The Fair Trade Commission yesterday fined RT-Mart International Ltd NT$400,000 for what it called false advertising for gift certificates issued by the popular supermarket chain.
Five months ago, RT-Mart advertised that as part of its mid-year promotional sales, customers whose purchases reached NT$2,000 between June 12 and June 14 would receive NT$1,000 in smaller-denomination gift certificates.
However, the ads failed to provide the terms and conditions under which the vouchers could be used, vice commissioner Shih Hui-fen (施惠芬) said.
For example, customers who sought to use all their vouchers at once had to make purchases worth at least NT$9,000, Shih said.
The fine print on the certificates also stated that customers needed to make an additional purchase of at least NT$1,000 to use one certificate worth NT$100, or an additional purchase of at least NT$2,000 to use a NT$200 certificate, and so on.
The retailer also required that certain certificates be used during one of four periods — from June 16 through July 13; July 14 through July 27; July 28 through Aug. 10; and Aug. 11 through Aug. 24.
The commission said the retailer failed to mention any of these additional terms and conditions in its TV, radio, print and online ads, which only told customers to see in-store announcements and certificates for further details.
This inadequate disclosure of information misled consumers into thinking that the vouchers could be used for any purchase for any amount and at any given time, Shih said.
“Unless customers asked a sales clerk or read the information on the vouchers very carefully ... customers could not be aware of the additional terms and conditions,” Shih said.
“Without the additional information, customers could not make an informed purchase decision, as the information could have affected their choices,” Shih added.
The commission said RT-Mart told investigators that the terms and conditions were not provided in the advertisements because they wanted to give consumers “a surprise,” an explanation that the commission found unacceptable.
The retailer was fined under regulations contained in the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).
RT-Mart said it would not comment on the commission’s decision until they received an official notice. However, it said it could appeal because, in its view, it had fully disclosed the terms and conditions to customers.
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