SLK: London company to stop fax advertising
Altanus Private Media Services Ltd. is engaging in unfair advertising practices with "Swiss Money Report." Although the London-based company has been ordered to stop its fax advertising, it has not ceased sending mailings to Swiss households that have opted out of receiving advertising. The Swiss Fair Trading Commission (SLK) is once again calling on the company to stop the advertising.
In a mass fax mailing, the name "Swiss Money Report" from London is used to advertise questionable stock-buying tips to Swiss recipients. And this crisscrosses the entire population. Already last summer, various consumers, including a woman from the French-speaking part of Switzerland, complained to SLK about the unwanted faxes that reach and disturb them during the night. And this despite the fact that her telephone number has a star entry.
The Third Chamber of the SLK condemned the activity of the consignor as an "aggressive sales method in distance selling" according to the principle article 4.4 2. However, this does not seem to bother the London-based company, because the same complainant received the Swiss Money Report again in October, notwithstanding the verdict. Since she does not understand the German texts and is not interested in stock tips, the complainant from the French-speaking part of Switzerland turned to the SLK with a request for sanctions. The Third Chamber of the SLK has granted the request and is once again asking the mail-order company in London to refrain from faxing advertising to the applicant.
The SLK is an organ of the Foundation of Swiss Advertising for Fairness in Commercial Communication. Tel. 044 211 79 22, [email protected], Fair-advertising.ch.
