Hwang Cui-hwa

Case:

Key Words:

electric appliance repair, service provider, service advertisement

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of October 19, 2011 (the 1041st Commissioners' Meeting), Disposition Kung Ch’u Tzu No. 100178

Industry:

Repair of Audio and Video Electronic Products and Electric Appliances (9523)

Relevant Laws:

Article 21(3) applies mutatis mutandis to Article 21(1) of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. A company reported that Hwang Cui-hwa, the person in charge of Eastern Taipei Electric Appliance Service station, had posted in the 2010-2011 Taipei City Business Yellow Pages (Northern Taipei – Shilin and Beitou) published by Chunghwa Yellow Pages Co., Ltd. a service advertisement containing the wording of"Hitachi air conditioner series; Main Office Service Division Tel.: 27138877 (representative) and Repair Service Hotline: 27216686 (representative)". The said service advertisement and the other thirteen small advertisements on the same page (altogether hereinafter referred to as the advertisements" all offered repair services for"electric appliances of major brands, including Teco, Sanyo, Sampo, Panasonic, Tatung, Westinghouse, Whirlpool, GE, Toshiba, LG, Kolin Mitsubishi, Sony, Chimei, etc., with a few electric appliance items listed for example, such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and contact telephone numbers for locations in Taipei City, Taipei County before the administrative reorganization, and different areas. However, it was not clear whether each of the advertisers was really a repair service provider authorized by the major electric appliance makers or served as their agent or distributor. The advertisements were suspected of being false, untrue and misleading representations and the FTC was requested to look into the matter.
2. The advertisements contained the names of major electric appliance brands and listed a few electric appliance items as examples and contact telephone numbers for locations in Taipei, Taipei County before the administrative reorganization and different areas. None of them showed the name of the business providing the repair services or indicated whether the service provider was legally authorized or served an agent or distributor of the manufacturers. The fourteen advertisements on the same page were in independent boxes and carried different service numbers. It was impossible to know they had been posted by the same business. Take the wording of"Hitachi air conditioner series; Main Office Service Division Tel.: 27138877 (representative) and Repair Service Hotline: 27216686 (representative)" for example, consumers would, at first glance, normally interpret the repair services were provided by the manufacturer or the service provided had been authorized by the manufacturer or served as an agent or distributor for the manufacturer. In fact, all the fourteen small advertisements had come from Hwang Cui-hwa, the person in charge of Eastern Taipei Electrical Appliance Service Station, who admitted she was not an authorized agent or distributor for any of the major electric appliance makers. Apparently, the advertisements could easily make consumers have mistaken ideas about the identity and qualification of the service provider and thus have an effect on their trading decisions. They were considered misleading representations in violation of Paragraph 3, Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law and Paragraph 1 of the same Article could apply mutatis mutandis. The Commission therefore ordered Hwang to immediately cease the false, untrue and misleading representations, and also imposed on Hwang Cui-hwa an administrative fine of NT$50,000 according with the first section of Article 41 of the Fair Trade Law.

Appendix:
Huang Cuihhua's (Easter Taipei Electrical Appliance Service Station) Uniform Invoice Number: 78067982

Summarized by Ho, Yen-Jung; Supervised by Yang, Hsiu-Yun