Case deal rein in pressure selling

laurence82 SG

Yup, read this in yesterday newspaper, well at least some progress, anyone been to the forum?

Case deal reins in pressure selling
About 60 got refunds this year, under consumer watchdog's pact with the Direct Selling Association

By Glenys Sim

SINCE January this year, some 50 to 60 consumers who were pressured by salesmen into buying goods they do not need have managed to get their money back.

They can thank a memorandum signed between the Direct Selling Association of Singapore (DSAS) and the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) in March last year, which guaranteed - for the first time - that their complaints could be mediated by Case.

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Also, complaints lodged with the consumer watchdog against direct sellers and door-to-door salesmen are down sharply from a year ago.

Yesterday, Case and DSAS met the press to discuss the impact of the pact. It lets those pressured into buying items, from vacuum cleaners to pots and pans to health supplements, to cancel the transactions.

Under the deal, DSAS promised to use Case's mediators in handling complaints lodged against its members, mostly over pressure-selling tactics and refusals to give refunds. Before this, companies could choose not to participate.

Last year saw a flood of consumer unhappiness: Case received 713 complaints against direct sellers and door-to-door salesmen, versus just 416 in 2002.

But in the first six months of this year, only 120 complaints have been received, of which 70 were against vacuum-cleaner sellers Lux Singapore.

The 21 DSAS member firms make up 80 per cent of annual industry sales of $440 million, though outnumbered by 40 to 50 non-members.

Yesterday, DSAS chairman Benjamin Tan also reminded consumers to exercise their new right to a 'cooling-off period'. Under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act that came into effect in March this year, consumers have three days to cancel contracts for time-share rights or purchases from unsolicited salesmen at home or in the office.

Even before the Act, DSAS members have been required to offer a seven-day cooling-off period, Mr Tan noted, adding: 'The DSAS membership serves as a seal of protection for the public.'

Lux Singapore, however, is a DSAS member. Case said 32 of the complaints against Lux have been resolved with 38 others pending.

Lux acting general manager Linda Pang said Lux had been in business for 34 years and was 'very upset our salesmen have not done the right thing. We are looking into the matter seriously'.

DSAS' Mr Tan promised action if Lux was found to be in the wrong. DSAS would even work with Case to blacklist it if necessary, he said. No direct-selling firm has ever been blacklisted by Case.

Housewife Ang Kwee Leng, 39, recounted how a saleswoman had entered her Tampines flat last month for a '15-minute sales pitch', then spent three hours hawking a $2,500 vacuum cleaner: She finally gave in 'to get the saleswoman out of the house'.

She said: 'When I tried to return the item the next day, they told me I had to pay half the price of the machine as a 'forfeit'.' She contacted Case. Last Friday, Lux staff went to take back the machine.

Case and DSAS are conducting a forum tonight for 1,000 existing and would-be salesmen on the legal issues of direct selling. There are about 315,000 direct-selling salesmen here.