Case study - bait advertising
Annie had just started a massage therapist business when she was approached by a Melbourne company to put an advertisement of her business in a medical publication called The Patient Health Care Guide. They said the magazine would be sent out to all the health care centres and the general practitioners in the area. Annie thought it would be good exposure for her new business and the woman on the phone sounded professional. She agreed to the ad and paid $550 for it.
The magazine was due to come out in June and she signed up in March. June and July passed but Annie didn’t receive anything from the company.
Annie contacted all the local medical centres to see if they received the publication but no one had heard of it. She tried to contact the company but their phone and fax lines were disconnected. She didn’t have any other means to reach them.
Annie knew something was not right and called Fair Trading for help. Fair Trading assigned an investigator to Annie’s case who found out that the company was based in Hong Kong, the medical journal did not exist, and it was a scam.
Fair Trading managed to track the company’s director who, at first, refused to return the full amount. However, after a few months of investigation and pursuit Annie finally got her $550 back.
“ I felt fantastic once I got the outcome for me. I would definitely contact Fair Trading again. From the time they took over I felt like I was getting a result… they knew what they were doing, they were professional. I couldn’t have done it myself.”
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