How to Sue Someone for False Advertising

Have you ever read an advertisement and bought a product because of it and then found out that it wasn’t like that at all? Or have you ever read an ad and then gone to buy the product and found out that the product they are selling for that price and the one they advertised are two different products? If you made the purchase and learned of the difference after the fact, your first reaction would be to return the item and get your money back. But if that fails, can you sue for false advertising? Here are a few things to follow when suing for false advertising.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Legal advice
• Advertisements

How to sue someone for false advertising

1. Keep a copy of the newspaper or magazine advertisement.
2. Keep a copy of any brochure that advertises this product.
3. Do not use your product as it will be the key evidence in your lawsuit.
4. If you cannot bring the product to court because of its size - ie: car, table, furnace - then have a photographer take pictures and then have that person swear an affidavit to validate the photographs.
5. You will need to subpoena witnesses involved with the brochure or newspaper ads who can verify that the ads were printed according to the instructions of the business.
6. It would be helpful to get copies of the work order and invoices to verify their instructions.
7. You might want to subpoena the employee(s) responsible for creating the ads.
8. You will need to subpoena the employee(s) who sold you the product.

Tips & Warnings

• Before filing your claim, you might want to get some legal advice. The court office will have phone numbers of lawyers who offer free minutes of legal advice.
• If you did not make a purchase, it will be difficult to prove damages caused by the ad since there was no money put out by you in the first place.