What action should we take in the case of false advertising?
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What action should we take in the case of false advertising?
We purchased a water conditioning system via a company for $7,000. We purchased this with the knowledge that we would qualify for a $500 tax credit that would be reimbursed at the end of the year we purchased the system. We were told this by the sales person who was given authorization to state this through the company. We are not doing our taxes and CPA’s are telling us that this does not qualify
for a tax credit. We were under the impression that we would be receiving an additional $500 come tax time to place on the system. This was not the case.
Asked on March 24, 2017 under Business Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
If the credit is in the contract of sale, then if you have not received it, you should have a straight forward "breach of contract" (violating what the contract says) lawsuit to recover it, easily brought in, for example, small claims court.
If it's not in the contract, you probably cannot recover the money. The only way you might be able to recover it is by alleging and providing fraud, which is a deliberate lie upon which you reasonably relied. But:
1) Being honestly mistaken is not fraud--you'd need evidence to show that he was intentionally lying to you; and
2) Your reliance on what was stated must be "reasonable"--but a court could easily conclude that it was NOT reasonable to rely on a salesman's tax advice without double checking or verifying it yourself.
With these two hurdles, there is a very good chance you would not win a fraud case.
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