Ninth mobile trader charged as clampdown continues

Media release

Issued 18 October 2016
Release No. 42

Ninth mobile trader charged as Commission continues clamp down on non-compliance

Mobile trader, Bestdeals 4 You Limited (Bestdeals) today pleaded guilty to 19 charges brought by the Commerce Commission relating to the layby sales agreements and consumer credit contracts it offered customers.

The charges, filed in the Auckland District Court, concern breaches of the Fair Trading Act 1986 (FTA) and the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA). It is the ninth mobile trader, commonly referred to as a truck shop, to be prosecuted by the Commission in 2016.

Bestdeals operates its mobile trading business by selling door-to-door in Auckland, Whangarei and Hastings under the name Easylayby. It also operates a physical store in South Auckland, using the name Super Mobile, which offers layby sales.

Bestdeals failed to comply with the disclosure requirements for layby sale agreements under the FTA. In particular, the Commission says Bestdeals failed to provide its customers with a copy of the terms and conditions when they entered into a layby sales agreement.

It breached the CCCFA by failing to disclose key information. Bestdeals did not give consumers an accurate statement of their right to cancel the contract, their right to apply for relief from unforeseen hardship, or the details of the number of payments they had to make.

As this matter is before the Court, the Commission is unable to comment further until Bestdeals is sentenced on 16 December 2016.

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