• The radio spots advertising in 2017 promotion “We pay for grades” at Media Expert stores could have been misleading.
• Consumers did not learn from them that first they had to spend PLN 300, and they would receive the discount as late as during the next visit at the store.
• The persons who used the promotion will receive additional PLN 60 from the company.

Terg, the owner of the chain of Media Expert stores, organised promotion “We pay for grades” at the end of the 2016/2017 school year. The company advertised it, for example, on the radio.

“(…) Now at Media Expert we are paying for grades. Show off your child’s school report. You will get PLN 5 for each grade five and PLN 6 for each grade six. Come to Media Expert, and check how much you can get (…)” – that was the message heard by listeners.

The spot raised the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection’s doubts. “The advertisement failed to include information important to consumers. Having listened to it, they could have thought that they would receive cash or discount on the day on which they visit a store with the school certificate. They did not learn that first they had to spend at least PLN 300, and the discount would be available during the next visit at the store. Such a message mislead consumers. Some of them might not have gone to a store, had they known the promotion’s terms and conditions,” says Marek Niechciał, the president of UOKiK.

The Authority has issued a decision in which it accepted the company’s commitment to award additional PLN 60 to the clients who participated in “We pay for grades” promotion. The company has undertaken to inform consumers about the decision and compensation through its website, announcements in a nation-wide newspaper and e-mails to the persons who have given consent for personal data processing.

In order to receive the compensation, you have to prove you have used the promotion. Show the school report, proof that you purchased goods between 22 and 25 June 2017, and the discount card received then (if you don’t have it any more, submit a declaration that you used the promotion). Don’t wait any longer – you can apply for the money until 19 December 2018 at the latest. You will receive the PLN 60 in a bonus card, and will have one year to spend it at Media Expert stores.

Consumer support:

Phone: +48 801 440 220 or +48 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
Email: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Branches of the Consumer Federation
Consumer ombudsmen – in your town or district

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office 
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone: +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 314
Email: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL