PRESS RELEASE - Wednesday 20 September 2017
Fujitsu General New Zealand Limited (FGNZ) has pleaded guilty to seven representative charges of making unsubstantiated and misleading statements under the Fair Trading Act 1986. The District Court delivered its sentencing decision today, ordering FGNZ to pay a penalty of $310,000.
During the period that the statements were used, FGNZ carried more EECA ENERGY STAR® qualified models across its range than any other heat pump brand. On that basis, FGNZ made representations regarding the energy efficiency of its heat pumps such as “Most Energy Efficient Range” on its website. It accepts that these representations could have caused the public to misinterpret the EECA ENERGY STAR® list and therefore pleaded guilty to five representative charges of making unsubstantiated representations.
The remaining two charges relate to statements made in pamphlets and online advertisements in 2014 regarding the dollar value of heat produced per dollar of power consumed by FGNZ’s heat pumps. FGNZ accepts those statements should have been qualified to indicate that the results had been achieved in specific conditions. It therefore pleaded guilty to two charges of making misleading representations under s 13(e) of the Act.
The representations were made inadvertently and FGNZ sincerely regrets any inconvenience or concern it may have caused. FGNZ has cooperated with the Commerce Commission throughout its investigation and is undertaking compliance training with all relevant staff members to prevent future breaches.
Michael Somerville – Managing Director
