The Georgian Competition and Consumer Agency has confirmed that LLC "Gorgia" infringed the Law of Georgia on the Protection of Consumer Rights, in particular through the conduct of unfair commercial practices.
The examination of the case established, that the trader had engaged in misleading commercial practices, manifested in the creation, for consumers, of a false and ambiguous impression as to their statutory rights, in particular as regards the benefit of the statutory guarantee.
In particular, notwithstanding that the policy publicly published by the company was in conformity with the law and provided for a mandatory two-year guarantee, individual communications and the warranty cards issued in respect of goods indicated a guarantee of one year only, which, in a number of instances, was further limited to a specific component, such as the engine alone. Furthermore, the right to replacement of goods in the event of a manufacturing defect was limited to a period of fourteen calendar days, contrary to the requirements of the legislation.
In the Agency's assessment, the practice in question is illusory in character, in that it creates in consumers a false impression as to the duration of the protection afforded to their rights.
The trader's conduct, whereby the consumer is led to believe that the statutory period of protection is limited to one year, is liable to induce the consumer to take a transactional decision which they would not otherwise have taken had they been in possession of that information.
Accordingly, the Agency's decision confirmed that LLC "Gorgia" had infringed its obligation to provide information required by law in a clear, comprehensible, accurate and complete manner, and had engaged in unfair commercial practices.
With a view to remedying the infringement, LLC "Gorgia" is required, within a period of one month, to ensure that consumers are duly and adequately informed of the statutory guarantee, to discontinue the misleading commercial practice, and to bring its trade policy into conformity with the requirements of the legislation.
Pursuant to the legislation in force, non-compliance, or improper compliance, with the Agency's decision within the established time limit may result in a fine of up to 2% of the trader's annual turnover for the preceding financial year. A repeated infringement within a period of twelve months shall result in the doubling of the fine imposed.
