Austrian Trade Commission New York
April 2004
Advise for U.S. customers/companies of ‘Construct Data’
Construct Data Verlag AG
Ortsstr. 54
A-2331 Vösendorf, Austria
Tel. 011 43/699 40 77-0
Fax 011 43/699 40 77-40
info@cdnet.at
www.cdnet.at
Weblink where the business practices of Construct Data are described:
http://www.stopecg.org/other.htm#fgadvice1
Complaints received by U.S. Customers: The ‘contracts’ are disguised as requests for information, the "legal" agreement and price are hidden away and printed very small and in hard to read capitals. Once a contract is returned Construct Data waits a few weeks before sending the first letter making it clear they are expecting money. From that point on all requests for cancellation are refused.
Collecting Agency:
Premium Recovery AG
Alte Steinhauserstr. 1
P.O. Box 5346
6330 Cham/Zug
Tel. 41-41 444 00 00
Fax 41-41 444 00 01
Mail @premium-swiss.com
Usual practice: company sends collection notices, later will be calling daily, threaten to contact a court physically very close to U.S. customer, no single case known that a filing at an U.S. court was really made
Weblink where the business practices of Premium Recovery AG are described
http://www.stopecg.org/premium_recovery_ag.htm
Institutions to contact in Austria:
US Commercial Service
American Embassy Vienna
Dr. Manfred J. Weinschenk
Senior Commercial Advisor
Tel. (43 1) 313 39 2285
Fax (43 1) 310 69 17
Manfred.Weinschenk@mail.doc.gov
Austrian Advertising Council
Oesterreichischer Werberat
attn. Mr.Dr. Pichelmayer
Schwarzenbergplatz 14
A-1040 Vienna
Fax: 01143-1-514 50-3793
Email: werberat@wkw.at
www.werberat.at
The Council already issued twice a decision sanctioning the business practices of Construct Data. The Advertising Council has however no legal ways to enforce its decision (e.g. to stop Construct Data from its advertising). Construct Data markets its services abroad and as such Austrian laws for unfair business practices don't directly apply.
Institutions to contact in the U.S.
There are also US initiatives going on against Construct Data as U.S. customers consider its business practices as misleading.
Lodge a complaint with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) if you feel that you have been mislead by Construct Data
Tel. 1-877-382 4537
Refer to reference number 4183864
FTC indicated that because it is a foreign company that they will wait until they receive a good number of complaints from other U.S consumers before acting.
File a complaint online with http://www.econsumer.gov (U.S. site for cross-border e-complaints)
Advise by the Austrian Trade Commission:
Keep a file with all documents of your correspondence with Construct Data or its collections agencies and all other parties you contacted in regards to Construct Data.
If you feel that the business practices of Construct Data are misleading, contact
- the Austrian Advertising Council
- the Federal Trade Commission FCT
- and Econsumer
“Contracts” of Construct Data usually states that ‘sole legal venue and place of performance is Moedling, AUSTRIA’. So court actions would have to be persued in Austria. A legal civilian verdict from a court in Austria is however not collectable in the U.S. without further involvement of U.S. courts. There is no case known to the Austrian Trade Commission in which a case against an U.S. company or consumer was filed by Construct Data.