The Federal Court has ordered Secure Parking to pay $10.95 million in penalties for making false or misleading statements over a five-year period relating to its “Secure-a-Spot” online service.
Last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) initiated Federal Court proceedings against Secure Parking, following complaints that the company made false or misleading statements to consumers between July 2017 and June 2022.
‘Secure-a-Spot’ is the name of an online parking service that allows customers to pay before arriving at one of the company’s 104 car parks across Australia.
However, Secure Parking’s marketing materials falsely told customers that parking would be reserved for them at a specific time and date, when this service could not be provided.
The company’s marketing material also includes phrases such as ‘Book parking in advance and save’ and ‘Book online to guarantee a space’, although Secure Parking admits that this sometimes results in customers arriving at a car park that is full and their ‘booked space’ already taken.
More than 10 million bookings were made through Secure-a-Spot over a five-year period, according to the competition watchdog.
“Secure Parking failed to provide customers with the service as advertised and did not give customers the opportunity to make an informed decision about which parking service best suited their needs,” ACCC Commissioner Liza Carver said in a statement to the media.
“It can be a serious inconvenience for customers to arrive at their chosen car park and find the space they thought they had reserved is no longer available.
“This penalty sends a strong message to all businesses that making misleading representations to consumers about the nature of the services provided can result in significant penalties.”
In addition to the $10.95 million fine, Secure Parking was also ordered to pay an undisclosed portion of the ACCC’s legal costs, publish a remediation notice and review its complaints handling system.
Secure Parking has now renamed its pre-booking service to ‘Online Booking’.
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