Making false claim on product unfair

The other day, I saw an advertisement of a jeweller, claiming that his charges were the "lowest," and if anyone disproved his claim, he would refund the entire amount paid towards the jewellery! I wondered if any customer had proved him wrong and got the jewellery for free, particularly at a time when gold prices have touched the sky.

Equally fascinating are advertisements of "age-defying, wrinkle-lifting" creams that promise consumers that they would get back their full refund if the creams failed to visibly reduce signs of ageing within a certain period of time. Whenever I see such advertisements, I am tempted to call up their helplines, demand a refund, just to see how they respond.

Well, these are not the only ones using this kind of  "absolute guarantee" as a gimmick to sell the product. You will see such promises of "full refund if not satisfied with the product" from a variety of manufacturers and service providers. While some claim that their products are the best, yet others assert that their prices are the lowest. And for good measure, they throw in a challenge to the client to prove them wrong and get a refund or a cash prize. A large department chain, for example, used to earlier advertise that nobody`A0sold at the price it did, and if`A0anyone could prove the store wrong, he would get back his money.

Such ads can really be tempting. First and foremost, consumers will feel that the product (or the service) must be really good, or else the seller will not dare offer that kind of a refund. Then there is also the comforting thought that if the product turns out to be useless (or the price is really not the lowest), then one can always get the money back. But do you? If you find the product or the service to be not of the standard claimed, or to put it differently, if you call their bluff or disprove their claim, do you really get back the money paid for the product? 

Well, I do not know of any such success stories, where customers have managed to get back their money, but I know of people who have failed. In other words, manufacturers and service providers have, in several instances, failed to keep up their promises. A consumer, for example, who demanded free pizzas for late home delivery (or failing to deliver within the promised time) was told that the franchisee would refund the cost of the pizzas, and the franchisee in turn said that the principal`A0would pay. Eventually, neither did.

An ayurvedic company that promised to refund the price of the product if it failed to give guaranteed results never responded when dissatisfied people demanded their money back. "Hundred per cent guaranteed results or else your money back," the company had said.

There are also complaints of manufacturers using terms and conditions not made known to the consumers at the time of purchase, to avoid payment of refunds.

So what are the rights of consumers in such cases? First and foremost, making a false or a misleading claim about the quality or performance of a product or a service constitutes an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act. Consumers who are victims of such practices have the right to compensation. In other words, they can file a complaint before the courts constituted under the Consumer Protection Act. Similarly, not keeping up the promise made at the time of purchase — that the customer would get a full refund if not satisfied with the product — is also an unfair trade practice, and a manufacturer or a service provider guilty of such an unfair trade practice is liable to compensate the client.

I must also point out here that manufacturers cannot come up with terms and conditions not made known to the consumer at the time of purchase, to defeat their claim.

In the case of Tesol India vs Shri Govind Singh Patwal (RP NO 2501 of 2010 ), decided by the national consumer disputes redressal commission on September 14, 2010, for example, the college had given an absolute guarantee about overseas jobs with handsome pay packages to those who completed the course. However, it failed to keep up this promise, resulting in several students filing complaints before the court.

Some of the students here even alleged that the college had promised to refund the entire fee if they failed to get them good placements. Holding the institution guilty of unfair trade practice, the commission awarded compensation to them.

HOME