Unitcom ran thirteen 'time-limited' PC sales in a row — the deadline never mattered

Unitcom, the Osaka-based PC retailer behind the PC Koubou stores and iiyamaPC brand, ran a chain of cashback campaigns on its website from 5 September 2022 to 10 July 2023. Each one was framed as a deadline: 'Time-limited! Until Oct 3 (Mon) 10:59!', 'Year-End/New Year Grand Cashback Festival — Until Dec 12 (Mon) 16:59!!', 'New Life Support Cashback Festival — up to ¥100,000 back!!'. Thirteen campaigns in ten months, each ending with an urgent date and time.

None of the deadlines meant anything. When one campaign expired, the next began at once with the same or better terms; buyers who purchased after a 'final' deadline received points or gift vouchers of equal or greater value on the same conditions. The Consumer Affairs Agency ruled the displays misleading about advantageous terms: the urgency told consumers that buying inside the window was uniquely beneficial, when waiting cost nothing.

On 27 March 2025 the CAA issued a measure order. Unitcom apologised publicly the same day, accepting the order 'seriously and sincerely', and promised stronger internal review and compliance systems. The pattern — thirteen identical deadlines — was exactly what the order recited.