Competition Bureau slams Montreal donation bin operators for 'deceptive marketing'
Murky information masks for-profit ends, 'endangering' actual charities, agency concludes
Canada's Competition Bureau has issued a warning to two Montreal clothing donation bin operators, ordering them to indicate clearly that they are commercial, for-profit businesses.
The agency did not name the two operators, telling CBC News that it could not because it "is obligated by law to conduct its work confidentially."
In a news release, the bureau said the bins leave the "false or misleading impression" that all or at least part of the proceeds go to charitable organizations, when, in fact, clothing deposited in them is sold for a profit.
That contravenes the deceptive marketing provisions in the Competition Act, it said.
Actual charities receive less
The misleading information on the bins, which are often found in parking lots around the city, also has the net effect of reducing donations to actual charities, thereby "endangering" them, the bureau said.
"Misleading information on clothing donation bins has a negative effect on the charities that depend on the public's donations to survive," the bureau's senior deputy commissioner, Matthew Boswell, said in a statement.
Boswell said the Competition Bureau's warning and the corrected information that it wants on the bins will allow users to make informed decisions about where they opt to donate clothing.