Microwave Size Claims

Following actions taken by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), consumers will now be more aware of the actual capacity of microwave ovens manufactured by a particular Japanese company, trading in Australia.

In this case, it was found that the company may have contravened Sections 52 and 53(a) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) which prohibits misleading conduct and false representations about goods and services.

The Company admitted to the ACCC that the oven capacity may be misleading when it was brought to their attention. Previously the Company had calculated the capacity of its microwave ovens based on the products maximum height, width and depth, which was then expressed in litres. However, this calculation did not take into account the actual shape of the oven.

Since acknowledging that they may have breached the Trade Practices Act, the Company has taken a number of remedial actions including discontinuing the claims, relabelling the products and offering to rectify any capacity problems encountered by any misled customers. Furthermore, the Company has agreed to the following actions:

- Offer remedies to misled consumers who were affected by the false representation;

- Produce a new brochure outlining the microwave oven capacity claims; and

- Develop and implement a trade practices compliance program and a complaints handling system.