PRINTER'S NO. 625
No. 587 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, BELL, COSTA, LEMMOND, MADIGAN, RHOADES,
TARTAGLIONE AND STACK, MARCH 9, 2001
REFERRED TO CONSUMER PROTECTION AND PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE,
MARCH 9, 2001
AN ACT
1 Prohibiting a deceptive business practice in the floral
2 industry; and providing for a private cause of action.
3 The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
4 (1) Pennsylvania consumers have been the victims of a
5 deceptive business practice within the floral industry that
6 misleads or deceives them into believing that they were
7 purchasing flowers directly from local florists.
8 (2) Unscrupulous floral businesses, physically located
9 outside the local calling area of consumers, are utilizing
10 local telephone listings and fictitious or assumed names to
11 misrepresent the geographic location of their businesses.
12 (3) Unsuspecting consumers are placing floral orders
13 with out-of-State floral shops or call-centers and incurring
14 additional charges for the transaction.
15 (4) The misrepresentation of the geographic location of
16 a floral business not only misleads consumers but also
17 financially harms local florists who lose business and the
1 Commonwealth which loses sales tax revenue.
2 (5) There exists a need for a law to prohibit the
3 deceptive business practice of misrepresenting the geographic
4 location of a floral business in an effort to protect both
5 consumers and local florists.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Short title.
9 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Floral
10 Transaction and Consumer Protection Act.
11 Section 2. Definitions.
12 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
13 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
14 context clearly indicates otherwise:
15 "Directory assistance." The disclosure of telephone number
16 information in connection with an identified telephone service
17 subscriber by means of a live operator or automated service.
18 "Local telephone directory." A listing of telephone numbers
19 that is distributed by a telephone company or directory
20 publisher to subscribers located in the local exchanges
21 contained in the directory. The term shall also include
22 directory assistance and electronic listings.
23 "Local telephone number." A telephone number with a local
24 exchange used by the provider of telephone service for
25 telephones physically located within the area covered by the
26 local telephone directory in which the number is listed. The
27 term does not include long distance numbers or 800-, 888- or
28 900- exchange numbers listed in a local telephone directory.
29 "Supplier." A person that solicits telephone orders for
30 floral arrangements whether or not the person deals directly
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1 with a consumer.
2 Section 3. Prohibited deceptive business practice.
3 It shall be considered a deceptive business practice and
4 unlawful for a supplier to misrepresent its geographic location
5 by listing a fictitious or assumed business name in a local
6 telephone directory if all of the following apply:
7 (1) The name misrepresents the supplier's geographic
8 location.
9 (2) The listing fails to identify the locality and state
10 of the supplier's business.
11 (3) The calls to the local telephone number are
12 routinely forwarded or otherwise transferred to a supplier's
13 business location that is outside the calling area covered by
14 the local telephone directory.
15 (4) The supplier's business location is located in a
16 county that is not contiguous to a county in the calling area
17 covered by the local telephone directory.
18 Section 4. Private cause of action.
19 A person may petition a court to enjoin the conduct
20 prohibited by section 3. The court may impose a civil fine of at
21 least $1,000 per day until the supplier complies with the order
22 to enjoin the prohibited conduct. The court may award reasonable
23 attorney fees and costs to the person bringing the action.
24 Section 5. Applicability.
25 The provisions of this act shall apply to telephone listings
26 in a local telephone directory published or updated for the
27 calling area at least 90 days after the effective date of this
28 act.
29 Section 6. Effective date.
30 This act shall take effect immediately.
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