There's a company who helps people rent apartments. You go to their site, search, a map appears with markers at specific locations. You see a location you like. Maybe it's on a beach. Maybe it's on a river. Maybe's it's on a famous boulevard. Maybe it's on a quiet street.
You rent the place. A few days before you arrive you get instructions. Those instructions don't lead to the location that was marked on the map they lead somewhere else a 1/2 a kilometer away.
Bringing it up with the company you're told it's the company policy that the locations shown may not be accurate. Buried in the their privacy policy:
The Platform may also display the Accommodation's approximate geographic location on a map, such that a user can see the general area of the Accommodation
Note this privacy policy is directed at hosts, not the guests. The full paragraph
Your public Listing page will always include some minimum information such as the city and neighborhood where the Accommodation is located, your listing description, your calendar availability, your public profile photo, your responsiveness in replying to Guests’ queries, and any additional information you share with other Members. Your public Listing page may also include aggregated demand information (such as number of page views over a period of time). Parts of your public Listing page may be displayed in other parts of the Platform to other Members and/or Third Party platforms for marketing purposes. The Platform may also display the Accommodation’s approximate geographic location on a map, such that a user can see the general area of the Accommodation.
This is the sum total if information claimed to make it clear to prospective guests that locations shown when searching for apartments may not be accurate.
So I have 2 main questions
Is this a case of false advertising and misrepresentation?
Looking around the net in general it seem like it is. Hiding behind fine print does not appear to be a valid an excuse for basically making it appear that you're renting at a specific location.
If it is a valid case of false advertising and misrepresentation how does it get prosecuted?
In other words is there an incentive for some lawyer to pursue such a case or is the best that happens is the company in question refunds the money spent on the accommodation, making it not worth a lawyer's time, and the company is free to continue their false advertising and misrepresentation.
Does the practice have to be common? In other words let's say only 1% of accommodations have a false location. Does it matter given their official policy is that the locations can be false or do they need lots of complaints before it matters?