Report a concern

The Commerce Commission’s role in the Grocery sector is to improve competition in the long run. We do this by supporting new retailers to enter the market and promoting stronger competition on price, quality, product range, and convenience to increase consumer choice. More competition in the long run can lead to fairer prices, and increases innovation in the sector.

Consumers

If you’re a consumer (shopper), you can find more information about our role on our Information for consumers web page.

Consumers can use this form to report grocery-specific concerns/issues such as:

• Pricing accuracy (eg, differences between advertisements/shelf price and the price charged)
• Misleading promotions (eg, a ‘special’ price is the same or more than a normal price)
• Unit pricing (eg, no unit pricing labelling or issues with unit pricing calculations).

Useful types of evidence to support your concerns:

• Details of the supermarket branch or online webpage visited, and when the visit was made
• Details of the relevant product(s), and an explanation of why you are concerned
• Relevant screenshots or photographs (eg, advertisements, promotional signage, price tags, product labelling etc.)
• Receipts.

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern as a consumer here

Suppliers

If you’re a supplier to supermarkets, you can find more information about our role to oversee the implementation and effectiveness of the Grocery Supply Code on our Information for suppliers web page.

Suppliers can use this form to report concerns about grocery industry conduct.

Report a concern as a supplier here.

If you would prefer to report a concern anonymously you can use our anonymous reporting tool.

Sales, price comparisons and markdowns are examples of how a business might use pricing to promote its goods or services. Any claims made about price must be clear and accurate.

Please see our pricing guidance and fact sheet to understand businesses’ responsibilities under the Fair Trading Act in relation to pricing.

You can use this form to report your concerns about pricing or promotional issues. Things like:

• Pricing accuracy (eg, differences between advertisements/shelf price and the price charged)
• Misleading specials (eg, price increases immediately prior to a sale, a ‘special’ price is the same or more than a normal price, hidden conditions for accessing special pricing)
• Misleading sales periods (eg, continuous sales which means that a special price is not genuine)
• Misleading surcharges (eg, hidden surcharges, or misleading reasons for surcharges).

Please note, businesses are free to set their own prices and we cannot help with concerns about high prices. If you have a concern with how a business prices their products or services, please contact the business directly.

Useful types of evidence to support this kind of concern are:

• Details of the store or online webpage visited, and when the visit was made
• Details of the relevant product(s), and an explanation of why you are concerned
• Relevant screenshots or photographs (eg, advertisements, promotional signage, price tags, product labelling etc.)
• Receipts.

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern here

Consumer feedback on payment surcharging helps inform our targeted engagement with specific sectors and businesses, and how we may set any surcharging rules for businesses in the future (no rules currently apply). See more information about appropriate payment surcharging.

Use this form to report any concerns you have about payment surcharges, eg, excessive surcharges for contactless debit or credit card payments.

What to expect when paying for goods or services:

• Businesses may choose to include surcharges for certain payment costs, but any surcharges should only reflect the costs of accepting the payment.
• Surcharge amounts will differ based on the different costs to businesses, but anything above 2% is hard to justify.
• You must be informed of any surcharge before you pay and be made aware of cheaper ways to pay where available.
• In many situations sellers will have payment methods that don’t attract a surcharge such as allowing you to insert or swipe your debit or EFTPOS card.

If you would like to know more:

• You can find more information about payment surcharging and our work on our Surcharging web page.
• Or, you can email us at PaymentsTeam@comcom.govt.nz.

Useful types of evidence to support this kind of concern are:

• Receipts
• Relevant screenshots or photographs (eg, price tags, special price promotion signage, terminal signage)
• Advertising material

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern here

You can use this form to report your concerns about billing issues such as:

• Overcharges relating to telecommunications, energy, gas, and other utilities
• Ongoing billing after cancelling a service
• Changes in terms of service without prior notification
• Incorrectly applied late payment fees.

The Commission is not a disputes resolution service and cannot help you to get a refund or personal remedy. However, information on billing issues occur is helpful for us to paint a picture of conduct and understand where there may be wider issues with the business.

