibility for
damage to vehicles and levying credit card charges for non‐existent
repairs. One company also misrepresented that it was “qualmark”
endorsed when it was not.
$37,960 fines and costs
$5,750 reparation（）租车公司故意说你把车损坏了从你信用卡扣钱）
Prokiwi
International
Ltd (2010)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Defendant company plead guilty to charges of making misleading
claims that products were New Zealand made.
$48,000 fine
ANZ and ING
settlement
(2010)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Alleged misleading claims regarding the degree of risk involved in
investment funds. ANZ and ING admitted some degree of guilt and
agreed to make payments to consumers.
$45 million in payments
to affected consumers
Brownlie
Brothers
Limited
Misleading and deceptive conduct Defendant company pleaded guilty to six charges of misleading
claims that juice was made from oranges grown in New Zealand,
when in fact only just over 50% of the oranges were sourced here.
$45,000 fine
(2009)
GE Money
settlement
(2008)
Misleading and deceptive conduct GE Money admitted to making misleading claims to consumers that
they would not pay interest on a product, then incorrectly charging
them interest.
$3 million in payments to
affected consumers
Inch
McLellan
Motors
Limited
(2008)
Consumer Information Standard
(Used Motor Vehicles) Regulations
2002
Defendant pleaded guilty to stating on compulsory SIN cards that
cars were not imported as damaged vehicles when they were.
$5,000 fine
Full refund to affected
buyer.
Geneva
Finance
Settlement
(2007)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Geneva Finance admitted that it made misleading claims that it had
the right to charge interest and fees relating to repossession when it
did not. It agreed to make refunds to over 900 consumers.
$588,114 in payments to
affected consumers
Fly Away NZ
Ltd (2007)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Misleading claim that customers would get a free flight to the Gold
Coast if they purchased from a business. In fact, to receive the deal
they would have had to pay for inflated accommodation on the Gold
Coast that rendered the ‘voucher’ worthless.
$6,000 fine
Wenatex
New Zealand
Limited
(2011)
Misleading and deceptive conduct
and CCCFA Offences
Company pleaded guilty to various charges of failing to disclose
rights to cancel door‐to‐door sales contracts and misleading
consumers as to their cancellation rights.
$50,050 of fines relating
to breaches of the Fair
Trading Act.
Zenith
Corporation
Ltd (2008)
Misleading and deceptive conduct Company convicted of 26 charges relating to false and misleading
claims of effectiveness of weight loss product. Total quantum of
fines was successfully appealed and reduced from $637,500
originally awarded in the District Court. This was on the basis of an
$394,500 fines