This article is from page 5 of the 2006-01-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 5 JPG
CLARE businesses are getting letters from debt collectors and bills for thousands of Euro for ads which they say they were not even aware they ordered.
Spanish based company, European City Guides (ECG) has been sending unsolicited letters to Clare companies, says Paul Woulfe of the Citizen’s Information Centre (CIC).
“We have had numerous complaints about this company,” he said. “The form they send first asks for updated details on the business for inclusion in an inter-professional CD rom.
“This is cost free but further down the form, where the recipient is asked to sign, it says that signing is placing an order for an insertion in the guide which THE Drumellihy/Westby Group Water Scheme in Cree has been granted €12,715 in funding as part of the CLÁR top-up funding.
This will enable works amounting to €35,570 to be carried out at the site. The remaining amount will be paid by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and by private contribution from the Group members.
Three households will benefit from the scheme with savings of €4,238 per household. costs €857.
“And this also involves placing an order for the following two editions at the same cost each time.
“The form is very confusing and a lot of people have been caught, and then they get bills for thousands of Euro for insertions which they never intended to purchase,” said Paul.
Paul added that when business people refuse to pay up, the company hands the matter over to a Swiss-based international debt collection agency “and they send out very intimidating, legalistic letters and in some instances, there have been phone calls asking for payment every day.”
When the CIC brought complaints made to them forward to the director of consumer affairs’, they were informed by the communications unit that as the ECG is a Spanish based company, the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs has no powers to intervene.
But the spokeswoman at the unit informed the CIC that there are now a number of judgements against the company “with regard to breaches of Spanish misleading advertising legislation in forms circulated in 1998 and 1999. A further action was taken against ECG in March 2001 and the judgement was accompanied by a fine of €22,000.”
The spokeswoman said that in the last four years, the Spanish Consumer Department has “received more that 3,500 claims from 40 countries from companies and professional workers concerned by the ECG.”
The company changed the form which it has been sending out and the Spanish authorities have said that the new form is acceptable.
But while in theory the Spanish company could get a judgement against debt defaulters which could then be processed through the Irish courts, the CIC is advising people who have been getting bills not to pay up.
“We believe they are targeting small businesses who pay because they are afraid of having huge court bills if the matter goes to court in Spain.
“But there is not one single instance in which ECG has taken this course,” said Paul.
The Clare People put the issues raised to the company by email, as requested by them. There was no comment available at time of going to press.