Michael Hill, MyHouse, Hairhouse Online penalised over Black Friday sales 

Sean Cao

11th Jun 2025

Michael Hill, MyHouse and Hairhouse Online have been fined a combined of nearly $60,000 for making false and misleading representations about their Black Friday sales.

Each retailer paid a $19,800 penalty after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued them with an infringement notice.

The regulator alleged the businesses were misrepresenting the nature of their sales, including by falsely describing discounts as applying ‘sitewide’.

Specifically, Jewellery business Michale Hill ran a sales campaign featuring 25 per cent off “sitewide”, but some of the products in its online store were not part of the sale and were not discounted.

This statement may have misled consumers, and contravened the Australian Consumer Law, according to the ACCC.

Homeware retailer MyHouse displayed a banner on its website to advertise Black Friday sales of up to 60 per cent sitewide plus an extra 20 per cent off. As the additional 20 per cent discount was not available on all of its products, the ad was deemed misleading.

Hairhouse Online offered a 20 per cent to 50 per cent discount sitewide, which the ACCC said was misleading consumers because more than a quarter of the products on its website were not included in the sale offer.  

“Advertisements that talk about ‘sitewide’ or ‘storewide’ sales or promise discounts ‘off everything’ should deliver what customers expect, and not be used by retailers to hook consumers under false pretences,” said ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe.

“Businesses are legally obliged to accurately describe their sale offers and should not use small [font] disclaimers to terms and conditions to disguise the real extent of their offers,” she added.