Retailers drop ‘interest-free’ ads
OFT rules against misleading claims
September 12 2002
Five UK retailers have agreed to stop advertising ‘interest free’ credit deal after intervention from the Office of Fair Trading.
Courts, Comet, Powerhouse, Time Computers and Dabs.com were all advertising interest free credit, 0% APR and similar deals for their products. In each case, interest was payable from the date of the agreement if a lump sum was not paid off in full by the end of the interest free period.
The OFT has ruled that such adverts break the law and belives they could mislead the public, and has already persauded seven other retailers to drop the practice.
John Vickers, Director General of Fair Trading, said: ‘I welcome the decision taken by these companies and urge other companies to follow without delay. When a consumer signs an interest free deal, they need to know they are getting just that.”
