New Venture trading as Congresbury Motor Company Limited
has been ordered to pay over £13,000 in fines, costs and
compensation for four offences of misleading customers and a
further offence of breaching credit advertisement
regulations.
At North Somerset Magistrates Court on Friday, August 1 Robert
Ball, sole director of New Venture t/a Congresbury Motor Company
Limited, entered guilty pleas on behalf of the company to the five
offences brought by North Somerset Council’s trading standards
service.
New Venture t/a Congresbury Motor Company Limited took over the
site at Weston Road, Congresbury in April, 2007 and were the
subject of investigation following complaints made against
them.
Two complaints were received from consumers:
• In May, 2007 a Congresbury resident viewed a Ford Focus car
with an advertised price of £2,495, but after the test drive was
told it should have been on sale for £3,995 - an offence under the
Consumer Protection Act 1987.
• In June, 2007 the garage advertised a BMW 525 Diesel as
having a CD Autochanger. A Backwell resident purchased the vehicle
and later discovered it only had a single CD player - an offence
under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.
In February, 2008 a trading standards officer checked the
defendant company's adverts and found:
• The company were claiming they were ‘AA Approved’. However,
checks with the AA discovered that they were not AA approved - an
offence under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968.
• Their credit adverts did not comply with the regulations as
the Annual Percentage Rate had insufficient prominence - an offence
under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Also in February, 2008 trading standards officers visited the
site and spotted a roadside sign which indicated ‘£99 +VAT Service
and MOT’. The officers considered this sign misleading as the
‘+VAT’ was much smaller than the ‘£99’ which was in large
fluorescent letters and drivers reading it as they passed by could
easily miss the additional information. This was an offence under
the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
Cllr Carl Francis-Pester, North Somerset Council's executive member
responsible for consumer protection, said: "This prosecution serves
as a warning that we will take appropriate action against companies
that mislead consumers. Consumers experiencing problems with
traders should seek advice from Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05
06."