How much does a "free gift" cost? At least $9.95 if it's from International Masters Publishers (IMP).
IMP is a direct marketing company that sells cooking, gardening and other informational cards – often with a "free" or low-priced introductory offer. It then sends you further cards at a much higher cost.
Consumer NZ member Joy recently got a phone call from an IMP sales rep, offering her an "absolutely free" introductory pack. The pack was to be the first in a series of gardening cards: Joy would be sent a new set of cards every three weeks. According to IMP's website, each set would cost $16.95 plus $2.95 postage and packing.
IMP sent us a tape of its rep’s conversation with Joy. The phone call lasted 5.45 minutes. Almost at the end of this time (at 5.10 minutes), the sales rep told Joy her "absolutely free" pack would in fact cost $9.95 for packing and postage. And an invoice for this amount would arrive with the "free" pack.
Joy has bought from IMP before. But she mentioned to the sales rep that she didn't know whether she could afford to buy anything this time. Three working days later, she called IMP to cancel the pack and was told it was too late. After we rang the company, it agreed to reverse the $9.95 charge.
IMP's sales tactics have come under fire before. In 2006, the UK Office of Fair Trading took action against IMP after receiving numerous complaints about its "inertia selling" and misleading advertising. Inertia selling is the practice of sending unsolicited goods to a person and then trying to obtain payment for them.
We want better regulation of this kind of selling. Under UK law, traders sending unsolicited goods can't demand payment for them. The UK's distance-selling regulations also give consumers rights to clear information about the deal and a cancellation period. We'd like to see the same protections here.
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