Maryland Settles With Far-Off Florist

When you check the phone directory for a local business, you expect that business to be located in your town, or at least in your general area. You don't expect it to be in another state -- hundreds of miles away.

Yet that's apparently what has happened with some consumers in Maryland, who complained to Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler. They said they placed an order with what appeared to be a local florist, which was actually based in Florida.

Misrepresentation

Gansler says he's reached a settlement with Derek Oliver, a Florida-based florist and Nationwide 411 Inc., also a Florida-based business.  He says Oliver and Nationwide 411 placed advertisements in Maryland telephone directory listings that represented Oliver's florist business was located in Maryland. 

According to Gansler, the listing included phone numbers with Maryland area codes and names such as Perry Hall Florist and Gifts, Dundalk Florist and Gifts, and Essex Florist and Gifts, that falsely suggested the Florida-based business was located in Maryland. 

Maryland's False Advertising Law prohibits advertisements in telephone directories that misrepresent the location of a business.

"Advertisers cannot mislead consumers regarding their location," said Gansler.  Consumers who want to shop with local merchants should be able to do so."

Both businesses denied violating any Maryland laws, but agreed to stop placing business advertisements in Maryland telephone directories that contain either a Maryland address or Maryland phone number unless they are located in Maryland.  The companies also agreed to disconnect the phone numbers that they had previously included in Maryland phone directories and to a $5,000 penalty.

The lesson for consumers may be to do a little more research before selecting a business out of the Yellow Pages.