Disclaimer in description

Tiglet

A friend of mine has a boat with a mooring. Along with the mooring are a number of services (showers, laundry, etc.) but the owner of the marina now wants to close these down (while still charging the same price, of course).

The mooring was advertised as having all the services, but the advert included a disclaimer that says:

These particulars are intended as a fair description of the mooring site/vacant berth and are prepared as a guideline only. They do not constitute part of an offer or contract

I know that the Sale Of Goods Act says that goods must be as described, and that disclaimers such as this cannot be used to wriggle out of that, but does it also apply to services?

Thanks

Hintza

Sounds like they are struggling.

How long is the lease, how long left to run? If it is a 30 day rolling lease then there is not much he can do (except move).

If it is longer he should probably start looking for another mooring.
Depending on T&Cs it sounds as if they may be in breach of contract and you friend should be able to terminate the contract. Could also be viewed as false advertising.

Fight this and it will cost best to either come to an agreement or move.

Tiglet

It's a rolling contract - I'm not sure of the exact term, but newcomers sign up tor three years.

I think the people are trying to come to an agreement over this, but one thing they are bothered about is that the owner may subcontract the facilities to another company who may either close them down or start charging for something they have already paid for.

I don't think the advert was false - the services advertised do exist. But what I'm trying to find out is whether the advert means that they have a legal obligation to provide the services. If they do then, even if a new company does take over, they will be able to say that they have already paid for the services as part of the existing mooring fee.

bod1467

What will likely apply here will be the Sale of Goods and Services Act 1982.

System

Is this any different to an advert that says' picture is for illustration only and not the actual model' ?

The contract is the bit that counts.

You may have a long shot chance of suing for false advertising but I doubt it.

paddyrg

Form a tenants/moorants association with the other renters, and bargain collectively?

Tiglet

Thanks for your input, people.:beer:

Having thought about this a bit more, I think it's the history of the site that defines the moorings as being fully serviced, not the advert.

But I think the advert means that they have an obligation to maintain the services for three years from whenever the last person signed up, because they could have said something in the advert about the services being taken away, but they didn't.