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A consumer watchdog in Australia is warning buyers there to beware when shopping for Mother's Day gifts this week.
The Office of Consumer Affairs says retailers should make sure they have a reasonable amount of product available if they advertise specials offers.
Acting Commissioner Gary Clements says tricking consumers by promoting goods that are not available is called 'bait advertising'.
"Our concern is that in the lead up to Mothers' Day quite a range of stores will advertise different products to get consumers in to purchase them, then if they don't have that product they can then try to encourage you to buy a different one which is more expensive," he said.
"Now we consider that basically is a bait to get consumers into the store and that is illegal under our legislation.
"We actually try and work fairly closely with the stores themselves to talk to the managers about the levels of stock they actually have in the store.
"We inspect the store to see what levels of stock they have and ensure that they really do have a reasonable number if items that they're advertising."
- RADIO AUSTRALIA
