Repco fined for phone ads

Auto parts distributor Repco has been fined $5500 for non-disclosure in its advertising.

Pacific Dunlop Holdings, trading as Repco, advertised "X-Cell prepay mobile" phones, claiming "call rates from 39c a minute" and "no monthly charges".

The advertisements, run in Repco's April catalogue last year, did not mention that the phones were second-hand.

A buyer complained to the Commerce Commission.

It found there was a daily administration fee of 35c on prepay phones.

The phones were also reconditioned.

Repco pleaded guilty to breaching the Fair Trading Act. It was fined $5000 for false representation and $500 for misleading conduct.

The commission's director of fair trading, Deborah Battell, said misleading information could not be corrected at the point of sale and advertisements had to be accurate.

"Consumers are also entitled to assume that products are new if there is no indication in the advertising that they are reconditioned or used."