False Advertisement

[lostowl]

i dont know if anyone will want this case but i believe in rhode island if you sue for false advertisement you can recover attorney fees from the company

im on ssi and i get this budget lifeline phone for free 250 minutes a month. in the box with phone has a flyer with some rates one of them is unlimited texting for 10$ a month. i been trying to get it and been very frustrating. they told me was a misprint but i know print shops have fail safes. after 3 days waiting for manager to call i ask for corporate number then they give me a supervisor who says "unlimited" it really means 1000 minutes because the unlimited plan is capped at 1000 minutes. i told her under my state law her company would have to pay my lawyer if i sued them successfully for false advertisement and she told me to go for it.

here is the flyer i received in the box with my phone

[LawResearcherMissy]

they told me was a misprint but i know print shops have fail safes.

I don't know where you get the idea that print shops don't ever make mistakes. They're constantly printing corrections for ads around here.

It's a misprint. There's nothing on their website making claims of unlimited texting, neither is there anything on their Facebook page making such claims.

Misprints happen, there is no "case".

[aaron]

Rhode Island defines as a deceptive trade practice, "Advertising goods or services with intent not to sell them as advertised". See R.I. Statues § 6-13.1-1(6)(ix). The question here appears to be one of intent - they claim that this was a mistake, not an intentionally deceptive representation.

[flyingron]

I'm confused as to what point you are trying to make. Texting and Minutes are different things.

[aaron]

I suspect they meant "1,000 messages".

[lostowl]

yea fail safes first the client and designer make sure that it is right before they make a negative to make a plate to put on a press and print however many thousands of copies. then when the client picks it up they look at it and why would they put a misprint in the box with my phone and send it anyways?

it was the first time i called they said must be a misprint but then 3 weeks later when i finally got the supervisor on the phone and had faxed them this flyer she told me they consider the unlimited to be 1000 minutes and that unlimited is capped to 1000 minutes which seems more like 10 cents a minute to me

its annoying i have 29 texts from who knows where on my phone and i cant even delete them because i don't have texting.

**edit** also i remember asking her why was there no Astrix near unlimited and a paragraph in fine print down bottom stating this and she replied to me that company policy caps unlimited to 1000 messages

[Mr. Knowitall]

The ad doesn't reference unlimited minutes. It only references unlimited texting.

[lostowl]

The ad doesn't reference unlimited minutes. It only references unlimited texting.

yea i meant texts sorry

also the only misprints that print shops print are due to laziness on the clients part because they ok after they supposedly proof read it

[LawResearcherMissy]

also the only misprints that print shops print are due to laziness on the clients part because they ok after they supposedly proof read it

So? Still doesn't make it false advertising. I'm afraid you aren't in a position to even enter the Lawsuit Lottery, let alone win it.

[chefcolby]

Can't even imagine a case, yes they have fail-safes but those too can fail, in my area of utah (Kmart, shopco, walmart, etc) are constantly running add corrections and making sure mistakes are corrected, im not kidding at least one store in my city is running an add correction every week, its normal for misprints because even proofers screw up. also there must have been more to the advertisement, ie the lawyer talk usually found at the bottom or the back of the ad, this is where the terms are discussed, and usually explain any caps they have on their plans. if that is missing then its diverted to the website or Facebook because those are printed in the ad, meaning missing terms on the add are located on their website.
they did not false advertise because to their business unlimited texting is 1000 texts, unfortunately their website doesn't show unlimited it shows 1000 this means it was a misprint and there is nothing more too it, it you keep up this idea to sue you will probably lose more then you will gain and from my point there is no way to win because there website says 1000 texts and the representative stated that it was a misprint which informed you of the mistake, now the only person holding this up is you.

now on your attorney fees, if i understand it correctly you can add those into your case as a "claim" or something like that but only if the case was something that was yours or you deserved in the first place and shouldn't have had to sue in the first place IE. you moved and the landlord didn't return your security deposit, would be acceptable in that because that was guaranteed to you as long as you followed your lease, not to someone who was told that it was a misprint and continued to pursue something that was clearly defined on their website.

please open your eyes it was a misprint, don't get the service, if you wan't to fight with somebody who is providing you a free service then good luck getting ANNUAL RECERTIFICATION on your budget mobile, if i know companies then if you do fight it even if you get it (which i doubt) you then wont be valid that next year and loose your service, trust me i know how companies work and they can do this, you wouldn't believe how many times my grandfather payed insurance then when he filed one claim here or there they covered it but soon after he was dropped, its common for companies to use this tactic.