The Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs (DLCA) has issued a stern warning to local businesses involved in the illegal practice of using the “sale price” tagline to lure customers into purchasing items, even when the advertised date for the sale has passed and prices have reverted to their original amounts.
In making its case against the retailers it failed to name due to an ongoing investigation into the matter, DLCA cited “deceptive trade practices” in Virgin Islands Code (VIC) § 102 (a), which defines the illegal practice as:
(a) “Deceptive trade practice” means any false, falsely disparaging, or misleading oral or written statement, visual description or other representation of any kind made in connection with the sale, lease, rental, or loan of consumer goods or services, or in the extension of consumer credit or in the collection of consumer debts, which has the capacity, tendency or effect of deceiving or misleading consumers. Deceptive trade practices include but are not limited to:
(4) Offering goods or services with intent not to sell them as offered.
DLCA added that if an establishment is promoting item(s) as being on sale after the sale has passed, the posted sale amount “must be honored by the establishment,” the department says.
Failure to adhere to the law, DLCA says, “Shall result in the department taking any and all authorized legal action, including the imposition of the maximum fine under the statute, and/or the initiation of proceedings for the suspension or revocation of the establishment’s business license.”
Image Credit: Rookie Moms
Tags: dlca
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