How to stop misleading marketers from fleecing your cash

Marketers are getting ever more creative to make you want to buy goods and services, and consumers often feel lost in the sea of information that threatens to swamp them.

What and who do you believe in a time of fake news?

What you can believe is that the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), it is there to protect your rights as a consumer right through the marketing process. Advertising can only be used to entice you into spending your money within the confines of the CPA and in particular parts; E and F.

Part E deals with consumers’ right to fair and responsible marketing and part F with your right to fair and honest trading.

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General standards for marketing

Section 29 of the CPA sets the general standards for marketing goods or services and provides that companies, whether they are producers, importers, distributors, retailers or service providers, are not allowed to market their goods or services to you in a false or misleading manner or mislead or defraud you.

Think of that tasty hamburger advertised for a special price that makes you even hungrier. However, when you show up at the restaurant, the one you get on your plate is not even half the size of the one on the ad.

This section clearly states that companies must not be dishonest about the nature, properties, benefits or uses of goods or services, or how and on what terms they may be provided.

Someone is not, for example, allowed to advertise a trip to Europe at a price “that includes everything” if there are still extra costs that you will have to pay and that you can “pay off” while you have to pay for it when you book.

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Companies are also not allowed to mislead you about the price at which goods can be supplied.

This includes the ratio of the price to a previous price or a competitor’s price for comparable or similar goods or services, such as when a bank says in an advertisement that it is the only one offering free online banking, but other banks also do so.

They may also not mislead you about the company sponsoring an event if it is not true, such as advertising that a golf ball is used by all professional golfers at a tournament, while this is not the case.

Companies may also not mislead you about any other essential aspect of goods or services, such as stating in an advertisement that “all men use it”. This is only true if every man in the country got the product and was not paid to use it.

False, misleading or deceptive representations

According to Section 41, companies are not allowed to make false, misleading or deceptive representations and they can also not, by their words or conduct, directly or indirectly, make a false, misleading or deceptive representation about a material fact.

A company can only indicate in an advertisement “we are the cheapest in the country” if it has conducted a nationwide survey and can prove it is indeed the cheapest.

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Exaggeration and ambiguity

Section 41 also prohibits companies from exaggerating, insinuating or being ambiguous about a material fact or neglecting to disclose a material fact if this failure amounts to fraud.

If an employee at a store notices that you are totally under the wrong impression about a product, he should correct you and make sure you understand the true facts.

If you, for example, buy a decoder with the idea that you can receive all television channels, but you only take out a contract for a limited number of channels, the seller should correct you and explain which channels you will be able to watch.

It is, therefore, the store’s duty to correct an apparent misunderstanding on the part of the consumer if it could lead to a false, misleading or deceptive representation.

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Sponsorships and endorsements

Store staff are also not allowed to pretend that products have a sponsorship, approval, or affiliation with something or someone if it is not true.

For example, a tennis racket may not be sold as “the kind Rafael Nadal uses” if he does not use it.

Company employees may also not pretend that products or services have ingredients, performance characteristics, accessories, utility, benefits, quality, sponsorship or approval that they do not have or that they are of a particular standard, quality, grade, style or model if they are not.

An advertisement can only recommend a product that is “approved by doctors to keep your heart healthy” if every doctor in the country recommends the product for his patients.

“New” goods

Stores may not sell refurbished, used or repossessed products as “new”.

Immovable property

Companies are also not allowed to market land or other immovable property with properties that it does not have or indicate that it may be lawfully used for a purpose that is illegal or unfeasible or that it is close to amenities that if it is not the case, or that are not available or nearby.

For example, “a beach house with a sea view of the beach, near the central business district” should be exactly that: a beach house on the beach with windows facing the sea, near the shops and restaurants.

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After-sales service

Products may also not be marketed with misleading statements about necessary service, maintenance or repair facilities or parts readily available within or for a reasonable period of time.

Misleading statements about a service, part, replacement, maintenance or repair, specific price benefit or charge may also not be made. For example, devices may not be sold with promises of repairs if nobody in the country can repair them.

Intermediaries and representatives

Representatives or intermediaries are not allowed to pretend to have authority to negotiate or conclude an agreement if they do not have it. They may also not pretend that your rights or legal remedies are not affected if they are in fact affected.

These people may also not invite you to a demonstration or event or communicate with you if they mislead you about its purpose, such as timeshare vendors inviting you to a meal and putting pressure on you to buy timeshare.

Intermediaries may also not promise you discounts or gifts if you help recruit customers.