Some good news from Austria about one of the European City Guide’s (ECG) unscrupulous sister companies.

Regular readers will know the ECG, and a whole host of equally deceitful sister companies, con small businesses into signing up for what looks like a “free” listings service that turn out in the small print to be expensive contracts and lead to regular harrasment by debt agencies owned by the same group.

In January 2006 Construct Data Verlag AG, which Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger revealed was owned by the same person as the European City Guide in 2005, was taken to court by the Schutzverband gegen unlauteren Wettbewerb, which represents Austrian commercial enterprises.

The Schutzverband wanted Construct Data to stop sending out new contracts and prevent them from profiting from previously mailed contracts. With the writing on the wall Construct Data settled out of court.

While this means another of of the ECG-style companies again avoids an explicit court judgement, the settlement does mean Construct Data will cede to all of the Schutzverband’s original demands, which is a major blow to them.

Any Austrian companies that were scammed by Construct Data can now write to them and cancel their “contracts”, which should mean an end to the calls and letters from the debt collection agencies. Construct Data, who published, without a trace of irony, the Fair Guide, had plenty of victims in the UK and I would encourage anyone who is still being pestered for money by them to do the same.

Being sensible I have to add this could lead to a court case but it is extremely unlikely. After all, this whole episode with Construct Data again shows just how reluctant the ECG and its other companies are to go near a court. Beyond deception and bullying they are at a loss what to do.

For more information and who to write to about Construct Data’s Fair Guide visit the stopECG blog.

For those fluent in German you can read more about the case on the Schutzverband’s website by clicking here.

On the subject of the ECG, a constituent from Sheffield who works for a charity, copied me on their letter to the ECG, and what an articulate attack on the ECG it is! I reproduce the full text below.

Dear Sir/Madam

Re. Deutscher Adressdienst GmbH / Gravis Inkasso Gmbh / European City Guides / Meinolf Ludenbach

The sinister operations of the organisations associated with Meinolf Ludenbach have recently received significant press coverage in this country (see enclosed cuttings). We are fully aware of who you are and the type of scam companies you are. Therefore could you please remove our company’s name from your mailing list, cancel any supposed contracts we have with any of your companies and refrain from further harassing and threatening our staff. I have copied this letter to the fraud department of Interpol and Richard Corbett MEP who is leading the attempt to clamp down on your activities in the European Parliament.

Our lawyers have looked at the documentation you have sent to us and have firmly stated that nothing is legally binding as it was deliberately formulated to entrap lower level administrative staff into signing when they believed they were just correcting contact details. Should you wish to persist with any unsubstantiated demands for payment then we would be delighted to defend our actions in court. The StopECG collation have also agreed to support our defence and say that they would relish the chance to see your unscrupulous activities exposed in a court of law, like they were previously in Barcelona.

If you would prefer to avoid this then please refrain from contacting any of our staff again. If any one of them receives any further written or verbal communication from you then we will apply for a restraining order and then prosecute you for harassment.

On a personal note, can I also add that trying to rip off charities and then threaten their workers, who strive only to do good for the world, is one of the most unpleasant and downright evil activities I have ever heard of. I hope that all your employees feel completely shameful when they wake up every morning and I look forward to the day that justice catches up with you. Can I also say that we would gladly give away all our charity’s assets and declare the organisation bankrupt before I would give a penny of it to any organised criminal organisations, like those associated with Meinolf Ludenbach.

I trust that this concludes this matter.

Yours sincerely,

AN Other