Leon’s, The Brick face competition probe over alleged deceptive marketing
Global News
The competition watchdog said Wednesday that the ongoing investigation into the Canadian furniture retailers looks at three kinds of marketing practices.
The Competition Bureau has obtained a court order in an investigation centring around whether Leon’s Furniture Ltd. and its subsidiary The Brick deceptively marketed their products.
The competition watchdog said Wednesday that the ongoing investigation into the Canadian furniture retailers looks at three kinds of marketing practices.
The first is sales claims made without specifying the discount amount or using distinct font colours to mislead customers into thinking they are benefiting from a sale.
The second is potentially inflating regular prices when making deal claims and the third is related to urgency cues, which often take the form of countdown clocks or “limited time only” marketing and can create false impressions about the nature of a promotion.
The bureau, which said it began its investigation on Aug. 6, has yet to conclude Leon’s or The Brick committed any wrongdoing.
The Federal Court order it obtained will get the watchdog access to new records and written information that are relevant to its investigation.
This kind of court order is “standard procedure for all inquiries of this nature,” Leon’s and The Brick said in a statement.
The companies maintained they are committed to complying with all regulatory requirements and are co-operating with the bureau’s investigation.