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Metsoja
v H. Norman Pitt & Co. Limited A newspaper advertisement placed by the defendants stated
"... splendid 0% finance deal on the Renault 21 ... spread your payments
over 24 months without paying a penny interest." A Trading Standards
Officer was told that the on-the-road cost of the car was £7,758.75. He was
then asked by the salesman whether part-exchange was involved and asked for a
price on his existing car. The salesman then asked if the officer was aware of
the 0% deal, but said "nothing's for nothing", indicating that the
part-exchange price would depend on whether the credit offer was taken up. Two informations were laid, the first alleging a breach
of Section 46 for giving false information and the second a breach of Regulation
12(c) of the Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations 1980, which requires
that the phrase "0 per cent APR" shall only be included in an
advertisement where "... the debtor is liable to pay no greater amount
under a transaction financed by credit than he would be liable to pay as a cash
purchaser in relation to the like transaction". It was held that an advertisement, offering 0% finance on
the purchase of a new car, when a lower offer for a car in part-exchange was
offered as against the offer which would be made to a cash purchaser,
constituted prima facie evidence of
the offences. |