Monday, July 19, 2010

Did ACCC really lose 20 cases straight?

Schematic description of the expasion of the e...Image via Wikipedia
TVI Express supporters claim that ACCC, which charged TVI Team Oz with running a pyramid scheme, had lost 20 cases straight, made it sound as if it is a bungling bureaucracy, the most notable case being against ACN.

As usual, TVI Express supporters cite only part of the truth. Did they mention over how many YEARS are those 20 losses counted? Did not.

"For your knowledge, ACCC has lost all 20 cases in one go. Ours will be 21st." 
-- http://www.kliktviexpress.com/pengumuman 


Nobody can actually produce the statistic or newspaper report that ACCC had lost 20 lawsuits in a row. It was merely recited as if it is fact, but never proven. I'll gladly eat my words when someone *do* produce that report, but until then, I am wary of anything TVI Express supporters say. Too many of them have lied too many times for me to trust anything they say without actual citings.

You can read ACCC's annual performance report yourself. It is a government agency, and it is required to publish one every year. The most recent report, 2008-2009, is available on their website. On page 35 and on, you'll see the actual performance in that "fiscal year". Here's a summary:
In the year 2008-2009 alone, ACCC had

launched 17 lawsuits, and accepted 5 settlements regarding anti-competitive conduct
launched 4 lawsuits regarding unconscionable conduct
launched 27 lawsuits and accepted 62 settlements regarding consumer protection
launched 2 more lawsuits to force compliance in other areas
plus multiple contempt of court charges against those who violated court injunctions

That is 50 lawsuits that year ALONE. Even if they had lost 20 out of 50, that still leaves them with 30 wins, or 60% win rate, not 0% as TVI Express supporters imply.

The win rate runs into the 90% if you include the settlements.
Who's telling the whole truth? Certainly not TVI Express supporters.

Further research on ACCC turned up a study by Australian Consumer Policy that studied the efforts of ACCC from 1997 to 2002. In those 5 years, investigated 391 different matters. 9 were dropped, insufficient evidence. Of the rest, only 8 were completely lost, and 4 were partially successful.

That means out of 391 matters, 21 were not resolved to ACCC's satisfaction. That's a success rate of 94% from 1997 to 2002. If you count the partials, that number increases to 95%.

ACCC: not the bungling bureaucracy that TVI Express supports want you think it is. 

As for comparison with ACN, it's been discussed in a different place.

http://hubpages.com/hub/TVI-Express-Member-Lies-Vol-7

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