The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has issued a warning against the aggressive sales and debt-collection practices of online store Kabel-gigant.com. Kabel-gigant.com sends consumers unsolicited parcels containing earpods or USB-cables together with payment requests. Faced with payment reminders and final notices, consumers are subsequently put under pressure to pay, even though they had never ordered anything. Consumers that are sent unsolicited products are not required to pay for those products. In addition, they are not required to return the products they received. ACM has therefore issued a warning against this company’s practices.
The company behind Kabel-gigant.com is the same company that previously sent unsolicited personal-care products, using the brand name Perfectionbody, and against which ACM had also issued a warning.
There is a Dutch website with a similar name – dekabelgigant.nl – that has nothing to do with this commercial practice.
Edwin van Houten, Director of ACM’s Consumer Department, explains: “We are warning consumers against Kabel-gigant.com’s practices. Pressuring consumers to pay for unsolicited goods is an aggressive and misleading sales practice. We are expressly calling on consumers not to pay.”
Reports filed with ACM ConsuWijzer
ACM’s consumer information portal ACM ConsuWijzer has received dozens of reports filed by consumers that were contacted by Kabel-gigant.com in an aggressive manner and were asked to pay. Consumers received earpods or cables without having contacted Kabel-gigant.com or having ordered anything from them. With these products, they also received an invoice for 14.95 euros. They subsequently received payment reminders, after which the amount was increased by 25 euros, and Kabel-gigant.com threatened initiating debt collection procedures. This is not allowed. Consumers do not need to pay if they did not order anything.