An anonymous department store has great sales that I’ve enjoyed for years. A couple of weeks ago, I ran in to buy a belt and found that all belts, scarves, sunglasses, and some other accessories were clearly marked “Buy 1, Get 1 Free.” I took the belt, a scarf, and two pair of sunglasses to the register, only to find these items didn’t ring up the sale prices. I then spoke to a clerk who told me that the scarf and glasses were on “clearance,” so I couldn’t receive the Buy 1, Get 1 Free value. I asked for the manager, who insisted the register correctly rang up the prices. I left without even buying the belt. Should I have stood my ground? — Bullied Beverly

Dear Beverly: I bet you already know the answer to this question. Assuming the signs were truly clearly marked with the sale prices stated nothing about clearance of any kind, then the store’s legal responsibility is to honor their own signage pricing. (Of course, this doesn’t prevent the management from immediately thereafter moving certain merchandise to another spot and placing “Clearance” placards above these articles.)

According to the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov), when the purchaser is told that an article is “Free” if another article is purchased, the term Free specifies that the buyer pays nothing for that item and no more than the regular price for the other. With this being the case, we have a right to believe that the store merchant won’t immediately recoup the cost of this “free” merchandise by other deceptive means. One example is to jack up the cost of regularly-priced items that must be purchased or to substitute inferior merchandise.

USA Today (June 6, 2008) tell us that a “buy one, get one free” doesn’t necessarily mean that we must buy two items. Some stores ring up both articles at half-price which, of course, equals the price of the one at the higher price that we’d have to pay anyway.

False advertising deceives unsuspecting consumers. In fact, those newspaper and/or store ads that simply have the potential to be misunderstood by consumers may be construed as false advertising says the FTC, because consumers are led to believe that we’re getting a good deal or saving money. So in the future, if you ever feel that you’re the victim of false advertisement, please contact the FTC and file a complaint. The agency takes such claims seriously.

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