Dell fined $10m for misleading customers on monitor bundles

One of the world’s largest computer companies has been handed a $10m penalty for overstating the price of monitors which were advertised to customers buying a computer online.

Dell Australia has been ordered to pay $10m for ‘misleading’ customers about the prices of monitors online. Picture: Bloomberg

The Australian arm of one the world’s largest computer brands has been ordered to pay $10m for making “false” and “misleading” representations about the price of its computer monitors.

Dell Australia acknowledged it had misled customers about the price of a selection of computer monitors which were presented as a “bundle” option when they were making a purchase online.

The monitors were advertised at “strike-through” prices which were higher than their actual sale price, appearing to customers purchasing a desktop, laptop or notebook as if they had been discounted.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, after learning about the tactic, brought enforcement proceedings against the computer company, which led to Dell admitting that in many cases, “consumers paid more than if they had purchased the monitor as a stand-alone product”.

The ACCC found more than 5300 monitors were sold to customers with “overstated” discounts. Sales of monitors with overstated prices represented about $2m in sales between August 2019 and December 2021.

Amid the pandemic, monitors had become hard to find, with many of those who were forced to work from home racing to purchase a second screen.

A Dell spokeswoman said the company was pleased the issue was “now behind us” and it would ensure it did not happen again.

“As we acknowledged in November 2022 when the ACCC commenced these proceedings, due to an error in Dell’s pricing processes, there was incorrect information displayed on our website about the pricing and savings associated with certain monitors,” she said.

ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver said the outcome of the Dell case should “send a strong message to businesses that making false representations about prices or inflating discounts is a serious breach of consumer law”.

“We took this action against Dell Australia because consumers rely on accurate information about prices and discounts to make purchasing decisions.”

The $10m penalty arrives after Dell Australia was ordered to offer refunds and issue correction notices to 4250 customers who had purchased add-on monitors in June.

At the time, Ms Carver described the tactic as “shocking”.

“In some cases, consumers paid more for the add-on monitor advertised as ‘discounted’ than they would have paid if they had bought it as a stand-alone product, which is shocking,” Ms Carver said.