Harvey Norman - Controversies and Criticism

Controversies and Criticism

• In 1995, the ACCC acted against Harvey Norman for knowingly distributing a catalogue which included more than 20 errors. These included illustrations of sale items with incorrect accessories or functions and packages describing features that it did not, in fact, actually have.

• In 2000, before the Australian implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, the ACCC alleged that Harvey Norman advertised Quicken Quickbooks for $199 with bonus software valued at more than $900 while aware that the quantities of bonus software were insufficient to meet consumer demand. Harvey Norman was also alleged to have misled consumers regarding tax benefits associated with the purchase of Quicken Quickbooks and digital cameras.

• In November 2008, the company's chief executive, Gerry Harvey, was heavily criticised for comparing Ireland's economic problems with the Irish potato famine, an event which saw the deaths of over a million people. Harvey has since refused to apologise, admonishing the Irish for their poor sense of humour and stating: "It doesn’t say much about a people when they can’t take something like that on the chin and get on with it."

• On 8 October 2011, four environmentalist activists illegally climbed the Sydney Opera House and spread out a banner over one of the sails, reading "No Harvey Norman No! Stop selling Aussie forest destruction" as part of a protest against the retailer's profiting from environmental damage. A spokesperson for the protesters said in an interview the "profiting from the destruction of our spectacular forests is absolutely unacceptable". Harvey Norman had previously mentioned they were being "unfairly targeted" and were trying "their best" to sell products from sustainable timber. The protesters were arrested shortly after the event. In response, the Furniture Industry Association of Australia said that, "Get Up! are effectively campaigning for rainforest destruction in other countries instead of sustainably harvested Australian timber". David Penberthy writing in The Punch said, "there have been a lot of dumb campaigns launched over the years but this one is hands down the stupidest thing I have ever seen." The Minister for Manufacturing, Kim Carr has said, "the GetUp! 'No Harvey No' campaign runs the risk of deterring people from buying Australian-made furniture and supporting Australian jobs".

• In December 2011, Harvey Norman was fined $1.25M (AUD) by the Federal Court of Australia for misleading advertising relating to their promotion of 3D Televisions to watch the NRL and AFL Grand Finals in areas which could not receive 3D signals.

• In 2011 the outspoken founder of Harvey Norman, Gerry Harvey fronted a sustained media campaign and funded a special interest lobby group, the Fair Imports Alliance. By late December apparently in a volte-face, Harvey Norman launched a gaming website that leveraged its Irish subsidiary to export video games direct to customers and therefore was outside of the jurisdiction of Australian tax laws for the purposes of GST. Concerns were raised earlier in the year about the prospect of retailers conducting business in such a manner.