Commerce Commission media release – Mobile trader pleads guilty to disclosure failures in contracts

Mobile trader pleads guilty to disclosure failures in contracts

Mobile trader Best Buy Limited (Best Buy) has pled guilty to 16 charges relating to the operation of its door-to-door sales business in Auckland and smaller North Island towns.

The charges were filed under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA). Eleven charges (between 6 June 2015 and 28 April 2016) relate to failing to disclose the required information to its customers about their consumer credit contracts before the contract was entered into. Many of Best Buy’s consumer credit contracts failed to disclose important information such as an accurate statement of the amount or number of payments needed, an accurate statement of the debtor’s cancellation rights, and the right to apply for hardship relief.

Five charges (between 6 June 2015 and 31 October 2015) relate to a contract clause which was likely to mislead customers into thinking Best Buy had a right to repossess goods when it did not, failing to meet disclosure standards under the CCCFA.

Best Buy will be sentenced later this year.

To read more, go to The Commerce Commission website.