What's happening

Published 15 May 2026

245 products. 15 months. And you paid more.

The Federal Court found Coles systematically misled customers with Down Down promotions. If you shopped at Coles between Feb 2022 and May 2023, here is what happened.

What the court found.

In a ruling handed down on 14 May 2026, Justice Michael O'Bryan found that Coles had misled customers in 13 of 14 "Down Down" promotional tickets examined in court. The company had systematically increased prices temporarily, then placed products back at a "discount" that was actually higher than what customers had been paying beforehand.

245 products. Over 15 months. This was not an error. This was not one store manager making a mistake. The court found a pattern of conduct across hundreds of everyday grocery products from February 2022 to May 2023.

What "misleading discount" actually looks like.

The court examined specific products. A 1.2kg can of Nature's Gift dog food had been selling at $4 for close to 300 days. Coles increased the price to $6 for about a week, then placed it on "Down Down" at $4.50: a 50-cent price increase presented as a saving.

This product was actually the one ticket the court found was not misleading, because its ticket did not display a higher "was" price. The other 13 tickets, which did display "was" prices, were all found to contravene the Australian Consumer Law.

But what does this pattern look like on the products you actually buy? Pinch has been tracking 76,000+ products across 112 weeks. Here are two examples from our own data, showing the exact same pricing pattern the court found at Coles.

The tag says 50% off. The "special" price of $1.50 is 20% more than the $1.25 this Kit Kat cost for 13 straight weeks before the shelf price was raised to $3.00.

The tag says 17% off. The "special" price of $33.00 is $9 more than the $24.00 this lamb leg roast cost for 11 weeks before the shelf price was raised. That is a 38% real increase on a Sunday roast.

Illustrative charts. Price points from Pinch tracking data, timelines simplified. Two of 230 products currently showing this pattern.

This matters because families are counting.

With grocery costs continuing to climb, every genuine discount counts. Every red tag you trust is a decision point. When families make those decisions based on promotional claims that the court has now found to be misleading, the impact is real. It is money that families thought they were saving but were not.

In our view, this was particularly harmful to families already counting every dollar. A "Down Down" tag works on emotion before your brain checks the actual price difference. That is how promotional psychology works, and the court's findings indicate that Coles' practices exploited that dynamic across 245 products.

The ruling sets a precedent.

The ACCC pursued this case because the market does not police itself. ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the ruling is "very timely for all retailers" and that they must "make accurate discount and pricing claims."

Penalties have not yet been determined. Coles and the ACCC have until 29 May to agree on penalties, which reports indicate could reach the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The ACCC has also brought separate civil proceedings against Woolworths alleging similar conduct. That case has not been determined and no findings have been made.

What you can do now.

• Look at real price history. Check what a product actually cost last month, last quarter, not what the tag claims it cost.
• Do not take a promotion tag at face value. The court found that 13 of 14 "Down Down" tickets examined were misleading.
• Compare across retailers. Use tools that show you real prices at Coles, Woolworths, ALDI, and Harris Farm side by side.
• Track the products you buy regularly. A price history tells you more than any single price tag ever will.