Customer with bad credit record wins complaint

A complaint from a man with a bad credit record who was refused a stereo system by a mail-order firm has been upheld.

C. Forster complained to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board over an advertisement in a catalogue from Direct Deals.

It said: "Bad credit? No problem. Guaranteed approval."

He said when he called Direct Deals they checked his credit. "There was a bit of bad credit, not much."

Mr Forster said he was told that if he paid $25 for 12 weeks the firm would then deliver the goods. When he selected a stereo system he wanted on finance the firm said he could not have it because of his credit rating.

Direct Deals responded to the board saying the heading "guaranteed approval" was accompanied by an asterisk and a line underneath saying "on selected products only".

The firm said if it was unable to secure finance approval for a customer it made another option available.

"As we are a small company and financing these goods ourselves we can only afford to offer certain goods from our catalogue."

The board said the condition "on selected products only" was not an adequate indication of what products a customer qualified for under the offer.

The board, in upholding the complaint, said the advertisement overstated the offer, misleading the consumer.

- NZPA