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117.   Unfair method or unfair or deceptive practice

Revised Laws of Saint Lucia (2022)

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117.   Unfair method or unfair or deceptive practice

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    (1)   A supplier shall not in the course of trade or commerce, adopt, for the purpose of promoting the sale, use or supply of goods or the provision of any service, an unfair method or unfair or deceptive practice, including the practice of making any statement, whether orally or in writing or by visible representation which —

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      (a)     falsely represents that the goods are of a particular kind, standard, quality, grade, quantity, composition, style or model, or have had a particular history or particular previous use;

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      (b)     falsely represents that the service is of a particular kind, standard, quality, or quantity or that the service is supplied by any particular person or by any person of a particular trade qualification or skill;

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      (c)     falsely represents any re-built, second-hand, renovated, reconditioned or old goods as new goods;

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      (d)     represents that goods or service has any sponsorship, approval, performance, characteristics, accessories, uses or benefits which the goods or service does not have;

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      (e)     represents that the supplier has any sponsorship, approval, or affiliation which the supplier does not have;

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      (f)     makes a false or misleading representation concerning the need for, or the usefulness of, any goods or service;

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      (g)     gives to the public any warranty or guarantee of the performance, efficacy or length of life of a product or of any goods that is not based on an adequate or proper test;

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      (h)     makes to the public a representation in a form that purports to be —

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        (i)     a warranty or guarantee of a product or of any goods or service, or

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        (ii)     a promise to replace, maintain or repair goods or any part of any goods, or to repeat or to continue a service until it has achieved a specified result, if such purported warranty or guarantee or promise is materially misleading or if there is no reasonable prospect that such warranty, guarantee or promise will be carried out;

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      (i)     misleads the public concerning the price at which a product or like product or goods or service, has been or is, ordinarily sold or provided; or

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      (j)     gives false or misleading facts disparaging the goods, service or trade of another supplier.

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    (2)   For the purposes of subsection (1), a statement that is —

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      (a)     expressed on any goods offered or displayed for sale, or on its wrapper or container;

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      (b)     expressed on anything attached to, inserted in, or accompanying any goods offered or displayed for sale, or on anything on which the goods are mounted for display or sale; or

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      (c)     contained in or on anything that is sold, sent, delivered, transmitted or in any other manner whatsoever made available to a member of the public,

is deemed to be a statement made to the public by the person who had caused the statement to be so expressed, made or contained.

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    (3)   Notwithstanding subsection (1)(g), where a defence is raised to the effect that a warranty or guarantee is based on an adequate or proper test, the burden of proof of the defence is on the person raising the defence.

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    (4)   For the purpose of subsection (1)(i), a representation as to price is deemed to refer to the price at which the product or goods or service has been sold or provided by a supplier generally in the relevant market unless it is clearly specified to be the price at which the product has been sold or service has been provided by the person by whom or on whose behalf the representation is made.

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    (5)   A supplier shall not permit the publication of any advertisement whether in any newspaper or otherwise, for the sale or supply at a bargain price, of goods or service that is not intended to be offered for sale or supply at the bargain price, or for a period that is, and in quantities that are, reasonable, having regard to the nature of the market in which the business carried on, the nature and size of business, and the nature of the advertisement.

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    (6)   For the purposes of subsection (5), “bargain price” means —

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      (a)     a price that is stated in any advertisement to be a bargain price, by reference to an ordinary price or otherwise; or

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      (b)     a price that a person who reads, hears or sees the advertisement, would reasonably understand to be a bargain price having regard to the price at which the product advertised or like product is ordinarily sold.

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    (7)   A supplier shall not permit the —

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      (a)     offering of gifts, prizes or other items with the intention of not providing them as offered or creating an impression that something is being given or offered free of charge when it is fully or partly covered by the amount charged in the transaction as a whole;

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      (b)     conduct of any contest, lottery, game of chance or skill, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, the sale, use or supply of any product or any business interest.

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    (8)   A supplier shall not withhold from the participants of any scheme offering gifts, prizes or other items free of charge, on its closure, the information about final results of the scheme.

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    (9)   For the purposes of subsection (8), the participants of a scheme are deemed to have been informed of the final results of the scheme where such results are, within a reasonable time, published in the same media in which the scheme was originally advertised.

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    (10)   A supplier shall not permit the sale or supply of goods intended to be used, or that are of a kind likely to be used by a consumer, knowing or having reason to believe that the goods did not comply with the standards prescribed by a competent authority relating to performance, composition, contents, design, construction, finishing or packaging, as are necessary to prevent or reduce the risk of injury to the person using the goods.

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    (11)   A supplier shall not hoard or destroy goods, or refuse to sell the goods or to make it available for sale or to provide any service, if the hoarding or destruction or refusal raises or tends to raise or is intended to raise, the cost of the goods or service or other similar goods or service.

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    (12)   A supplier shall not manufacture spurious goods or offer such goods for sale or adopt deceptive practices in the provision of a service.

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    (13)   A supplier who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

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