ACCC takes legal action against Brisbane cycling wholesaler and distributor FE Sports
The competition watchdog has put a spoke in the wheel of a a 20-year-old Brisbane cycling wholesaler, launching legal action after issuing three warnings.
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A Brisbane-based wholesale distributor of cycling and sporting gear has run afoul of the consumer watchdog over pricing issues.
The ACCC has launched Federal Court action against B&K Holdings (Qld) Pty Ltd, which trades as FE Sports based at Seventeen Mile Rocks.
The regulator alleges the company engaged in illegal “resale price maintenance’’ by prohibiting its bike shop clients across the country from offering discounts.
The lawsuit claims that between February 2017 and June last year FE Sports provided 328 agreements to current or prospective dealers that prohibited the promotion of anything less than the recommended retail price.
It’s alleged those actions resulted in 242 agreements with dealers, with the ACCC seeking unspecified fines, injunctions and other penalties from the court after previously issuing three warnings to the company.
The agreements were for the supply of bicycle accessory and sporting brands Wahoo, Pirelli, 100%, 3T and Stages.
“Resale price maintenance is anti-competitive conduct which limits the ability of retailers to compete on price and ultimately can mean consumers pay more for products, because the retailers are stopped from discounting,’’ ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.
“FE Sports was well and truly put on notice by the ACCC that resale price maintenance is illegal, and it has had ample opportunity to ensure it complied with the law.”
FE Sports owners Branko and Keren Brkik, who launched the company 20 years ago, declined to comment when we rang for a chat. They have not yet filed a defence.
