Local businesses warned about misleading payment requests

Northern Ireland businesses have been warned to be on the lookout for requests for payment from a Swiss-based debt collection company.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s Trading Standards Service has warned that a company called Premium Recovery AG recently sent out a number of mailshots to local businesses, requesting payment for an amount they claim is owed to a company called European City Guide.

This Barcelona-based company had sent out mailshots, which gave the impression that entries in their directories were free. However, the small print meant that businesses which signed and returned the documentation, even if they were only correcting their contact details, were committed to paying up to £1,455 for three entries and a copy of the directory.

However, European City Guide has now been shut down for one year and fined 300,000 euros (over £200,000) by a Catalan court, which ruled that the company was guilty of misleading advertising. The authorities in Spain had received more than 3,500 complaints from businesses in 40 European countries.

The penalty was imposed after the company had failed in an appeal against an earlier court decision in 2001, when European City Guide was originally found to have infringed Catalan laws on misleading advertising. That case was brought as a result of cooperation between the Catalan authorities and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in London.

Trading Standards Inspector, Kevin McNamara, said: “Given this ruling, we are advising local businesses to strongly contest any attempts from Premium Recovery AG to collect amounts on behalf of their client, European City Guide. Businesses should write to Premium Recovery AG explaining why they do not accept the basis for the amount being claimed. They should also contact Consumerline on 0845 600 6262 to report any approaches from Premium Recovery AG.”

Trading Standards have received 60 complaints regarding European City Guide over the last three years and it is thought that the only people who ever received a copy of the directory were those who actually had an entry in it.

(KMcA)