Current through Register Vol. 6, March 22, 2024
(1) A
person engages in unfair or deceptive and therefore unlawful acts or practices
when, in the conduct of any trade or commerce, he:
(a) represents that merchandise is of a
particular make or brand, when it is on another;
(b) makes a false representation as to the
source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of merchandise;
(c) makes a false representation as to his
affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by,
another;
(d) makes a false
representation or designation of the geographic origin of
merchandise;
(e) makes a false
representation as to the characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits,
alterations or quantities of merchandise, or a false representation as to the
sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection of a person
therewith;
(f) represents that
merchandise is original or new if he knows or should have known that it is
reconditioned, reclaimed, used or secondhand;
(g) represents that merchandise is of a
particular standard, style, or model, if it is of another;
(h) advertises merchandise with intent not to
sell it as advertised;
(i)
advertises merchandise with intent not to supply reasonably expectable public
demand, unless the advertisement discloses a limitation of quantity;
(j) advertises under the guise of offering
employment opportunities when in fact the purpose is to sell merchandise to the
applicants;
(k) makes false and
misleading statements of fact concerning the price of merchandise or the reason
for existence of, or amounts of a price reduction;
(l) states that a transaction involves
rights, remedies or obligations that it does not involve; or
(m) employs "bait and switch" advertising
which is an alluring but insincere offer to sell a product of service which the
advertiser in truth does not intend or want to sell. Its purpose is to switch
consumers from buying the advertised merchandise, in order to sell something
else, usually at a higher price or on a basis more advantageous to the
advertiser. Said advertising is generally accompanied by one or more of the
following practices:
(i) the refusal to show,
demonstrate, or sell the product offered in accordance with the terms of the
offer;
(ii) misleading
disparagement in any respect of the advertised merchandise or the terms of
sale;
(iii) requiring undisclosed
tie-in sales or other undisclosed conditions to be met prior to selling the
advertised merchandise;
(iv)
refusal to take orders for the merchandise advertised or falsely claiming that
said merchandise cannot be delivered at the same price within reasonable
time;
(v) showing or demonstrating
defective merchandise which the seller knows or should have known is unusable
or impracticable for the purpose set forth in the advertisement;
(vi) accepting a deposit for the merchandise
and subsequently charging the buyer for a higher priced item unless requested
to do so by the buyer; or
(vii)
failure without good cause to either make deliveries of the merchandise within
a reasonable time or to make a refund therefore upon the request of the
purchaser.
NOTE: Sales of the advertised merchandise do not preclude the
existence of a bait and switch scheme. Even though the true facts are
subsequently made known to the buyer, the law is violated if the first contact
or interview is secured by deception.
(n) fails to disclose in all advertising or
other promotional material, the legal name of the company and the complete
street address from which the business is actually conducted;
(o) fails to disclose all of the conditions
relating to "free" or similar offers. When making "free" or similar offers, all
the terms, conditions and obligations upon which receipt and retention of the
"free" items are contingent must be set forth clearly and conspicuously at the
outset of the offer so as to leave no reasonable probability that the terms of
the offer might be misunderstood.
NOTE: A more complete statement of this rule is found at 16
CFR 251.
(p) employs
deceptive pricing practices. Said practices generally involve advertising for
sale or selling merchandise at a "bargain" price and may be characterized by
the following:
(i) offering merchandise at a
reduction from the advertiser's own former price when in fact the former price
is not the actual, bona fide price at which the article was offered to the
public on regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time;
(ii) offering goods at prices lower than
those being charged by others for the same merchandise in the advertiser's
trade area when, in fact, the higher price he advertises exceeds the price at
which substantial sales of the article are being made in the area;
(iii) offering additional merchandise to be
given to a customer on the condition that he purchase a particular article at
the price usually offered by the advertiser where the seller, in making such an
offer, increases his regular price of the article required to be bought, or
decreases the quantity and quality of that article, or otherwise attached
conditions (other than the basic condition that the article be purchased in
order for the purchaser to be entitled to the "free" or "1 cent" additional
merchandise).
NOTE: The practices covered in this section on deceptive
pricing set forth the most common forms of bargain advertising and sale. A more
complete list is provided by 16 CFR 233.
(2) This rule lists only some of
the acts or practices considered unlawful under
30-14-103,
MCA, and is not intended to be exhaustive of all possible violations
thereunder. A more complete list of unfair or deceptive acts or practices in
the conduct of any trade or business is provided by the interpretations of the
Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts relating to section 5(a) (1) of
the Federal Trade Commission Act (
15
USC, 45 (a) (1)) as amended.