{"id":10821,"date":"2015-12-01T00:43:42","date_gmt":"2015-12-01T04:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/living-safety-information\/cleo%e3%81%ae%e3%82%88%e3%81%8f%e3%81%82%e3%82%8b%e8%b3%aa%e5%95%8f%ef%bc%92%ef%bc%9a%e4%b8%8d%e5%85%ac%e6%ad%a3%e5%8f%96%e5%bc%95%e3%81%ab%e9%96%a2%e3%82%8f%e3%82%8b%e6%b6%88%e8%b2%bb%e8%80%85\/"},"modified":"2021-04-19T17:37:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T21:37:02","slug":"cleo-unfairpractices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/news\/cleo-unfairpractices\/","title":{"rendered":"CLEO’s Common Questions 2: Consumer Protection Act and Unfair Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Original Source: \u201cCommon Questions: Unfair practices: When sellers break the rules\u201d by Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)
\nhttp:\/\/yourlegalrights.on.ca\/common-question\/consumer-i-think-i-have-been-victim-unfair-practices-what-can-i-do<\/a>
\n\"cleo-upper\"<\/p>\n

QUESTION:
\nAs a consumer, I think I have been the victim of unfair practices. What can I do?<\/p>\n

ANSWER:
\nOntario’s Consumer Protection Act has many detailed rules for different types of consumer transactions. But one general rule applies to almost all of them: Sellers are not allowed to use “unfair practices” to get people to buy their goods or services.<\/p>\n

When does the rule apply?<\/strong>
\nThe Consumer Protection Act applies only to “consumer agreements”. This means that the consumer must be buying something for personal use, not to use in a business.<\/p>\n

The Act applies to both:
\n\u2022 goods, for example, household items, furniture, appliances, electronics, or clothing
\n\u2022 services, for example, cell phone or internet service, fitness club membership, or car repairs<\/p>\n

It applies no matter where the sale takes place, for example, at home, in a store, over the phone, on a website, or by mail or e-mail. But both of the following must be true:
\n\u2022 the buyer or the seller is in Ontario when the sale happens
\n\u2022 the total amount charged is more than $50<\/p>\n

Some kinds of services are not covered by the Act because they are covered by other laws. Examples are financial services, apartment rentals, and professional services like lawyers, doctors, and dentists.<\/p>\n

What are unfair practices?<\/strong>
\nThe unfair practices that are banned by the Consumer Protection Act fall into two main categories. One involves making false or misleading statements. Here are some examples:
\n\u2022 saying that the product or service is of better quality than it really is
\n\u2022 saying it is only available for a limited time if that’s not true
\n\u2022 telling the consumer they’re getting a special price when it’s really not very different from other sellers’ prices<\/p>\n

The other kind of unfair practice includes various kinds of extreme and unfair sales tactics. For example, sellers must not:
\n\u2022 take advantage of a consumer’s language difficulty, lack of knowledge, or disability
\n\u2022 charge far more than what is reasonable
\n\u2022 pressure someone to buy something that the seller knows they cannot afford
\n\u2022 use extremely one-sided contracts
\n\u2022 use fear or threats<\/p>\n

What can a victim of unfair practices do?<\/strong>
\nWhen a seller uses any unfair practice, the buyer has the right to cancel the agreement within one year.
\nAnd if the buyer cancels, they have the right to a full refund, except for the value of:
\n\u2022 any goods that they already consumed
\n\u2022 services they have used<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Consumer Services website<\/a> has sample cancellation letters<\/a>.
\nIf the seller refuses to refund the money, or breaks other rules in the Consumer Protection Act, the buyer can complain to the Ministry of Consumer Services. There is more information and a complaint form<\/a> on the Ministry website.<\/p>\n

Consumers who have been victims of unfair practices or other violations of the Consumer Protection Act can also sue the sellers in court.
\nIf they are claiming $25,000 or less, consumers would file their claim in Small Claims Court. They must start the claim within two years after they knew about the problem.<\/p>\n

There is information about Small Claims Court on the Ministry of the Attorney General website: http:\/\/www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca\/english\/courts\/scc\/<\/a>
\nRELATED RESOURCE:
\nUnfair practices: When sellers break the rules<\/p>\n

RESOURCE NOTES:
\nFor more information on your rights you will find a range of resources in CLEO’s Consumer Series.<\/p>\n

**This article gives general legal information. It is not a substitute for getting legal advice about a particular situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Original Source: \u201cCommon Questions: Unfair practices: When sellers break the rules\u201d by Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":11693,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[280],"tags":[299,303],"class_list":["post-10821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-community-legal-education-ontario","tag-living-safety-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10821"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14176,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10821\/revisions\/14176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jss.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}