Banned practices
There are 31 specific practices that have been banned outright by the
Consumer Protection (Unfair Practices) (Jersey) Law. You’ll find the list below. The law also covers a general ban on conduct below a level which consumers should expect, eg honest market practice and good faith. This general ban is to protect all consumers. A practice will be deemed unfair if it harms or is likely to harm the economic interests of the average consumer.
Endorsements or authorisations
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(a) | You should not claim that you are a signatory to a code of conduct when you’re not. |
| 1(b) | You must not display a trust mark or quality mark (or equivalent) without authorisation to do so. |
| 1(c) | You must not claim that a code of conduct is endorsed by a public or other body if it is not. |
| 1(d) | You must not claim that you, your business or product has been approved / endorsed / authorised by a public or private body if that is untrue. If you have approval / endorsement / authorisation, you must meet the required terms. For example, a plumber who claims that he is ‘Gas Safe’ registered, when he is not. |
Product availability
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(e) | You must not lure a consumer into believing that they can buy a product at a price when you already know that you can’t supply that product or have limited availability and you haven’t made the consumer aware of this. This is known as ‘bait’ advertising. |
| 1(f) | You must not lure consumers to purchase a product and then:
- refuse to show the advertised item to the consumer
- refuse to take orders for it or deliver it within a reasonable time
- show a defective sample of the product to convince the consumer to purchase a different product (known as bait and switch)
|
| 1(g) | You must not falsely claim that a product or special offer will only be available for a very limited time, or that it will only be available on particular terms for a very limited time, in order to force a consumer into making a quick decision to buy that product. This can take away the customer’s opportunity to make an informed decision. |
Communicating in other languages
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(h) | If your after sales service is only available in English and where you have communicated with the consumer in another language, you must inform them of this before the sale takes place. |
Illegally selling goods
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(i) | You must not state or create the impression that goods can be legally be sold when they can’t. |
Using consumer rights to make a sale
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(j) | You must not use legal consumer rights as a distinctive feature of your offer. For example, you should not claim that refunding or replacing faulty goods is only available in your shop. |
Advertorials and the media
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(k) | You must not use editorial content in the media to promote a product where the promotion has been paid for by a trader (advertorial) without making this clear to the consumer. |
Risks to personal security
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(l) | You must not make a false claim regarding risks to the personal security of consumers or their families if they don’t buy your product. |
Imitation goods
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(m) | You must not promote a product similar to one made by a particular manufacturer if this could deliberately mislead the consumer into believing that it was made by the same manufacturer when it is not. |
Pyramid schemes
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(n) | You must not establish, operate or promote a pyramid promotional scheme where a consumer pays for the opportunity to receive money that comes from the introduction of other consumers into the scheme, rather than from the sale of products. |
Closing down or moving premises
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(o) | You must not claim that you are about to cease trading or move premises when you are not. |
Claims about a product or market conditions
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(p) | You must not claim that a product can help you win a game of chance. For example a lottery or scratch card. |
| 1(q) | You must not falsely claim that a product is able to cure illnesses, dysfunction or malformations. |
| 1(r) | You must not give a consumer materially inaccurate information on market conditions relating to a product (or on the possibility of finding that product) to convince the consumer to buy that product at conditions which are worse than normal market conditions. For example, a trader bidding under a separate account for their own goods on eBay in order to increase the price the consumer will pay for those goods. |
Awarding competition prizes
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(s) | You must not claim to offer a competition or prize promotion without awarding the prizes described or a reasonable equivalent. |
Free products
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(t) | You must not claim that a product is ‘free’, ‘without charge’ or similar if the consumer has to pay anything other than the unavoidable cost of responding and collecting or paying for delivery of the item. |
Seeking payment
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(u) | You must not include in you marketing materials any invoice or document seeking payment which may give the impression that the consumer has ordered the product when they have not. |
Trade status
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(v) | You must not claim to be, or create the impression that you are, a consumer when you are acting in your trade, business or professional capacity. For example, a trader who advertises a used car for sale, does not mention that this is a trade sale and parks the car on the road to give the impression it is a private sale. |
After sales (availability in the EU)
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 1(w) | You must not give the impression to a consumer that after sales services for their product are available within the European Economic Area (EEA) if this service is only available in Jersey. |
Putting pressure on the consumer
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 2(a) | You must not create the impression that the consumer cannot leave premises until they have bought goods or services. |
| 2(b) | You must not ignore a consumer’s request to leave (and /or not return) when visiting their home. There are legal exceptions to this, for example Viscount Officers collecting debts. |
| 2(c) | You must not make persistent and unwanted contact with a consumer. For example:
- phone calls
- faxes
- emails
- texts
There are legal exceptions to this, for example Viscount Officers collecting debts. |
Insurance claims
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 2(d) | You must not ask a consumer to provide unnecessary and irrelevant information to prove a valid insurance claim, or fail to respond to important correspondence both of which could put the consumer off making that insurance claim. |
Advertising to children
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 2(e) | In advertisements you must not directly encourage a child to buy a product or persuade other adults to buy it for them. |
Payment for goods not ordered
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 2(f) | You must not demand payment for goods that were not ordered by a consumer (unless they have agreed to substitute goods in accordance with the Distance Selling (Jersey) Law). For example, a trader writes to consumers informing them of a new quality dishcloth which they are selling for £2.99. In the letter, the trader encloses one of the cloths for the
consumer to inspect and says that if the consumer does not return the cloth within seven days, then action will be taken to collect the £2.99. |
Using guilt to make a sale
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 2(g) | You must not tell a consumer that your job or livelihood will be at risk if they do not buy the product or service you are offering. |
Claiming a prize
The following commercial practice will be banned:
| 2(h) | You must not create a false impression that the consumer has already won, will win (or will on doing a particular act win) a prize, when in fact there is no prize, or, in order to claim the prize, the consumer has to pay money or incur a cost. |
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