ACCC alleges Mosaic Brands broke consumer law for failing to deliver items in advertised time frames

The owner of Noni B, Katies and a host of other brands is being taken to the Federal Court allegedly because it failed to deliver products within its advertised time frames.

The owner of Noni B, Katies and a host of other major brands is being taken to the Federal Court by the competition watchdog, which alleges it broke consumer law for failing to deliver products to customers within its own advertised time frames.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission said it had received hundred of complaints over Mosaic Brands Limited’s failure to deliver several hundred thousand products to customers over a six-month period within the time frames publicised on its websites.

Mosaic Brands owns a number of popular brands, including Noni B, Rivers, Katies, Rockmans, Millers, Autograph, Beme, Crossroads and W. Lane.

The ACCC alleges that, between September 23, 2021 and March 31, 2022, Mosaic Brands made false or misleading representations to consumers that it would deliver products purchased online within the advertised delivery time frames on various websites that varied between two and 17 days after the purchase date.

It is also alleged that Mosaic Brands wrongly accepted payment for goods during the same period, when it failed to deliver orders within the advertised time frames, or within a reasonable time frame, or not at all.

Customers experienced excessive and lengthy delays during this time, where over 26 per cent of items ordered were dispatched from Mosaic Brands’ warehouses at least 20 days, and in some cases more than 40 days, after the purchase date.

Millers is part of the Mosaic Brands empire.

ACCC commissioner Liza Carver said the competition regulator received “hundreds of complaints” about Mosaic Brands in relation to delivery delays.

“Excessively late deliveries can be incredibly frustrating and inconvenient for consumers, especially if they decided to buy goods for a special occasion, such as Christmas, based on the advertised delivery times which were not met,” she said.

“Consumer issues in domestic supply chains is a current ACCC enforcement priority.”

Mosaic Brands is a publicly listed company and has about 7.8 million online members and operates around 804 stores across the country. The company previously paid a total of $896,400 in penalties following the ACCC issuing it with infringement notices in May 2021 and September 2022.

In February former chief executive of The Iconic and managing director of Rebel Sport, Erica Berchtold has been appointed Mosaic Brands new CEO, replacing Scott Evans who has retired from the Group. The company did not respond when contacted by The Australian.

(L-R) Scott Evans (outgoing Mosaic Brands CEO), new CEO Erica Berchtold and Mosaic Brands chairman Richard Facioni.

The ACCC also alleges that between September 23 2021 and at least to October 23, 2022, Mosaic Brands misrepresented consumer guarantee rights in the terms and conditions published on eight of its brands’ websites.

It had stated that consumers were only eligible for a refund for a faulty product if they sought the refund within six months of the purchase date.

“If you buy a product or service and discover it is faulty, not of acceptable quality or does not match its description, you are entitled to a free repair and may also be entitled to a refund or replacement,” Ms Carver said.

“These legal rights are called consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law and they don’t have a specific expiry date.”

Under the Australian consumer law, consumer guarantees apply for a period of time that is considered reasonable having regard to the nature of the products or services, including the price paid.

The ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctions and penalties, as well as costs and other orders, including that Mosaic Brands implement a consumer law compliance program.

Mosaic Brands recently declared an interim net profit of $5.4m, up 38 per cent from a year earlier. Over the same period, revenue fell 10 per cent to $254.5m.