Washington Administrative Code › Title 308 - Licensing, Department of (See also Titles 36, 98 and 196) › Chapter 308-420 - Camping resorts-Contracts-Resale, etc › Section 308-420-220 - Advertisements

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) No camping
			 resort operator or salesperson shall use advertisements or sales promotion
			 literature that are deceptive, false, or misleading.
(2) Advertisements or sales promotion
			 literature that offer any gift, prize, award, sweepstakes, premium, free items,
			 or item of value as an inducement to the recipient to buy a camping resort
			 membership, visit a camping resort property, complete a tour of a camping
			 resort property, receive a sales presentation, or contact salespersons shall be
			 subject to the following provisions:
(a) The
			 name of the operator providing the services which are the subject of the
			 advertisement or sales promotion shall appear on the front or first page of the
			 offer. If the offer is made by an agent or independent contractor employed or
			 authorized by the operator, or is made under a name other than the registered
			 name of the operator, the name of the operator shall be more prominently and
			 conspicuously displayed than the name of the agent, independent contractor, or
			 other name.
(b) No item or
			 promotion may be labeled gift, prize, award, sweepstakes, premium, free, or the
			 like if the intended recipient is required to purchase a camping resort
			 contract or expend any sum of money other than travel costs to attend a sales
			 presentation or pay any shipping and handling charges to receive or redeem the
			 item.
(c) The use of any printing
			 styles, graphics, lay-outs, text, colors, or formats on envelopes or on the
			 offer which implies, creates an appearance, or would lead a reasonable person
			 to believe, that the offer originates from or is issued by or on behalf of a
			 government or public agency, public utility, public organization, insurance
			 company, credit reporting agency, bill collecting company or law firm, unless
			 the same is true, is prohibited.
(d) All references to the size, quantity,
			 identity, value, or quality of any incentive must be accurate and
			 correct.
(e) All references to the
			 odds of receiving any particular incentive must be accurate and
			 correct.
(f) References that
			 represent directly or by implication that the number of participants has been
			 significantly limited or that any person has been selected to receive a
			 particular incentive unless fact are prohibited.
(g) No offer shall be labeled a notice of
			 termination or notice of cancellation.
(h) The offer, plan, program or the
			 affiliation, connection, association, or contractual relationship between the
			 person making the offer and the operator may not be represented if they are not
			 the same.
(i) The advertisement or
			 sales promotion literature shall identify each item and its retail fair market
			 value. To determine the retail fair market value, the following methods may be
			 used:
(i) Approximate retail sales price of
			 the item in the trade area in which the offer is made; or
(ii) Approximate retail sales price in the
			 trade area of similar items of comparable quality if the item is not available
			 in the trade area in which the offer is made;
(iii) Appraisals adjusted to local retail
			 fair market value;
(iv) Only if
			 local retail fair market value cannot be determined by the methods set forth
			 above then it may be established by multiplying by three the operator's actual
			 cost of the item.
(j) If
			 the item is one or more of a larger group, and if offered or given on a random
			 basis, the advertisement or sales promotion literature must disclose the actual
			 odds of receiving each item. The odds shall be stated in Arabic numerals in
			 ratio form and if the odds are not printed on the front or first page of the
			 offer, then the location of the odds must be disclosed on the front or first
			 page in a type size that is equal to or larger than standard text type used on
			 the front or first page of the offer.
(k) If receipt of the advertised item is
			 contingent upon certain restrictions or qualifications which the recipient must
			 meet, then a clear and complete disclosure of those restrictions and whether
			 they apply to receipt of the gift or acceptability to buy into the program,
			 must be made in the offer. Restrictions that must be disclosed include, but are
			 not limited to the following:
(i) The deadline
			 by which the recipient must buy a camping resort membership, visit a camping
			 resort property, complete a tour of a camping resort property, receive a sales
			 presentation, or contact a salesperson in order to receive an item, if any such
			 deadline exists;
(ii) The days and
			 hours during which visits may be made, tours may be taken, or sales
			 presentations received and the approximate length in hours of such visits,
			 tours or sales presentations if any visit, tour, or sales presentation is
			 necessary in order for the recipient to receive the item; and
(iii) Any requirement such as age, marital
			 status, financial qualifications, or that both husband and wife must be
			 present.
(l) No camping
			 resort operator or salesperson shall make any offer of an item when the
			 operator or salesperson knows or has reason to know that the item is not
			 readily available;
(m) Any
			 restriction or requirement that time, money or effort must be expended by the
			 recipient of an item in order for the recipient to use the item must be
			 disclosed in the advertisement or sales promotion literature. Examples of such
			 restrictions or requirements include any items that require assembly by the
			 recipient, travel or other entertainment gifts or prizes for which there are
			 limitations on the dates or times when the recipient may use the item, or which
			 require nonrefundable reservation deposits or additional travel costs in order
			 for the recipient to use the travel or other entertainment gift or
			 prize.
(n) Provisions explaining
			 any conditions to qualify for a gift, prize, award, sweepstakes, premium, free
			 item, or any item of value must be in type at least equal to or larger than the
			 average type size on the face page of the advertisement or sales promotion
			 literature.