A supplier or promoter cannot offer you rebates, gifts, prizes or other free items without intending to provide them, or without providing them as offered.
The business may have a defence where the failure to provide the free item was not the supplier’s fault and they took reasonable care to avoid the failure.
You must be given the rebate, gift, prize or other free item:
- within the time specified in the offer, or
- if no time was specified, within a reasonable time.
Example:
A stereo equipment retailer held a promotion. Customers went into a draw to win prizes when they bought stereo equipment. The retailer felt the promotion had not been a financial success, so fake names were added to the draw and those fake names were declared the winners. This meant no prizes were awarded by the retailer. The retailer pleaded guilty and was fined.
Last updated: 09/05/2012