MISLEADING advertising tops the list of cases investigated by the Fair Trading Commission for the period April 2000 to March 2001.
Of the 628 cases investigated by the FTC for the period , 324 of them related to misleading advertising. There were also 16 reported cases of abuse of dominant position and 11 cases of market restriction.
Of the 628 cases investigated, 202 of them were not covered by the Fair Competition Act (FCA). The FTC completed 346 of the 628 cases which it investigated. The FTC also reported that it was working towards providing "a higher quality product to Jamaicans" and with its full staff complement now in place, it hoped to host more public education campaigns with a view to reducing the breaches committed against the FCA.
"Merchants are expected to become more cognisant of their obligations and the rights of consumers under the FCA," the FTC reported.
Some of the cases which the FTC took to court included a complaint against John Crook Automobiles Ltd. for a breach of section 37 of the FCA . On April 11, 1994, "an informant" purchased a Subaru Legacy motorcar which was represented by the company to be a 1994 model. It later proved to be a 1993 model. After the suit was filed, the FTC and the company entered into a consent agreement on January 19,2001. The agreement provided that the company would refund the informant the difference between the costs of the 1993 and 1994 models together with simple interest rate of 15 per cent from the date of purchase to the date of the agreement. The company is to pay the FTC's legal costs.
A consent agreement was reached between Courts (Jamaica) Ltd. and the FTC following numerous complaints. Informants complained that they had made deposits on various items after being assured that the items were in stock. The items were not delivered within the promised period and the informants were then advised that the items were out of stock. The Commission investigated and concluded that Courts' conduct in the matters complained of amounted to breaches of the FCA. The FTC and Courts entered into a consent agreement dated February 5, 2001. Courts agreed to issue a public apology and to pay the FTC $1 million in settlement.
The National Commercial Bank had to pay the Commission $150,000 as a result of a consent agreement dated February 13,2001. There were complaints that the bank had charged interest on credit card purchases although the informants had paid the balances on their accounts in full before the due date. The back of their credit card statement specified that if the previous balance statement was paid in full, no interest would be applied to the account.
The FTC intervened and the bank revised its credit card statement to more clearly define the method which was used to calculate interest on credit card purchases and to make it more reader friendly. The consent agreement stated that the bank would pay the Commission $150,000 inclusive of costs. Also, that the FTC may use the facts of the complaint in its public education programme.
Pyramid Roofing Systems was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay $700,000 to the Crown following a complaint that a roof it installed for a customer was badly done and had resulted in a number of leaks and a generally poor appearance of the roof. The FTC took the matter to court seeking a declaration that the company had breached section 37 of the FCA. The court granted the declaration and ordered the company to pay $700,000 to the Crown.
Airtight Security Engineering (Jamaica) Ltd. was ordered by the Supreme Court on September 28 last year to pay $100,000 to the Crown as a result of a complaint that it had installed two electronic gates for a customer but the gates malfunctioned before the one year warranty had expired. The customer complained that the company had failed to rectify the problems. On June 22 last year, the FTC filed a motion in the Supreme Court and on September 28 the court granted a declaration that the company had breached the FCA. The company was ordered to pay $100,000 to the Crown.
There are other cases pending in the courts.
