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Don’t promise what you can’t deliver
By Lauren | February 3, 2012
Continuing my Friday series on keeping your business out of court, let’s take another story directly from the headlines. Heather Peters drew national attention when she successfully sued Honda in a California small claims court. The car manufacturer had reportedly advertised its Civic Hybrid as delivering 50 mpg. Ms. Peters alleged that, not only had her Civic Hybrid never delivered the promised mileage, it barely managed 30 mpg after a battery-related software update.
Apparently, Ms. Peters was not alone. A class action lawsuit was brought against Honda that would reportedly pay out $100-200 per owner along with a $1000 voucher toward a new car. (Would you want one? Just a question.) What has made Ms. Peters’ suit against Honda interesting to us legal types, though, is that she chose not to join the class action suit but, instead, to sue Honda in small claims court. Her strategy paid off - she was awarded $9,867 yesterday, and she was able to represent herself, saving on legal fees.
Recognizing that Ms. Peters could be the vanguard of a small army of Civic Hybrid owners who feel they were gypped on mileage, Honda announced today that it intends to appeal the small claims court verdict. Honda has apparently realized - as other manufacturers should - that class action settlements don’t necessarily sweep in all potential plaintiffs. Small claims court can offer a very attractive alternative venue for consumers who don’t want to accept miniscule class action settlements when products don’t perform as advertised.
Ms. Peters will probably need a lawyer if the appeal moves forward, but that’s really not the point. Instead of playing procedural games within the legal system, Honda should acknowledge that overselling the mileage on a hybrid car is lousy for customer relationships. Admitting to unrealistic optimism and toning down its ads would do a lot for Honda’s credibility. People buy hybrids because they want better mileage, and they don’t appreciate being promised more savings than they’ll actually get. If you’re responsible for advertising your company’s goods and services, take a step back and make sure you aren’t seducing your customers with inflated promises. Truth in advertising is not only required by law, it’s imperative if you want to keep your customers happy … and your business out of court.
Topics: Lauren Recommends, Risk Management, business communications, corporate responsibility, customer relations, ethics |
February 7th, 2012 at 12:02 am
Unfortunately, many business organizations get away with making false promises, despite the talk of the importance of ethics. This sad state of affairs must come to an end. Hopefully, economic reality will play its part in convincing business organizations to “walk the talk”/lead by example, in terms of ethical behavior.
Maxwell Pinto, Business Author
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_i_1?rh=k%3Amaxwell+pinto%2Ci%3Adigital-text&keywords=maxwell+pinto&ie=UTF8&qid=1323793453