(Ústí nad Labem/Prague, May 15, 2014) The amendment of the Act on Consumer Protection imposed new information obligations on companies organising sales demonstration events. However, the Czech Trade Inspection Authority most frequently finds out failures to meet these obligations or avoidance of the rule. Some companies fail not only to meet the obligation to announce organized events, but also fail to provide consumers with sales contracts regarding the purchases. As the CTIA found out, the reason is that these companies are not registered and do their business illegally.
Therefore it is important to warn consumers against participation in such events. In case they buy goods and don’t receive related contract from a fictive entrepreneur, it is impossible to enforce their consumer rights. The only effective defence is not to participate in such events and not to conclude such contracts.
The inspectorate of the Czech Trade Inspection Authority in Northern Bohemia currently deals with several consumers’ submissions concerning the TRENDY s. r. o. company that doesn’t even exist according to the business register. Despite this fact the “company” is very active in the market and illegally organises sales demonstration events. Employees of this company stop elderly people in the streets of especially larger towns and cities and try to gain their personal data – name, address, and telephone number. Subsequently they call them and invite them to a sales demonstration event held in rented local restaurant.
Inspectors also detected that conditions of the rental of the restaurants are usually ordered only through the phone or via e-mail which is usually signed only with the most common Czech surname Novák. E-mail addresses and phone numbers are subsequently out of order hence it is not possible for the CTIA to find out who ordered the premises. These sales demonstration events are not announced to the Czech Trade Inspection Authority – such conduct also is in contradiction with law.
As witnesses say, contracts with missing name and vendor’s identification is missing or there are simply no contracts. Buyers are promised to receive sales contracts later, but they don’t.
Therefore CTIA alerts consumers not to conclude any contract in such illegal way at sales demonstration events as they would then have no chance to withdraw from such contract or potentially claim defects of the purchased goods. In case of potential court action, it would be impossible to prove who committed the obvious violation of law.
With regard to the fact that there may be more similar firms making business illegally and trying to elicit money from seniors at sales demonstration events, the Czech Trade Inspection Authority recommends not to participate in such anonymous events and not to conclude or sign any such contracts.
Download – invitation to a sales demonstration event of a fictive company TRENDY s.r.o.:
Celá zpráva zde: