Ultra Tune is challenging a court ruling that socked it with a $2.6 million penalty in a case brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleging it misled a prospective franchisee about the costs of buying an outlet in Parramatta, Sydney and tried to cover up its conduct with “manufactured” evidence.
A judge has ordered auto components distributor Frontline Australasia to pay $1.1 million in damages after reproducing wire harnesses made by Lumen Australia without permission and supplying the unauthorised parts to car makers Mazda and Mitsubishi.
National car repair franchise Ultra Tune has been ordered to pay a $2.6 million penalty, with a judge finding the firm had not only breached the Franchising Code and the Australian Consumer Law by misleading a prospective franchisee but also misled the court in its defence of the case brought by the consumer watchdog.
Two ‘sham letters’ produced by a senior manager of national car repair franchise Ultra Tune led both the ACCC and the court ‘down the garden path,’ a Federal Court judge heard Thursday.
Ultra Tune was “cavalier and careless” in its attitude towards its franchisees, the ACCC told the Federal Court Tuesday at the start of a four-day hearing in a case alleging the national car repair business failed to comply with the Franchising Code and breached the Australian Consumer Law.