Booktopia will not fulfill paid orders or honour store credits

Booktopia customers face a costly final chapter, The Good Guys taken to court over allegations of misleading promotions, and the $200 billion investment Aussies are flocking to. Here are five things you may have missed this week.

Booktopia customers to miss out on paid orders

It's been less than a month since shares in online book retailer Booktopia entered a trading halt.

Since then, the plot has thickened, with the final chapter looking decidedly grim for investors and customers alike.

Booktopia shares, which had traded as high as $3 in 2021, have been on a lengthy downward slide, and were virtually worthless, at just 4 cents, when the trading halt was announced.

Shareholders aren't the only ones likely to be nursing losses.

Booktopia administrator, McGrathNicol Restructuring, has made it clear that outstanding orders for books won't be filled, nor will there be any store credits, exchanges or refunds.

At best, customers with unfulfilled orders can fill in a proof of debt form, available from the administrator's website, and join the queue alongside Booktopia's other unsecured creditors.

The Good Guys in court over allegedly misleading promotions

Major appliance retailer The Good Guys, which is owned by JB Hi-Fi, is facing court proceedings for allegedly making false or misleading representations about their store credit and 'StoreCash' promotions.

Consumer watchdog, the ACCC, alleges The Good Guys ran 116 promotions between July 2019 and August 2023, which offered consumers a store credit or StoreCash if they spent a certain amount on various qualifying products.

The ACCC alleges The Good Guys failed to mention that consumers also needed to opt in to receive marketing communications to receive a store credit.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says, "We also understand that, for the majority of promotions, the store credit being offered expired within a very short period of time of 10 days or less, which many consumers were unaware of.

"We are concerned that as a result of the alleged conduct, consumers may have purchased products from The Good Guys which they might not have done otherwise."

The ACCC is seeking consumer redress plus penalties, and has issued a warning to all businesses that promotional conditions must be prominently disclosed, rather than buried in fine print.

Australians invest $200 billion in ETFs

Investors continue to flock to exchange traded funds (ETFs), with the total value of funds under management surging towards $200 billion - up 36% in the past 12 months.

Only a decade ago, the combined market value of ETFs was just $10 billion.

The past year has seen 59 new ETFs launch on the ASX, giving investors a choice of 351 funds.

Andrew Campion, general manager of investment products and strategy at the ASX, says, "ETFs continue to be a popular investment vehicle with the average number of transactions over the 12 month period increasing by 50%."

In the past year the ASX has admitted the first listed spot bitcoin ETF, and Australia's first ever Shariah-compliant Sukuk active ETF.

"Looking ahead, if I had to sum up in a single word of what's to come for the Australian ETF market, it would be 'choice' - more choice of fund managers, more thematic ETFs, more active strategies, and more alternative assets such as cryptocurrencies," says Campion.

"There's lots of innovation taking place and it will be an exciting space to watch."

Scammers deliberately target previous scam victims

What a crummy bunch scammers are.

People who have been scammed once are more susceptible to being scammed again, but more recently, cyber-crooks have started preying on scam victims who are trying to get their money back.

The National Anti-Scam Centre is urging Australians who have had money stolen by scammers to be wary of offers to recover their money for a fee.

Victims of previous scams are easily identified by criminals who commonly keep and sell information about the people they have exploited.

ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe says scammers pose as trusted parties such as government agencies, lawyers, or even charities.

She adds, "We are also aware of criminals pretending to be a victim themselves and claiming that a specific person or entity helped them get their money back."

First time flyer could face $40,000 fine

A lot can go wrong on holiday, which is why travel insurance is a must-have.

The South China Morning Post reported this week that a first-time flyer, on an Air China domestic flight from Quzhou to Chengdu, opened the emergency door while looking for the toilets.

Fortunately the plane was still on the runway, but releasing the emergency door activated the escape slide - something that can result in a fine of up to 200,000 yuan in China, the equivalent of about $40,780.

While it's highly unlikely the rookie passenger would be able to claim a fine on insurance, her fellow travellers were also impacted.

Once an evacuation slide is deployed, a plane can be grounded for days, and not surprisingly, the Air China flight in question was cancelled, potentially leaving many passengers out of pocket especially as they received compensation of just 400 yuan, equal to around $80 per passenger.

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