One of Australia’s biggest retailers is being sued over allegations it misled customers about years of store credits and promotions.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched Federal Court action against The Good Guys, accusing it of breaching Australian Consumer Law.

“We allege that the conditions for consumers to receive a store credit as part of The Good Guys’ promotions were not communicated adequately in The Good Guys’ marketing materials,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said on Thursday.

The allegations relate 116 promotions run by the appliance retailer from July 2019 to August 2023 in which it offered consumers a store credit or “StoreCash” if they spent a certain amount of money on qualifying products in store or online.

The watchdog alleges The Good Guys made it appear that customers only had to make a qualifying purchase to get a store credit, when in fact they also had to opt in to receive marketing communications.

The ACCC also alleges that the retailer told customers that the credits either did not expire or had a “reasonable” expiry date.

“We also understand that, for the majority of promotions, the store credit being offered expired within a very short period of time of 10 days or less, which many consumers were unaware of,” Cass-Gottlieb said.

“We are concerned that as a result of the alleged conduct, consumers may have purchased products from The Good Guys which they might not have done otherwise.”

“Businesses should be on notice that promotional conditions must be prominently disclosed to consumers, rather than buried in hard-to-find locations, or they risk enforcement action under the Australian Consumer Law.”

The ACCC says thousands of eligible customers missed out on store credits – in breach of the Australian Consumer Law.

“Even where consumers met the conditions, we allege that The Good Guys did not provide a store credit at all to many eligible consumers,” Cass-Gottlieb said.

The Good Guys acknowledged the charges on Thursday in a statement authorised by chairman Stephen Goddard.

“The Good Guys takes its compliance with the law very seriously and has a comprehensive compliance program in place. The Good Guys has always sought to provide value and benefits to its customers and has worked cooperatively with the ACCC throughout its investigation,” it said.

It said that, as the case was before the Federal Court, it would make no further comment.

The ACCC is seeking consumer redress, penalties, declarations, compliance orders, publication orders, and costs.

The Good Guys has more than 100 stores across Australia. Its parent company is JB Hi-Fi Limited.