Mathemagic Computer Tutor distributor fined
AIMWA Pty Ltd - Damian Bock and Damian Frearson
Issue Date: - Friday, 23 November 2007
The company selling the Mathemagic Computer Tutor AIMWA Pty Ltd and its directors were today fined a total of $1,200 in the Perth Magistrates Court for failing to give a customer mandatory information about their rights to cancel door to door trading contracts and two other related offences.
The company, and its Directors Damian Bock of City Beach and Damian Frearson of East Perth, each pleaded guilty to three charges under the Door to Door Trading Act and were also ordered to pay costs of $198.
AIMWA uses door to door sales representatives to sell the Mathemagic Computer Tutor home tutoring program and admitted that when it sold a home tutoring package to a Golden Bay family for $5,460 in May this year it had:
taken a deposit within the ten day cooling off period that applies to door to door contracts;
improperly supplied services under the contract by installing and demonstrating software during the cooling off period; and
did not provide compulsory forms informing the consumer about their right to the cooling off period.
“The ten-day cooling-off period for door to door contracts required by law allows consumers to check that a purchase is good value for money, especially if an agreement has been made under pressure or on the spur of the moment with someone cold-calling them,” Consumer Protection Commissioner Patrick Walker said.
“We take seriously failing to provide information about the cooling off period and conduct likely to mislead consumers about their right to cancel a door to door contract.
“Under the Act, conduct such as AIMWA’s on this occasion is not only an offence, but also extends the cooling off period a consumer is entitled to from ten days to six months.
“Disappointingly, the consumers involved in this case were denied a refund, to which they were rightfully entitled, until Consumer Protection intervened. They subsequently received their refund and they also retained the product,” Mr. Walker said.
Under the Door to Door Trading Act, company directors can be personally liable for an offence by their company if they did not exercise reasonable diligence to prevent an offence from occurring. The directors of AIMWA were prosecuted after they had failed to heed a formal warning issued in 2005.
The Magistrate noted that although the defendants had been previously warned by Consumer Protection, the fines were appropriate in view of the defendants being first offenders and their co-operation.
“We recommend that parents check with their child’s teachers before paying thousands of dollars for a computer program that may not suit their child’s needs,” Commissioner Walker said.
Consumer Protection has issued information through for inclusion into school newsletters around Western Australia, warning parents against hasty buying decisions without first doing their homework.