Tiger Direct Inc., the Miami-based computer direct marketer, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it made false and misleading statements in its ads and promotional materials about its on-site warranty service, the FTC said yesterday.
The federal agency alleged that Tiger Direct represented that it would provide one-year, on-site warranty service for Tiger-brand computer systems, which it depicted in its ads as including a keyboard, speakers and a mouse, and that it would provide such warranty service within a reasonable period of time.
In fact, the FTC said, the company provided on-site service only in limited circumstances; would not provide such service for the computer mouse, keyboard and speakers; and often did not complete repairs in a timely fashion.
The proposed settlement would prohibit Tiger Direct from misrepresenting the terms and conditions of its on-site warranty and require it to comply with the relevant provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the FTC’s Pre-Sale Availability Rule and the Disclosure Rule.
Tiger Direct advertises, sells and distributes computer products, including hardware, software and accessories, in catalogs, magazines and package inserts; by direct mail; and on the Internet. Tiger Direct sells brand name computer products–such as Compaq, Hitachi and Toshiba–as well as its own “Tiger” brand. Its ads and promotional materials contained statements such as “ONE-YEAR ON-SITE WARRANTY!” for its Tiger-brand computer “complete systems,” the FTC said.
