The ACCC said in a statement it had instituted court proceedings against three companies in the Harvey Norman group, Harvey Norman corporate group individuals John Slack-Smith and Paul D'Ambra and 15 Harvey Norman franchisees over a promotion of Quicken financial software in June 2000.
ACCC officials said the promotion - in which Quicken Quickbooks software was advertised for sale at AU$199, bundled with bonus software valued at more than $AU900 - breached Trade Practices Act provisions. They alleged the quantities of the bonus software available were unsufficient to meet customer demand, as defined under the Act.
The ACCC also said catalogue advertising "misled customers [over] eligibility for taxation benefits associated with the purchase of Quicken QuickBooks software and digital cameras before the introduction of the GST".
The ACC started looking into the issue in July 2000, but the investigation was held up by other court proceedings that arose during the investigation.
A directions hearing is scheduled for 13 November in the Federal Court in Melbourne.
Anything from Harvey Norman doesn't surprise me. I recently purchased some software from one of the many stores in Sydney and noticed that they were selling software which clearly stated on the covers "Not to be Sold Separately". The sales staff couldn't answer me when i questioned them about it and were very defencive.