Budapest, 12 October 2022 - The Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) found that advertisements by the dental chain operator MindentMent deceived consumers. Having committed infringement for the first time, the Hungarian small business voluntarily corrected the problems, so the authority issued a warning instead of a fine.
The investigation by the Hungarian Competition Authority revealed that the dental clinic chain operator MindentMent Health Services Kft. had pursued commercial practices that are deemed unfair to consumers on several points. The undertaking was unable to substantiate some of the claims published through its website and social media advertisements (e.g. “market leader”, “the most favourable prices in the country”, “double guarantee unique nation-wide”, “environmentally conscious clinic”). The undertaking’s practices of displaying one-sided customer opinions also proved to be illegal: the company only published favourable feedback on its website, omitting to inform consumers of that fact.
During the procedure, the dental clinic chain was ready to cooperate with the Hungarian Competition Authority: they admitted some of their violations, modified their unsubstantiated advertising claims, and corrected their deceptive practices in displaying opinions. The GVH’s Competition Council also took into account the fact that the company is classified as a small and medium-sized enterprise, and that it committed a competition law violation for the first time. The GVH therefore refrained from imposing a fine and issued a warning to the undertaking. At the same time, the Hungarian Competition Authority ordered the undertaking to develop appropriate corporate procedures to avoid similar infringements in the future, and to demonstrate to the GVH that it had done so within the time limit set.
Official registration number of the case: VJ/2/2021.
Press Office of the GVH