Directory scams like the European City Guide have tricked thousands of small businesses, charities, voluntary organisations and clubs across Yorkshire & Humber and the rest of Europe into signing up for a supposedly free listing in their directory when in fact, hidden deep in the small print, they are charging around £800 annually in a contract that is almost impossible to cancel.
First things first: Never pay any money to a directory scam! The problem of directory scams has existed for decades but has increased in intensity in recent years to the extent that the most notorious scam, the European City Guide, now indiscriminately sends out six million unsolicited forms annually.
The forms are intentionally misleading and give the impression that by updating your details (which are often wrong) you will recieve a free listing in their directory. However, the small print reveals that you will be tied to a three-year contract which will cost around £800 annually and if not cancelled six months in advance of the final year will automatically renew for another three years.
Some directory scams provide a seven-day period where you can cancel your contract at the start but they never inform victims of the true cost until well after this period has ended.
The scams then pursue their victims relentlessly, bullying, harassing and demanding payment and threatening court action, which, to my knowledge, they have never taken in the UK. Instead they work hand in hand with related debt collection agencies to intimidate people into paying and have have made many victims' lives a misery.
If victims refuse to pay then their "debt" increases and the scams will then offer a compromise discount. This too is just another strategy to trick people into paying.
People should steer clear of any document which features
the name European City Guide, UK Internet Register, Construct Data Verlag, Novachannel and DAD Deutscher Adressdienst GmbH.
Advice to victims of directory scams
Do not pay. They will pester you, they will threaten you, they will try to intimidate you. Do not pay. They will imply they are ready to take court action. Do not pay. It is an empty threat. To my knowledge no directory scam has ever taken anyone in the UK to court.
If you have paid some money, then refuse to pay the next installment. It is very likely they will return for more money at some point in the future.
Write to the relevant directory scam informing them you have been misled and telling them to cancel the contract. Contact details are available on http://www.stopecg.org
Write to Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, at the European Commission, Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels to urge Europe-wide legislation against the scams.
Visit the Consumer Direct website or ring them on 08454 040506
What are we doing about directory scams at a political level?
At European level, the European Commission has acknowledged the extent of the problem but currently considers the issue a business-to-business relationship which means consumer protection legislation does not apply. However, one exception is the Misleading and Comparative Advertising directive which, "provides for the use by Member States of cessation orders or other legal proceedings to prohibit the continued use of misleading advertising". Currently though there is no consistent application of this directive throughout the EU.
Due to the weight of complaints about directory scams, the European Parliament's Petitions Committee agreed to look at the problem in detail and the subsequent report has, after months of research, now been drafted. The author of the report, Simon Busutill MEP, concludes that the problem is widespread and it is up to the European Union's institutions to find an adequate remedy. He calls on the European Commission to ensure that all countries in the EU are implementing and enforcing the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive adequately. He also suggests that Commission considers following the example of Austria which has specifically extended its Unfair Commercial Practices legislation to business directories which use the methods of the ECG. The Busuttil report should go before the European Parliament before the end of the year
In the meantime I am asking all victims to forward their complaints against directory scams onto the European Commission so they are made aware of just how widespread and serious the problem is. You should address your complaint to Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, at the European Commission, Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Brussels.
Directory scams in court
The contracts these directory scams use are almost identical in design and wording, with the European City Guide's condemned as deceptive by the UK's Office of Fair Trading.
In 2003, the European City Guide, then based in Barcelona, was ordered to close for one year and fined €300,000 by the Catalan local government for misleading advertising. Rather than accept this ruling, the ECG appealed but the High Court of Justice of Catalonia rejected the appeal made by the ECG, finding that the decision of the Catalan regional government must stand.
In February 2007, the Austrian-based Construct Data Verlag agreed before the provincial Court of Vienna not to send its bogus "Fair Guide" and to stop demanding payment. This followed legal action being taken by the Austrian advertising self-regulation body Österreichischer Werberat (ÖWR) and the Austrian Association for Protection against Unfair Competition (Schutzerband gegen unlauteren Wettbewerb) also on the basis of misleading advertising.
In March 2007, the ECG was condemned by the Criminal Court of Brussels following a case brought against them by no fewer than 400 Belgian companies. Although the Court did not order the ECG to close, it imposed a €275,000 fine for misleading publicity, fraud and attempted fraud.
