What the ACCC’s latest penalties mean for window furnishing businesses planning end-of-year promotions

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the pre-Christmas period are some of the busiest promotional weeks of the year for window furnishing retailers. They’re also when the ACCC is watching sale advertising most closely.

On 29 September 2026, the ACCC announced that two retailers had paid a combined $59,400 in infringement notice penalties. The ACCC was concerned that the retailers had made misleading claims about how long their 2025 sales would run.

What happened?

James Lane (The Sleeping Giant Pty Ltd) paid $19,800 after advertising a sale ending on 3 December 2025, with “Sale ends today!” messaging. The products stayed discounted for another week, and the ACCC said that extension had been decided before the Black Friday sale even began.

Vuly Play Group (Systems Operations Pty Ltd) paid $39,600 across two infringement notices. In November 2025, its Click Frenzy sale offered up to 30% off with a countdown timer. When the timer ran out, a new promotion offering up to 45% off started straight away with a fresh timer. Vuly later ran a Black Friday countdown to the official Black Friday date, and the discount continued afterwards with the timer reset again.

In both cases, the ACCC’s concern was the same: customers were told they had to buy before a deadline to get the discount, but the deadline wasn’t real.

Paying an infringement notice is not an admission that the law was broken, and these are not court findings. Both retailers have committed to making sure their future sales advertising complies with the Australian Consumer Law. The ACCC has also said misleading pricing remains an enforcement priority and that it will keep monitoring discount claims.

Why this matters for our industry

Window furnishing businesses run time-limited offers all the time: “20% off shutters until June 30”, “free installation this month only”, “order by [date] for Christmas”. Urgency is a legitimate sales tool, but only when it’s true. If a deadline passes and the same or a better offer is already lined up, that deadline may be misleading.

Six checks before you launch your Black Friday promotion

1. ‍Map your whole promotional calendar. Put Black Friday, Cyber Monday, early-access offers, Christmas promotions and any planned extensions on one timeline. Look for deadlines that suggest a saving will end when a similar offer is already planned to follow.‍
2. Test your countdown timers. Check the end date, time zone and what actually happens when the timer hits zero, across your website, emails and social ads. Make sure timers don’t restart on refresh or roll straight into a new discount.‍
3. Match your wording to the facts. Remove “today only”, “last chance” or “ends Sunday” claims unless they’re accurate. If you might extend a sale, don’t promise it will end.‍
4. Think before you extend. If you decide to extend a sale, record why. Consider whether customers who bought earlier, believing the deadline was real, need an explanation.‍
5. Keep records. Keep your campaign calendar, pricing data, ad and email versions, timer settings and any extension decisions. Screenshot your promotions before and after key deadlines.‍
6. Make one person accountable. Nominate someone who can approve sale deadlines, stop a campaign that’s inaccurate and sign off on changes across pricing, marketing, your website, customer service and any agencies you use.

While you’re at it, check your other sale claims

Black Friday is a good time to review all your promotional claims, not just deadlines:

• “Was/now” pricing: was the “was” price genuinely charged for a reasonable period?
• “Up to” discounts: are enough products actually available at the top discount?
• “Sitewide” offers: are exclusions (such as motorisation, custom sizes or installation) clearly disclosed?
• Stock and delivery promises: can you meet “installed before Christmas” claims for every order you take under that promise?
• The final price: does the amount the customer pays match what was advertised, including measure and quote or installation fees?

More information

The ACCC’s guidance on advertising and pricing is available at accc.gov.au. If you’re unsure whether a promotion is compliant, we recommend getting independent legal advice.

This article is general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Source: ACCC announcement of 29 September 2026, as reported by Watchdog Compliance and Inside Retail.