Dann fines ATV dealers $70K

 
 

Dann fines ATV dealers $70K for adding extra fees onto purchase price of vehicles. LANCASTER - Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann filed a settlement agreement with Ackers Inc., the parent company of ASK Powersports, based in Lancaster.

The company was fined $70,000 in costs and civil penalties, with $45,000 suspended upon full compliance with the settlement, according to documents filed in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court Nov. 15.In May 2006, the Attorney General's office sued the motorcycle and ATV dealer following complaints the company routinely slipped "freight" and "dealer" fees - sometimes totaling more than $600 - into sales contracts, unbeknownst to customers.

That practice violated the state's Consumer Sales Practice Act and the Advertisement and Sale of Motor Vehicles Rule, according to documents filed in the Franklin County Common Pleas court.
Those statutes stipulate that a motor vehicle dealer may not "advertise any price for a motor vehicle unless such price includes all costs to the consumer except tax, title and registration fees and a documentary service charge."

But in court documents, the Attorney General's office alleged that ASK was advertising motorcycles and ATVs for certain prices. However, those prices differed from what consumers actually paid for the vehicles because of additional freight, assembly and dealer service charges.

As a result, the company must pay restitution to any customer wrongfully charged those fees within two years of the Nov. 15 settlement. For more on this story please visit www.lancastereaglegazette.com

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