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CBC.ca
Mail
Order Companies Accused of Deceptive Marketing
March 11, 2005 --
Ottawa---The federal Competition Bureau has laid criminal
charges against two Canadian mail order companies and their
president following thousands
of consumer complaints.
The bureau has charged JD Marvel Products Inc., CDN MailOrder
Exchange
Inc., and president John Dragan, with engaging in deceptive
marketing
practices. The bureau said the companies targeted Canadian
and U.S. residents; especially seniors.
The competition bureau said products either arrived months
late or often didn't arrive at all. "The Bureau also
alleges that consumers were misled about the performance of
some of the products sold," the agency said in a
statement.
A deluge of 5,700 complaints flooded in from law enforcement
and government agencies in both Canada and the United States.
JD Marvel Products Inc. and CDN MailOrder Exchange Inc. advertise
many consumer products through mail order, advertising inserts,
coupons in discount envelopes and magazines, catalogues and
the Internet.
Many consumer web sites are filled with complaints about the
companies cashing cheques but never sending the merchandise.
In March 2003, the
CBC's French language consumer affairs program, La Facture,
reported on the many problems customers were having getting
merchandise from JD Marvel.
Copyright (C) 2005 CBC. All rights reserved.
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