A seven-count civil lawsuit against an auto dealership and its affiliated promotions firm, both in Columbus, has been filed by the Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill.
In the complaint for injunction, restitution, civil penalties and costs, the defendants are identified as Heritage Automotive Sales LLC, 5150 N. Indianapolis Road and Budget Direct Mail Promotions LLC, 1970 St. James Place.
Both businesses, owned by Loren White, are accused of making misrepresentations and actions early last year that are “unfair, abusive and deceptive” by violating Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act and Promotional Gifts and Contests Act, the complaint states.
In his filing, Deputy Attorney General Mark M. Snodgrass states the civil suit concerns a “Giving Back Sales Event” held at Heritage Automotive from March 8 through March 16, 2019.
The promotions company sent mailings to 40,000 Indiana households that included scratch-off game pieces that indicated each recipient had won one of six specified prizes: $10,000, $5,000, $1,000, $500, a 55-inch flat-screen TV, or a Yamaha ATV, Snodgrass wrote in the complaint.
When 142 Hoosiers arrived at Heritage Automotive to claim their prizes, each was subjected to a sales pitch soliciting the purchase of a vehicle, according to the complaint.
After the pitch was over, residents were informed they had not won any of the six high-value prizes. Instead, they were given a $5 gift card to either Kroger or Walmart, Snodgrass stated.
The promotional mailings only list the high-end prizes, declaring that “everyone’s a winner,” but make no mention regarding the lower-valued gift cards, Snodgrass wrote.
“Most car dealers are honest, hard-working professionals,” Hill stated in a news release. “Unfortunately, every industry has its share of individuals who seem bent on skirting the law to maximize profits.”
While there have been promotions most people might consider deceptive, Columbus Police information officer Lt. Matt Harris says businesses can skirt the law, rather than break it, by including tiny, hard-to-read print that actually spells out the truth about the promotion.
But in this case, the mailing failed to include various notices required by Indiana law, Snodgrass wrote in the lawsuit.
For example, the promotion did not contain the name and address of the promoter (Budget Direct Mail Promotions). It also failed to provide the odds of winning in immediate proximity of each prize listing, the retail value of each prize, and a disclosure that each recipient may be required or invited to hear a sales presentation to claim their prize, according to court documents.
Hill’s office is requesting that every person who received a prize mailing and attended the sales event be provided $500. It also asks the defendants to pay for expenses incurred in the attorney general’s investigation and prosecution, as well as civil penalties for violating four state codes. The amount of those penalties will be determined later at a trial, Snodgrass wrote in the lawsuit.
The complaint also seeks a permanent injunction to keep both businesses from engaging again in that type of promotion, as well as “all other just and proper relief,” the document states.
The two companies have been ordered to respond in writing no later than 23 days after the complaint was filed on Nov. 20. If there is no response, a judgment by default may be rendered for the relief the State of Indiana is demanding, Snodgrass stated.
Claims made in a lawsuit represent only one side of the case and may be contested in later court action.