We encourage you to take action yourself with respect to your individual dispute. In particular:

• Raise the issue directly with the business, if you have not already
• Free legal advice can be obtained from your local Community Law Centre 
• The Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand  is quicker, cheaper and less formal than court, and can help with some claim types under $30k.

Useful types of evidence to support this kind of concern are:

• Website screenshots
• Service contracts
• Receipts
• Invoices
• Bank account transaction/statements.

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern here

If you have concerns about phone or broadband services your first port of call should be your provider or the Telecommunications Disputes Resolution service. See more information about what to do when you have a dispute with your broadband or mobile provider.

If you still haven’t been able to resolve your concerns, you can consider using this form to report your concerns to us. The sorts of concerns the Commission might investigate include:

• Mobile or broadband contracts that may be unfair
• Issues with mobile or broadband provider billing, eg, undisclosed charges
• Mobile or broadband contract cancellation issues
• False or misleading information in relation to a mobile or broadband service
• Failures to comply with the 111 Contact Code or Copper Withdrawal Code.

If you're thinking about changing your mobile or broadband provider you can find:

• Information on how to compare the customer service of providers
• Reports from our Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme - showing the actual broadband performance across different providers, plans and technologies.

If your concern relates to:

• High prices – please contact the provider directly as businesses are free to set their own prices.
• Customer service issues – please seek advice from Telecommunications Disputes Resolution .

Useful types of evidence to support our assessment of your concern are:

• Letters and emails
• Service contracts
• Receipts
• Bank account transactions/statements
• Website screenshots
• Invoices.

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern here

If a product or service purchased is faulty, not fit for purpose or not of an acceptable quality, you may have rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act.

Please refer to our guidance on rights and refunds, and guidance on what you can do.

Use this form to report any concerns about:

• Misleading statements about consumer rights (eg, statements that deny consumer rights that are available in law)
• Contracts or agreements containing unfair terms
• Goods that don’t match the purchase description
• Unauthorised subscriptions
• Overpayments that aren’t refunded.

The Commission does not provide a disputes resolution service and cannot help you to get a refund or personal remedy. We cannot provide legal advice on your rights and obligations under the laws we enforce. However, we are interested in receiving information about these kinds of concerns to help us understand if there is more widespread conduct affecting New Zealanders and businesses that may be the focus of future investigations.

We encourage you to take action yourself about your individual dispute. In particular:

• Your local Community Law Centre  can give you free legal advice
• The Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand  is quicker, cheaper and less formal than court, and can help with some claim types under $30k
• Consumer New Zealand offers information about credit card chargebacks.

Useful types of evidence to support this kind of concern are:

• Service contracts
• Receipts
• Bank account transactions/statements
• Invoices
• Emails with the trader.

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern here

Use this form to report any concerns relating to consumer credit loans such as credit card loans, car loans, personal loans, house loans and pawn broking contracts.

You may also be able to complain to your lender's dispute resolution scheme. You can find out which scheme a lender belongs to by checking on the Financial Service Providers Register .

If your concerns relate to business loans (non-consumer credit) or other types of non-personal credit loans, you may wish to complain directly to the lender, or there may be other agencies who can help.

• Financial Markets Authority (FMA) – concerns about misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to financial products or services
• Banking Ombudsman  – banking related issues
• Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman  – insurance, superannuation, investments, financial advice, loans and credit, foreign exchange and money transfer services
• Financial Services Complaints Ltd  – investment and lending providers
• Financial Dispute Resolution Service  – investment and lending providers

Useful types of evidence to support this kind of concern are:

• Copy of credit contracts – the full contract or agreement
• The full legal name of the lender and the trading name
• Disclosure Statement or Terms and Conditions
• Details of services/products purchased, date contract was entered into or purchase was made, and how (eg, lender's website, phone, door-to-door, in store)
• Confirmation of purpose of personal loan (ie, home loan, credit card loan, pawn broking contract, car loan, house loan etc.)
• Documents showing payments made to lender/trader (ie, transaction history statement, statement of account), bank statement or screenshot
• Correspondence between yourself and the company; emails, text messages, letters, etc.

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern here

Use this form to report concerns about any product you think does not comply with product safety requirements, especially:

• Children's toys
• Children's nightwear
• Baby walkers
• Household cots
• Multipurpose ladders
• Pedal bicycles
• Sunscreen
• Lead content in toys
• Chainsaws
• Small high-powered magnets
• Hot water bottles
• Inclined infant sleep products
• Cigarette lighters
• Pistol crossbows
• Candles.

If you have a general concern about the safety of a product which isn’t listed above, please check the Product Safety website .

Useful types of evidence to support this kind of concern are:

• Details of any injury caused
• Communications with the supplier
• Product photographs
• Product tags or labels
• Advertising materials
• Invoices
• Receipts
• Website screenshots.

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern here

Use this form to report concerns about business behaviour that harms competition in markets. This could include:

• Cartel agreements between competing businesses (price fixing, allocating markets or customers, restricting output or the acquisition of goods and services, rigging bids in auctions or tenders)
• Other types of agreements between businesses that harm competition
• A business using its market power to harm competition
• Business mergers or acquisitions that substantially harm competition.

We cannot help with concerns about high prices – charging high prices is only anti-competitive conduct if it affects your ability to compete.

Useful types of evidence to support these kinds of concerns are:

• Copies of contracts, eg, with exclusivity provisions
• Copies of emails in original format, eg, with evidence of refusal to supply or distributors requiring sale at a certain price
• Copies of letters, reports, text messages
• Website links
• General information about the market.

Report a concern here

Cartel conduct

There are three ways you can report information about cartels to the Commission:

1. If you think you have seen cartel conduct and want to report it, you can report a concern here.
2. If you are involved in cartel conduct, the first party to apply to the Commission can obtain leniency from civil proceedings and immunity from criminal prosecution. You can read more about applying for leniency here.
3. If you would prefer to report a concern anonymously you can use our anonymous reporting tool.

Use this form if your concern relates to something other than the topics listed above.

Please note, the Commerce Commission is not a disputes resolution service and cannot help you to get a refund or personal remedy.

We encourage you to take action yourself with respect to your individual dispute. In particular:

• Your local Community Law Centre  can give you free legal advice
• The Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand  is quicker, cheaper and less formal than court, and can help with some claim types under $30k.

Useful types of evidence to support your concern include:

• Copies of contracts
• Receipts
• Invoices
• Bank account transactions/statements
• Website screenshots
• Advertising materials
• Price tags
• Product labels.

Please note, without evidence to support your concern, it is difficult for us to complete an assessment.

Report a concern here

The Consumer Protection website  has information on what to know and do before, during and after purchasing a product or service.

If you have any consumer questions or enquiries, you can phone the Consumer Protection helpline on 0508 426 678.

Sometimes following an investigation we are able to achieve financial redress for affected consumers, however we are not a dispute resolution service. You may need to take your own action if you want your individual issue to be resolved, such as getting your money back.

Contact the Disputes Tribunal .

The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is the primary regulator of conduct in relation to financial products and services (excluding credit contracts).

For concerns about misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to financial products or services please contact the FMA .

You can also complain about a financial service provider to their external dispute resolution service.

• Banking Ombudsman  (banking related issues)
• Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman  (insurance, superannuation, investments, financial advice, loans and credit, foreign exchange and money transfer services)
• Financial Services Complaints Ltd  (investment and lending providers)
• Financial Dispute Resolution Service  (investment and lending providers)

If you do not know which service your financial service provider belongs to, you can contact one of the services and they will refer you to the correct service. Alternatively, you can ask your financial service provider which service they belong to.

While your concerns are important to us and may help us stop illegal behaviour and prevent it from happening again, we are unable to provide legal advice to individuals. You may be able to obtain free legal advice from a community law centre  or a lawyer .

To find a budget advice service near you, go to the National Building Financial Capability Charitable Trust  website.

You can also contact MoneyTalks, a free, confidential and non-judgemental helpline on 0800 345 123 or visit www.moneytalks.co.nz. 

For free advice to know and understand your consumer rights and obligations and how to use this information to get the best outcomes contact a Citizens Advice Bureau  near you.