It is the oldest adage in business, maybe the oldest in life: don’t sign anything until you’ve read the small print.
Mostly we all manage to stick to it, but sometimes, when we are rushed and the document is just asking us to update our details, maybe we scrawl our signature and send the form off. I’ve done it, I suspect you’ve done it, and I know David North of DJN Distributors in Nottinghamshire has done it.
Times Online reader Mr North filled in a form from a company called European City Guide, based in Valencia in Spain, only to find himself billed for €926, or £652.
So he contacted us: “I may have signed a letter but it will be by mistake. I am a small business supplying filters to the manufacturing industry and would not want to advertise in Europe. I am unsure whether the letter is a scam, but as they keep writing I am beginning to believe it is genuine. I have been ignoring the payment reminders but they are now threatening legal action. What do you suggest?”
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Mr North did a little searching on the internet and found that he appeared to be victim of a scam. There’s a whole website devoted to it: http://www.stopecg.org/. The first thing you see is a huge headline “Stop The European City Guide”, underlined for emphasis.
The website goes on: “There is one golden rule that can strangle the guide scams, never pay a penny.
“If you accede to the demands of any scam guides you are directly assisting them in this industry of trickery and fear.. There may be times when they lay on the pressure and you feel like giving in, but remember, they will use your money to put others through the same hell, please do not give them that opportunity!
“Disclaimer: This website is in no way affiliated or assoaciated [sic] with the European City Guide (ECG). This is a non-commercial website established in Opposition to the ECG on account of it’s marketing tactics, and to other companies that also use or profit from those tactics. If you have come here seeking their services you are in the wrong place!”
Asked about his experience with the European City Guide, Mr North says: “The problem is with this sort of thing is that you think updating your details is OK. Really I wouldn’t want to go into the guide. I don’t want to advertise in Europe.”
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Recently, I have come across a similar sort of scam in the publishing industry. It is called The Exhibitor Fair Guide and is sent by Construct Data Verlag, concerning the registration of details in the Feria de Madrid Fair Guide. My trade organisation, the Independent Publishers’ Guild, recommends: “for any member not aware of this company: the small print at the bottom of the page says that if you return the form to them, you are agreeing to their payment terms: €971 for three years, unless revoked by registered letter within ten days of the date of order.
“One for the (recycling) bin.”
The IPG adds: “This is not the first time these forms have been sent out. Many UK companies unwittingly signed the forms thinking that they were from the organisers of the Frankfurt and London Book Fairs and that there was no payment involved. I understand that Construct Data is now telephoning companies chasing payment. The advice is to hang up.”
The same advice could be applied equally well to the European City Guide, not least because this is not the first time that an organisation carrying this name has attempted to raise charges for advertisements that businesses do not really want.
The European City Guide used to be based in Barcelona but in March 2001 they were found by the Catalan authorities to have seriously infringed the law on misleading advertising, following international cooperation with our Office of Fair Trading. A year later an appeal against the ruling was dismissed.
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The presiding magistrate described European City Guide’s mailshot as “deceitful” and “misleading” and “led those reading it to believe that by signing it they would incur no economic liabilities of any kind”.
The OFT is aware that the European City Guide is operating again, and, says Julia Smith of their press office, it is the same outfit, but the Catalan banning order does not apply outside the province. So, if you are like Mr North and have a complaint about the organisation’s conduct, you should complain to: Dirección General de Comercio (Sr Gregorio Lleó Alamá), C/ Colón 32, E-46004 Valencia, Spain. Tel. 0034 96 3869608. Fax. 0034 96 3869642. e-mail: gregorio.lleo@industria.m400.gva.es
Naturally, I tried to telephone the European City Guide but was told that they don’t answer questions by telephone. I should fax them, I was told. So I did. I’m still waiting for an answer.
To contact Randall Northam, e-mail him at randall@sportsbooks.ltd.uk
Isis, the London-based company which compiles the Business City Guide, is not connected in any way with European City Guide.