Customers must never feel cheated.

Byline: NEIL WARWICK

IT HAS been proven time and time again that recessions drive innovation. However, if you operate in the service industry it is sometimes difficult to provide innovations through technological advancement.

Therefore, the temptation is to provide innovations through "special offers" and advertisements.

There has been proliferation in the service industry of two-for-one offers, discounts on particular days and sectors etc, which has, for the most part, been very good for consumers and is good for the economy as it stimulates consumer spending.

However, a balance must be struck between running a special offer and including so many disclaimers on an advertisement that the special offer looks disingenuous and you run the risk of getting the offer wrong and attracting negative publicity.

There have been a number of recent examples which highlight this. For example, there was an offer in a national publication offering a discount on a service aimed at couples.

Paraphrasing the offer that was put forward, it was "a fantastic introductory offer price of pounds x for a two-day service. The price is based on two people sharing".

Unfortunately the fantastic offer did not explain that the price was a cost per day, per person for two days, which resulted in a huge misunderstanding.

But who is to blame for this sort of mistake? Is it the publication? Is it the service provider themselves? Is the service provider bound by the printed offer? An advertisement is exactly what it says - an advertisement.

The service provider is not obliged to provide the service at the price offered. In fact the service provider in many of the cases has had to say to anybody trying to take advantage of the offer that this was a misprint and the offer could not be honoured.

The real legal recourse lies in the contract between the national publication and the service provider.

Unfortunately the consumers do not have any redress in this situation.

However, the net result is that consumers are left with a bad taste in their mouth.

It is therefore vital if you are a service provider wishing to advertise a "fantastic offer", that you carefully read the copy proof of the advert and ensure it says want you want it to say.

For information about how Dickinson Dees can help your business, contact Neil Warwick, partner, on [phone].