If Swan Garage of Bosham thought mileage claims on their website would escape the attentions of the local Trading Standards Office, they had another think coming.
Newsfeed
Topic: Selling on-line
Who: Swan Garage (Bosham) Limited and West Sussex Trading Standards
Where: Sussex
What happened:
On the website of car dealer Swan Garage (Bosham) Limited were details of a number of cars. Some of the mileages shown turned out to be false, whilst a car offered at £8,995 on the site was advertised in Swan Garage itself a week later at £9,995 with a sticker stating "save £1,000 on this car this weekend only".
For these offences under the Trade Descriptions Act and the "misleading price indications" provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, as well as offences under the Companies Act, Swan Garage was fined £13,000 with costs of £287.
Why this matters:
The fine here was substantial, particularly for what was probably a modest business, and the case underlines the fact that as far as UK advertisers on-line are concerned, the same rules apply to digital advertising as they do in more traditional media, as well as the same penalties!
