GPS manufacturers remove deceptive ads

The term ‘lifetime’ will no longer be used in advertising by three GPS navigation manufacturers.

TomTom ANZ Pty Ltd (TomTom), MiTac Australia Pty Ltd (Navman) and Garmin Australasia Pty Ltd (Garmin) have all agreed to stop using these claims, after the ACCC raised concerns these statements were potentially false, misleading or deceptive.

Each company made lifetime claims in marketing on their websites, on packaging and point-of-sale marketing, and in retailers’ catalogues and websites. Examples of the statements included:

• TomTom: ‘Lifetime TomTom Traffic’
• Navman: ‘Lifetime FREE Maps — Never worry about maps again. Updated quarterly, you will always stay up to date with our Lifetime FREE Maps including updates to safety alerts at no additional cost’
• Garmin: ‘Free Lifetime Maps and Traffic’
   

Despite these statements, TomTom, Navman and Garmin each retained the discretion to stop providing these services before the end of the lifetime of the device in certain circumstances. The ACCC considered these limitations were not communicated to consumers in a prominent way.

“We believe the statements about lifetime services made by these GPS manufacturers were inconsistent with what consumers would understand ‘lifetime’ to mean,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.

“Consumers would have rightly expected to receive those services for the lifetime of the device, without the manufacturer being able to unilaterally terminate the commitment.

“Businesses must not deceive or mislead consumers in advertising, whether through small print or by using ill-defined, broad terms like ‘lifetime’, and they should take care to use terms that match the understanding of consumers.

“We also encourage consumers to invoke their consumer rights if they believe they have been misled or are not getting what they paid for.”

TomTom, Navman and Garmin, which are three of the biggest GPS manufacturers in Australia, have agreed to amend their statements on all future advertising and marketing materials, including packaging.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/sittinan

Please follow us and share on Twitter and Facebook. You can also subscribe for FREE to our weekly newsletter and quarterly magazine.