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Promises not kept
13/01/2004 The Star Articles of Law with Bhag Singh
When low airfare
advertisements began to appear in the media, there was at first disbelief.
It quickly transformed into excitement, prompting many people to plan
to travel by air to the advertised destinations.
As many could not
obtain seats at the advertised prices, there gradually was some
disappointment that eventually translated into a feeling of being aggrieved.
Misleading or
justified?
When the Minister
of Culture, Arts and Tourism stepped in to say that these complaints would
be investigated for being misleading it raised a suggestion of some wrong
doing which was vehemently denied.
However, the
controversy appears to be at an end with newspapers reporting that the
airline can continue advertising. This, however, has lead a reader wondering
what the whole controversy was about and what the legal issues are.
The essence of the
complaints seems to have been the extremely cheap fares advertised by Air
Asia that suggested that one could travel to nearby or distant destinations
at a cost below that of bus fares.
So those who could
not get seats at the prices mentioned in the advertisements felt aggrieved.
Here lay the crux of the matter.
What appeared in
the newspaper advertisements was only an announcement. It is not even an
offer in law, which can be accepted and thereby converted into a binding
arrangement. Such announcements are referred to as an invitation to a treat
that is an attempt to invite interested persons to pursue the matter
further.
As such these
announcements created no obligation in the context of contract law and
commercial transactions because these only tell the public what is available
and asks interested persons to enter into transaction that would then become
a binding arrangement.
It is only at this
stage that any misleading information would constitute a misrepresentation.
Whilst Air Asia
may have conducted its advertising campaign in an aggressive and innovative
manner thereby attracting greater attention, such advertisements are neither
something new nor unknown.
Hotels frequently
advertise rates as starting from a stated amount but a close examination of
the advertisement may disclose that the rate for the room is on a twin
sharing basis - though this may be in smaller print.
Housing developers
may advertise the sale of houses that everyone wants to buy but which not
every interested person will get to buy even though they are willing to pay
the asking price.
An acquaintance
once drove to a developer's office on seeing an advertisement announcing the
sale of apartment units at very attractive price.
However, he
discovered that there were a limited number of the units at that price and
they had been sold out!
On another
occasion an advertisement in a newspaper advertised room rates at a
reputable establishment in Singapore starting at almost half the normal and
known rates. The room was like any other hotel room though smaller than
average, but it did not have a window!
Creative
licence
The element of
misrepresentation would only exist if a person was made to commit to a
ticket at a certain price and later told that the price was higher or the
seat was no longer available. And for that matter if it was advertised that
all the tickets on a flight were at a particular price, but it turned out
that all of them were not.
In the case of
cheap airline advertisements the grievance arises not because the
advertisements are misleading but because many complainants chose to read
only part of the advertisement which excited them and ignored the other
parts which have to be read together so that the advertisement is viewed in
its entirety.
Therefore it may
be said that those who felt aggrieved have themselves to blame.
In such
advertisements the public may well be unhappy that the qualification to what
is otherwise attractive is not given the same prominence. This is indeed a
legitimate source of unhappiness but it is common occurrence and does not
affect legal rights.
As a matter of
fact not only are qualifications in many advertisements given less
prominence, they can also be so small as to be hard to read.
There have been
cases in the past which involved qualifications conditions or exceptions
being printed using a colour which strains the eye.
However except for
such extreme cases, the law allows a certain laxity to advertisements in
terms of being innovative and creative to attract attention in the broader
interest of commerce for the better welfare of society as a whole. |
