Opinion ID: 2192361
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Promotion

Text: Vacation Ventures, Inc. (VVI), a Florida corporation, markets vacation packages. It sells certificates for these packages to retailers who distribute them to consumers as part of sales promotions. The certificates allow consumers to start a process to obtain VVI's vacation packages, which are subject to various conditions and qualifications. After investigating the experiences that certain retailers in other areas of the United States had had with VVI, Luskin's purchased 14,600 VVI travel certificates for $78,180. Luskin's advertised the promotion by newspaper ads and on television. Set forth below is the text of the newspaper ad. The reproduction is not to scale. In brackets behind a line of text is the measured height of the lettering in the actual newspaper ad. Also set forth in the ad were pictures and descriptions of color televisions, air conditioners, camcorders, a dehumidifier, a cellular telephone, a display pager, a sound system, and computers. In the television advertisements of the promotion the audio portion stated the minimum purchases required for free airfare to the particular destinations, but only a written text, briefly appearing visually on the screen, advised Minimum hotel stay required. See store for details. The Agency found that [p]rior to making a purchase at Luskin's, the consumer knew from the advertisements that: (1) free airfare was contingent upon the purchase of the requisite dollar amount of goods; (2) the airfare was offered through VVI which is not affiliated with Luskin's; (3) applicable taxes applied; and (4) a minimum hotel stay was required. The details of how the free airfare could be obtained were set forth in a threefold, color brochure, purchased by Luskin's from VVI. It described the vacation packages, identified the hotels, stated the room rates, set forth a page of terms and conditions, and included a reservation request form. As found by the Agency, [t]he VVI brochure discloses that the consumer is required to pay the following costs: (1) a $15.00 per person non-refundable processing fee; (2) seven [for Florida] to twelve [for Hawaii] nights hotel accommodations at the non-discounted or `rack' rate; (3) three meals at $25.00 per person on the `Discovery Cruise' (if the Bahamas vacation were chosen); (4) airfare between islands at rates set by VVI (if the Hawaiian vacation were chosen); (5) air tax; (6) fuel surcharges; (7) airport departure tax; (8) hotel tax; (9) port and service charges; (10) U.S. Government cruise passenger user fee; (11) Bahamian departure tax; and (12) hotel service charge. The brochure further advises that the consumer must state first, second, and third preferences for departure dates for the vacation destination selected, that VVI must have forty-five days notice in advance of the first choice departure date, and that the succeeding choices must each be fifteen days apart. No requested vacation date was guaranteed, and all dates were subject to availability. There were also dates when travel was not available at all, including major holidays. The reservation request form portion of the VVI brochure was referred to by the parties as the travel certificate. Each certificate bore a separate, preprinted, inventory control number which presumably identified it as one of the certificates sold to Luskin's. It was necessary for Luskin's to countersign and date a certificate when it was delivered to a buyer. Buyers who were interested in pursuing the promotion furnished VVI identifying information, three choices of dates, and a non-refundable processing fee of $15.00 per person. If VVI confirmed availability of one of the dates, the consumer had to make a down payment, or payment in full, to VVI within ten days, at the risk of additional costs or of loss of monies previously paid. The record does not reflect the total number of travel certificates issued to customers of Luskin's out of the 14,600 certificates purchased by Luskin's from VVI. Only 128 travel certificates were completed and sent to VVI and, of these, only eleven certificates were actually used for one of the vacations described in the VVI brochure. The Agency found that the brochure, with the included travel certificate, was not furnished by Luskin's to a buyer until delivery of the goods that had been purchased. The president of Luskin's testified that a sample of the brochure was available in each of the Luskin's stores for review by customers. Through the Agency's own advertising, it located four customer witnesses who testified at the hearing. None of them saw a sample of the VVI brochure on display at the stores where they made their purchases. Nor did the salespersons volunteer details to those customer witnesses and, when asked, generally did not explain the promotion beyond the information presented in the Luskin's advertisements. Luskin's, however, did prepare a computer printout that listed the principal requirements for utilizing the VVI vacation package. This printout was affixed to the sales ticket at the time of purchase. Thus, it appears that all customers who made purchases from Luskin's in the minimum required amount as set forth in Luskin's advertisements received a brochure, including a valid travel certificate, whether those customers were aware of the promotion or not. No customer, however, received the brochure prior to consummating the required minimum purchase. Those customers who took delivery at the point of sale received the brochure at that time, and those customers who had Luskin's make delivery did not receive the certificate until that delivery was made.