PC help service slammed for aggressive sales practices

Direct PC promises to improve its methods of selling out computer support subscriptions. The Authority for Consumers & Markets rebuked the service after complaints from people who felt pressured.

After being addressed, Direct PC immediately adjusted its sales practices, according to ACM. Direct PC used colporteurs to sell its services and older consumers in particular complained that they felt pressured to sign a contract. It was not always clear to them exactly what they said yes to and that they had a two-week reflection period.

Direct PC now promises to expressly state this cooling-off period when selling at the door, on its websites and in agreements. In these ways, the service will also make clearer what customers receive with subscriptions and how much money they have lost. In addition, the computer help says it closely monitors the sales practices of colporteurs.

At the beginning of this year, the newspaper Tubantia wrote about three 80-year-old women who allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by sales staff and were subsequently tied to Direct PC contracts of one hundred euros a year. The director of Direct PC responded that his employees are instructed to work neatly and politely and he advised consumers to report inappropriate behavior. People also expressed complaints about the service via the Kassa site, with the company also asking to contact them in case of problems.