KEY POINTS:
The Commerce Commission today urged consumers to be wary of telemarketers selling vouchers for free or discounted holidays, hotels and flights.
The Commerce Commission said today that the discount vouchers offered by "cold call" telemarketers were often limited, had very specific conditions or involved companies that had not entered into any agreements.
The commission was receiving an increasing number of calls from consumers concerned they would not be able to claim the services offered by the vouchers, director of fair trading Adrian Sparrow said.
"Although there are legitimate companies offering vouchers that provide genuine discounts, any company selling vouchers that are not redeemable for the services that they claim risks breaching the Fair Trading Act," Mr Sparrow said.
He advised caution and said consumers should resist pressure to buy vouchers offering discounts and services that seemed "too good to be true", without first checking to see whether the offer was legitimate.
Mr Sparrow said consumers contacted by telemarketers selling vouchers should get details about the company marketing them.
They should also ask for details of which providers were involved in the voucher scheme, so they could check the offer before committing buying.
The commission last year took action against a group of Australian companies operating in New Zealand under the name Discount Premium Holidays Ltd and their director, Devang Parikh, who were marketing a voucher programme in New Zealand.
In November 2007, the High Court in Auckland issued an injunction prohibiting the company, its director and associated companies from making false or misleading representations about the cost and validity of their holiday voucher programme.
The commission is continuing its investigation into Discount Premium Holidays Ltd and Mr Parikh.
- NZPA
