The Palace Cinemas chain has been fined $10,800 after the consumer watchdog found it failed to adequately display the total ticket price during the online booking process.
![Benjamin Zeccola, chief executive of Palace Cinemas, called the infringement notice "unfair".](/web/20160722022714im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/2/6/d/v/l/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gq8rfm.png/1468925631063.jpg)
But the chain's boss has labelled the infringement notice "unfair", saying it was restricted by the website's lack of capabilities.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued the infringement notice on the grounds that Palace Cinemas' website did not display the final, total price, including the $1.30 booking fee, until the user reached the last page.
![Norton St Cinema is part of the chain.](/web/20160722022714im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/8/t/c/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gq8rfm.png/1468925631063.jpg)
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said it began to "clean up the industry" in the middle of last year, with much of the focus on stamping out "drip pricing" during the online booking process.
He said other chains such as Hoyts and Village quickly responded to its concerns, but Palace Cinemas was slow to act.
"You're supposed to provide the total price up front and not mislead people by telling them one price, when in fact the final price is something different," he said.
"It has the potential to affect the purchasing decisions of consumers who focus on the advertised price, without being aware of the final price which includes additional fees that have to be paid."
![Rod Sims, chairman of the ACCC.](/web/20160722022714im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/h/v/1/x/s/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gq8rfm.png/1468925631063.jpg)
The chain's chief executive, Benjamin Zeccola, described the penalty as "completely unfair" because its website - both old and new - were, in his view, always compliant with the law.
Mr Zeccola, son of founder Antonio Zeccola, added that the old website wasn't capable of instantly calculating and displaying the total ticket price. The software required the user to click the "proceed" button.
For the past 1.5 years the family-run business has worked on revamping the website, which was launched on Monday.
"Our website is and always was compliant and all fees and charges were disclosed at the appropriate time, as soon as it was humanly and technologically possible," he said.
Mr Zeccola said the business paid the penalty because there was no mechanism to dispute it.
"They made a unilateral decision, there's no hearing, no opportunity to put a case forward, no way to challenge it," he said. "We asked for them to retract it, and they declined to do so."
The chain of 20 cinemas, including Palace Verona in Sydney and the historic art deco Astor Theatre in Melbourne, has received complaints about the $1.30 booking fee, but hardly any about the online booking process.
Mr Sims acknowledged that Palace Cinemas struggled with software issues, but he said it didn't change the fact it was breaching the Australian Consumer Law.
The regulator and the cinema industry have been working together to improve pricing practices, with extra focus placed on advertised prices that do not exclude mandatory booking fees.
"The ACCC is pleased that its focus on clearer pricing by cinemas selling movie tickets online has resulted in some improvements," said Mr Sims.
"Consumers now have access to more straightforward pricing information which enables them to make more informed decisions about buying movie tickets online."
Payment of a penalty is not an admission of a breach of the law.