Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your
contribution is not tax-deductible.)
PayPal Acct: 
Feedback: 
Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):
| Sat, Dec 21 2024, 22:37:55 | [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, [8], 9, 10 ] |
| Subject: Orion's Belt Network - See you in court, says Case | |
Author: ccn666 | [ Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
] Date Posted: Tue, Oct 03 2006, 16:23:54 TODAYonline.com Singapore News // Tuesday, October 3, 2006 See you in court, says Case First suit by consumer watchdog is against holiday resale company Ansley Ng ansley@mediacorp.com.sg http://www.todayonline.com/articles/146330.asp IT WOULD waste no time in putting pressure on its clients to sign the deal and hand the money over — but it was tardy when it came to responding to complaints. For that, a holiday resale company found itself in the spotlight as the first company that will be hauled to court by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case). Yesterday, Case filed an injunction writ against Orion's Belt Network, for repeatedly breaching the two-year-old Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA). The injunction was recommended by Case and approved by a Ministry of Trade and Industry panel, which is chaired by a former high court judge. Following this, a district court will examine evidence and hear lawyers of both sides before delivering a judgment. If the court rules against Orion's Belt Network, it would be ordered to stop its tactics. And if it breaches consumer laws after that, the firm would be held in contempt of court and its owners face a fine and jail term. Case opted for the legal route after Orion's Belt Network spurned three chances — over a period of six months — to sign a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA), a contract that binds errant firms to agree to stop unfair practices and compensate consumers. Despite being threatened with the court order, the company ignored a Sept 25 deadline. Targeting those who feel trapped by their timeshare resort deals and can't wait to offload the burden, Orion's Belt Network offers to sell off their timeshare packages. Fourteen of the company's clients — who paid amounts from $500 to $10,000 — complained to Case that Orion's Belt Network made misleading claims and used high pressure sales tactics, among other gripes. Laboratory technician Lim Teck Meng (not his real name) was one of them. When Orion's Belt Network called him in March and told him they could help him recover 80 per cent of the timeshare deal — or about $13,000 — that he had bought from LGM, a timeshare firm, Mr Lim thought it was a deal worth exploring. Days later, Mr Lim and his wife, a nurse, met the firm's executives at their Park Mall office, where the couple was put through a "pressurising" hard-sell presentation, where executives took turns to explain the resale process and benefits. After a tiring four hours, Mr Lim, 56, relented and signed the resale contract. He paid them $5,000, a discount from an initial $7,000. But when he studied the contract later, Mr Lim found that none of the terms mentioned a money-back guarantee. Incensed, Mr Lim lodged a complaint to Case the next day. Another complainant paid $3,900 to the firm to help him get rid of a timeshare deal, only to realise later that it would have taken only $65 to cancel the contract himself, executive director of Case Mr Seah Seng Choon told Today. At his Park Mall office yesterday, however, Orion's Belt Network's director Anan Devan accused Case of "not trying to settle this amicably". Mr Anan claimed to have called Case "umpteen" times to set up a second meeting to resolve the matter and to ask for the case files of those who complained against his company. When asked if he was denying that his firm had misled consumers and used pressure-selling tactics on them, Mr Anan asked: "What misleading claims? Have you heard of buyer's remorse?" Case's Mr Seah said there was never a request by Orion's Belt Network to meet. If Orion's Belt Network disagreed with any term in the VCA, it could have talked to Case and drawn up new terms agreeable to both sides, Mr Seah added. This latest case has prompted Case to consider cutting the time it is giving companies to respond to a VCA, from four months to two. Since the CPFTA took root in 2004, six companies have signed the agreement. Compared to a court order, a VCA is "much cheaper, friendlier and behind the scene", Case vice-president Dr Ang Peng Hwa said. By stalling on the VCA, however, the company has given Mr Lim — and others like him — no choice but to take a longer route, via the Small Claims Tribunal, to recover their money. "I still wonder why I gave in to them. Now I just want my money back," said Mr Lim, whose case will be heard next Monday. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |