Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v RSA Express Pty Ltd

Express Online Training sold online courses leading to responsible service of alcohol and construction induction qualifications. Its Google and Bing ads and website promoted a simple proposition: customers could obtain certification on the same day and would not have to pay until they passed.

Those claims mattered. A worker may need a White Card before starting on site or RSA certification before taking a shift. The advertising suggested that both the timing and payment risk were straightforward.

Customers registered, read course material and correctly answered a lengthy questionnaire. They were then prompted to pay even though the course was not complete.

Only after payment were customers told about additional tasks. Some tasks required bookings that were unavailable on the same day or for several days. The Court found that the business earned significant revenue from customers who paid but did not finish.

RSA Express admitted that the same-day claims breached the Australian Consumer Law. It contested the payment-timing claim, but the Court found that the business had also falsely or misleadingly represented that customers would only pay, or be asked to pay, after passing.

A business cannot make a clean promise at the top of a sales funnel and reveal important qualifications only after the customer has registered, invested time or reached the payment screen.