Josephine Borg, director general (Consumer Affairs), has issued a public statement in accordance with Article 8 of the Consumer Affairs Act (Cap. 378), in which she said that Ms Evelina V. Batey, holder of ID card number no. 83100A, of the Russian-Maltese Cultural Association, has not honoured the decision delivered by the Consumer Claims Tribunal.

The dispute concerned the purchase of three tickets to attend a show entitled ‘Cinderella Ballet Performance’, which was advertised as presented by the Royal Moscow Ballet.

The consumer complained about the fact that in the show there were performances from local dance schools which were not mentioned in the show’s adverts. The consumer said that had she known that the show’s performance was not completely by performers from the Royal Moscow Ballet, she would not have purchased the tickets. Furthermore, the show’s advertisements specifically stated that there would have been 35 professional dancers who would be participating in the show but in reality only 16 took part in the local show.

The trader in question neither attended the tribunal’s sitting nor replied to the consumer’s claim. Due to this and due to the misleading adverts, the tribunal upheld the consumer’s claim and ordered the trader to refund the price of the three tickets, which amounted to €165. Moreover, the tribunal’s decision also ordered the trader, Evelina V. Batey, to pay expenses and interest with effect from the date of the decision.