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| False and Misleading Advertising...
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...Is a crime that can, and should, be reported to the Better Business Bureau and the Office of Fair Trading.
Under the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations (CMARs), the Office of Fair Trading can take action in the courts to prevent publication.
The CMARs prohibit adverts that:
contain a false statement of fact
conceal or leave out important facts
promise to do something - but there is no intention of carrying it out
create a false impression - even if everything stated in the ad may be literally true.
Many on-line companies are guilty of this in selling their products. Recently I have fallen foul of one such company. On searching for a piece of software I came across a Google Ad for what I thought was perfect. The software was Web Site Downloader.
“Download Whole Web Sites
Copy Whole Sites To Your Computer
At Turbo Speed. 100% Guaranteed “
Now, before I had the trouble and complained to the company, the ad said that the software was just $14.95. They changed this because I complained that after entering the site I found they were actually selling it for $16.95. This on it's own would be reason enough to complain to the Better Business Bureau.
So, I read through the site and the FAQ and everything looked fine. The site advertised their software was “a powerful utility that enables you to download entire Web sites to your hard disk for offline viewing”. Note the “entire Web sites”. Below this statement was “Whatever your reasons - Web Site Downloader grabs everything perfectly, replicating the directory structure exactly as it is online.” Both these statements turned out the be false, as the software did NOT download everything.
So after buying and installing the software, I discovered that it DID NOT download the entire site. It DID NOT download everything perfectly. So I read through the programme help file and there it was. The programme was not capable of downloading scripts. Now I can understand this, security reasons and such, but the website failed to mention this before purchase. Instead they left out this piece of important information and boasted 100% guarantee on downloading EVERYTHING.
So I contacted the company asking for a refund based on misleading advertising on their website and Google Ad. They responded that they would not refund, as it was clearly stated on their website that they did not offer refunds. It's funny how companies like this expect us to take their terms as gospel when it suits them in their defence, but at the same time they can make false or misleading statements in order to sell their products.
Another thing I seem to have fallen foul over is the company used to process the payment. SWREG was used to make the credit card payment. I went to their website to make a complaint against the site selling the software and to ask them for help in getting a refund. However, their contact only works it you are a customer or want to sign up to use their services. There is no general contact option. I filled in the details to make my complaint but instead of SWREG dealing with it, it was sent to the company I bought from. SWREG will not get involved as long as the company keeps responding to my complaint, even if they just say no each time. There is no way to contact SWREG regarding this matter, so it could go on for months with nothing happening. Also, they have a notice explaining that anyone who issues a charge back will be blacklisted. What sort of blackmail is that? I have also expressed my concerns over this to the Better Business Bureau.
So, the company will not issue a refund when they clearly broke the rules with their false and misleading advertising. The Credit Card processor will not even give an option or opportunity to contact them for help, but instead blackmail the consumers into backing off or being black listed. All I can do now is hope the Better Business Bureau will see fit to take action, and also to warn everyone who will read this to avoid these companies.
The site concerned is: http://www.web-site-downloader.com
They have no contact details other than a link to http://www.myhelphub.com Another reason to contact the BBB. By law all e-commerce sites must display an address and telephone number.
Both these sites and many others are run by:
WCCL Network, RCM #28011
14525 SW Millikan Way,
Beaverton, Oregon, 97005-2343
USA.
So, when buying software online, if you see a reference to WCCL Network or myhelphub, be very very wary. Also, when using your credit card online, avoid companies like SWREG where there is no way to contact the company direct with a problem. As much as I hate PayPal, at least you can contact them with a problem and they will try to deal with it.
Oh, one last thing, seems I'm not the only one who has a problem with these people. Here are a few links for you to read:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/304/RipOff0304734.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/306/ripoff0306901.htm
http://www.wendi.com/hypnosisforum/viewtopic.php?t=518
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Posted by gingernut76 on 2008-03-24 08:33:53 | Rating: | Views: 43
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| Blog Comments
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false advertising is merely a byproduct of a capitalist society. business will do anything they can to trick and deceive, hell we see it everyday on t.v. The company's definition of "whole web sites" or "copy" may not include everything you would expect the words to mean. "Whole web site" to them could simply mean just the text or "copy" could just mean whatever they decided to tell the program to copy. Is there ever an advertisement (tv, online, newspapers, or elsewhere) where 100% of what they say is or can be proven fact? Then who is to say what a fact is and isn't? In the end it doesn't really matter because for every one person that is willing to go through the process of dealing with a company designed to legally scam you out of money, there are the 1000s who don't try or quit in the process.
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Posted by depletedsoul
on 2008-03-24 20:52:58
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hey guys and dolls,
i wondering if i could get your opinions on current British advertising (bit cheeky - but if u don't as u don't get) : am currently doing the research stage of my thesis and would welcome any input!!
http://www.thoughts.com/till00/blog/...earch--10728 9/
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Posted by till00
on 2008-06-10 05:17:35
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