Consumer Protection: Case Study

The Saigon is a famous Vietnamese takeaway shop located in the Shopping Centre in the Eastern Suburbs. Pork Belly Banh Mi is their best seller. Generally, they are only busy in the morning and at lunchtime. Their opening hours are 8.00 am to 5.00 pm. After 2.00 pm the shop is very quiet since everyone is back at work. Debbie, the owner is planning to offer happy hour specials starting at 2.00 pm. She proposes to sell the Pork Banh Mi cheaper than the normal price of $9.50. Huyen, the Manager agrees with her idea to increase the sales. It also helps to minize wastage as they can't keep the Banh Mi bread until the next day since it gets stale quickly.

The 'happy hour' initiative is a success and they sell all the bread every day. However, the price of the pork belly used in the banh mi has recently increased. So, instead of using pork belly, Debbie suggested that they use pork jowl which is cheaper. This means that the quality of the food is not as good as it contains a higher level of fat. Huyen did not particularly agree with Debbie's suggestion but has not raised any objections.

Adam as a loyal customer figured the different quality of the pork rolls and tried to complain to Huyen. Adam also complained that he got charged 50 cents from the credit card payment last time without being informed prior to payment. The Saigon restaurant also received many complaints about the quality of the rolls and bad reviews on social media.

Questions (according to Australian consumer law and Australian competition and consumer commission)

1. What are the main aspects of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010?
2. How many breaches of consumer law are in this case study and what are they?
3. Who is at fault for the quality of the pork Banh Mi and what sections of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 were breached?
4. What section/s of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 were breached with the card payment surcharged and what are the consequences?
5. Who can Adam report this incident to?
6. What are some of the consequences and fines of breaching the Competition and Consumer Act 2010?