Land of leather found guilty of misleading Customers

Furniture store, Land of Leather Ltd, was today found guilty, at Londonderry Magistrates’ Court, of misleading customers.

Londonderry Magistrates' Court proceeded on paper to convict Land of Leather, due to the non court appearance of their Administrators, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Land of Leather, which went into administration on 12 January 2009, was given an absolute discharge on all accounts due to its trading status and also in the interests of creditors, who might be disadvantaged if fines were issued against the company.

In the case, brought by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s Trading Standards Service (TSS), the court heard how Land of Leather had adopted a practice of claiming savings against a ‘recommended retail price’ - a price that had never actually been charged. For example, one suite of furniture on display had a sales ticket claiming “£999 - save £1,000 - RRP £1,999”.

Trading Standards Investigating Officer, Catherine McErlean, said: “When using price comparisons during sales or other promotions, traders must base savings on genuine previous prices.

“Using terms such as ‘recommended retail price’ can give customers a misleading impression of the realistic saving to be made. The term ‘save’ should only be used in cases where an item is offered at a price lower than that for which the identical item was previously sold – in other words, that it is genuinely reduced.

“Retailers making price comparisons should ensure that they are fair, meaningful and do not mislead consumers.”

Consumers who suspect they have been misled by a trader’s claim of a price reduction should report it to Consumerline on tel: 0845 6006262 or log on to www.consumerline.org.

Notes to Editors:

1. The case was brought under Article 13(1) of the Consumer Protection (NI) Order 1987. Article 13(1) makes it a criminal offence for any person in the course of any business of his, to give to any consumers an indication which is misleading as to the price at which any goods, services, accommodation or facilities are available.
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