Sears Canada fined for deceptive marketing practices
By Adnews Staff
Sears Canada has been ordered to pay a $100,000 administrative monetary penalty and $387,000 in legal costs under the Deceptive Marketing Practices provisions of the Competition Act. In January the retailer was found by the Competition Tribunal in Ottawa to be in violation of the Competition Act regarding tire advertisements that ran in November and December 1999. The tribunal found the sale prices quoted in the ads to be misleading, as the company did not sell enough tires as the stated regular price for that price to qualify as regular. The effect was to artificially inflate the perceived discount. The automotive business division of Sears has also been prohibited from engaging in similar representations for 10 years. The Competition Bureau initiated the hearing before the tribunal in 2002. Sears maintains that the regular prices contained in the 1999 advertisements met all legal requirements.