Georgia

Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Suite 356
Atlanta, GA 30334-9077
(404) 651-8600/(800) 869-1123
http://consumer.georgia.gov/consumer-services

To file a complaint online, click here.

Georgia’s Laws

Here’s a snapshot of Georgia’s laws regarding deceptive advertising:

Georgia Code § 10-1-372: Lists a number of acts that are deemed deceptive trade practices, including, but not limited to, advertising goods or services with the intent not to sell them as advertised.

Georgia Code§ 10-1-420: Echoes Georgia Code § 10-1-372 (above), and prohibits the use of advertisements when the advertiser has no intent to sell the goods or services as advertised.

Georgia Code § 10-1-421: Prohibits the use of false or fraudulent statements in advertisements.

Possible Penalties

Some of the penalties that fraudulent or deceptive advertisers may suffer in Georgia include:

• Injunction (Georgia Code § 10-1-373) and (§ 10-1-423);

• Up to $2,000 for each willful violation of the laws against deceptive advertising (Georgia Code § 10-1-397);

• General damages (Georgia Code § 10-1-399);

• Exemplary damages when the advertiser intentionally violated the law against deceptive advertising (Georgia Code § 10-1-399).

Small Claims Court in Georgia

If you’re not trying to recover big bucks, but rather just trying to recoup the money you spent on a product or service after being duped by a false ad, then you might consider filing a lawsuit in Small Claims Court.

For general info about filing a lawsuit in Small Claims Court, click here.

For info on how to file a Small Claims lawsuit in Georgia, click here.

Researching Consumer Complaints

To obtain copies of complaints consumers have filed against a business, you can send Freedom of Information requests to:

Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection
2 Martin Luther King Jr Dr.
Suite 356
Atlanta,GA 30334-9077

Georgia Department of Law
40 Capitol Square SW
Atlanta, GA 30334-1300

A sample Freedom of Information request can be found here.