It is illegal for a business to offer a rebate, gift, prize or other free item to promote the sale of goods, services or land if it has no intention of providing it or it isn't provided within the time specified (or if no time is specified, within a reasonable time).
A business won't be in breach if the failure was due to something beyond its control, or the business and consumer can agree to a replacement rebate, gift or prize.
Example: It would be an offence to:
- offer a free gift in connection with the launch of a new line of goods without telling consumers that they must pay for the delivery of the gift
- tell consumers that if they buy certain goods they will win a prize when all they actually receive is the chance of winning the prize.