Remedies when you fall prey to misleading advertisement
There are many ways that false advertising takes place and this can range from giving information that is outrightly false or giving misleading information through various deceptive means like exaggeration such as purporting to sell a vehicle with certain attributes which it does not have.
My name is Fred. I recently paid a huge deposit for a vehicle that I saw advertised on social media by a car dealer. The dealer made some representations about the quality of the car including the year of manufacture, the quality of engine and the interiors. I contacted the car dealer to find out the terms of sale and they informed me that to view the car I would first have to pay a 50 percent deposit. I paid the deposit and was allowed to view the vehicle but to my surprise, I found that the quality of the car and the representations made by the dealer did not align. In short, I was defrauded. The car dealer also refused to refund me. Do I have any remedies?
Dear Fred, yes you do have several remedies under various laws including consumer laws, sale of goods laws and even criminal law. You were an unfortunate victim of false advertising which is common.
Advertising and marketing are some of the important pillars that businesses depend on to survive. In a highly competitive environment, advertising is one of the tools that businesses can use to attain an advantage. Advertising can be a great way a businesses can attract and, in some cases, retain clients.
However, advertisements ought to be done in a manner that is legal and that doesn’t abuse consumer rights.
Unknown to many, there are is a legal framework around advertisements. The importance of knowing this framework is both to the consumer and the sellers. For the consumers awareness on the law will protect them from being victims of false advertisement. For sellers, awareness will help them remain compliant when undertaking advertisement campaigns.
There are many ways that false advertising takes place and this can range from giving information that is outrightly false or giving misleading information through various deceptive means like exaggeration.
In your case, the seller placed a false advertisement purporting to sell a vehicle with certain attributes which it did not have. The seller also induced you to pay a deposit for the vehicle and based on his representations you paid a deposit. The advertisement is false because the seller misrepresented the condition of the vehicle to you.
Your remedies
False advertisement occurs frequently in many sectors. As long as the representation was false then you have a remedy.
The remedies you have are many. One is to report the issue to the police as a crime. The crime in this case is fraud or obtaining money under false pretences.
Two, a complaint can be made to the consumer watchdog so as to protect other consumers from such deception.
The car dealer ought to refund any monies you paid as a result of two main laws that is, sale of goods laws and contract laws.
Under sale of goods laws the general principle is that the actual good ought to match the sample in terms of quality and other attributes. In the event the goods do not match then you can opt out of the transaction and be refunded your money. The same principle applies in contract laws.
