• Over PLN 900,000 - this is the total amount of fines imposed by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in December for violations of consumer rights related to sales at trade shows.
• UOKiK President, Tomasz Chróstny, questioned, i.a., the practice of misleading consumers about their health status, fictitious promotions and making it difficult to withdraw from a contract.
• For the first time, a member of the management board of a company was penalised for intentionally allowing a violation of collective consumer interests.

In December 2021, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Tomasz Chróstny, issued  decisions related to contracts entered into during the so-called trade shows: against four traders and a board member of one of those companies. Under these decisions, he imposed penalties totalling approx. PLN 916,000 for unfair market practices, prohibited contractual provisions, and failure to cooperate with the Office during the proceedings.

- We are consistently eliminating the pathologies that occur at trade shows, where seniors citizens are often the victims. Sanctioned businesses - particularly reprehensible - took advantage of consumers' health concerns or manipulated prices to make the purchase appear necessary or attractive. They also provided misleading information regarding withdrawing from the contract or used prohibited clauses that made it difficult to terminate the contract - says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

This is the first time the President of the Office has used the power to impose a penalty on a manager responsible for bringing about violations of consumer rights. The maximum amount is PLN 2 million, and in the case of a manager of a company from the financial sector - PLN 5 million. Members of the management board have previously been sanctioned in antitrust proceedings, for example for collusion in the heating and fitness markets.

- A manager who has intentionally engaged in unfair practices to consumers should be held personally liable. This is why I decided to impose PLN 250,000 fine on the sole member of the board of MAGFORTE. He approved the content of the research invitation leaflets, trained the salespeople and supervised the way they conducted the demonstrations," says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

According to the sentences of the decisions, the penalties were imposed on:

• "MAGFORTE spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością with its registered office in Łęki" - PLN 433,570 and an individual: "Robert Stanisław Jaromin - member of the one-person board of MAGFORTE" - PLN 250,000. The company holds demonstrations where it sells magnetotherapy equipment. The first challenged practice is misleading consumers about the main purpose of the meeting. Invitation flyers for "Cardiovascular Scan" seem like some information about non-commercial medical examination. The second unfair practice involves misleading consumers about their health status in order to persuade them to buy expensive devices that are supposed to be the remedy for all ailments. After "the examination" is done, the results are then interpreted by salespeople - people with no medical training whatsoever. Moreover, they take place using an instrument that is not a medical device but, according to the instructions, is used for diet and cosmetic selection. The member of the company's board of directors was punished for intentionally admitting the use of unfair practices against consumers. We notified the public prosecutor's office about the suspicion that MAGFORTE's sales representatives committed a crime.
• "Łukasz Sadowski who is conducting a business activity under the name Panaceum Zdrowia in Jelenia Góra - PLN 18,369. This is the businessman who arranges for consumers to attend shows hosted by MAGFORTE. The allegation raised by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection concerns the failure to inform consumers of the commercial purpose of meetings organised for the company MAGFORTE. When consumers call the number on the flyer, the company's telemarketers suggest that they are dealing with a medical facility's hotline and sign them up for medical check-up. During the conversation with a "nationwide registry," they are informed of contraindications and dietary recommendations prior to examinations, but there is no mention of the commercial purpose of the appointment.
• "Natalia Bal who is conducting a business activity under the name HOMEXPERT in Gorzów Wielkopolski". - PLN 30,000. She sets up demonstrations in consumers' homes to sell home appliances and massage devices. Her clients are mainly elderly people. The first allegation concerned the bogus discounts - the trader gives customers catalogue prices at which they are never sold, then offers a discount to make the purchase appear more attractive. Moreover, the products were originally purchased at many times cheaper price.  For example, a vacuum cleaner according to the catalogue price cost PLN 5900, while in the alleged "discount" it cost - PLN 2900, and even then the entrepreneur's margin is very high. The second unfair practice is misleading the consumers about not being able to withdraw from the contract. For example, the entrepreneur included clauses in the contracts such as"Goods issued on site, unpacked, seal broken, unit not returnable", "Summer sale offer, showroom merchandise, not returnable". However, buying on discount or unwrapping (except the films or recordings and items supplied in sealed packaging, which cannot be returned for health or hygiene reasons) does not limit your right to cancel the contract concluded at the demonstration within 14 days at no cost.
• "GERIAMEDICA sp. z o.o. with its registered office in Warsaw" - PLN 138,444 for prohibited clauses and PLN 46,148 for failing to cooperate with the President of the Office. The Office has received numerous complaints about the company selling medical packages priced as high as PLN 14,200 at meetings with consumers . The fines imposed relate to prohibited clauses in contracts. The company reserved the right to change the list of establishments, but consumers could not cancel its services without incurring costs. Meanwhile, for the elderly, having a clinic close to home or with a good commute may have been one of the reasons for purchasing the package in the first place. Moreover, the company automatically renewed contracts if the consumer did not declare that they were not interested in doing so 3 months earlier. Thus, the consumers had to remember the deadline and take additional action, in case they wanted to discontinue the services.  The third clause contained high contractual penalties for consumers who wanted to terminate a multi-year contract early, even if they had prepaid for the entire term. The company, on the other hand, did not stipulate any penalties for itself in case of non-performance of the contract. In addition to the sanctions for prohibited contractual provisions, the President of the UOKiK fined the company for its lack of cooperation during the proceedings - starting in mid-2020 it stopped answering letters from the Office and providing requested explanations. The President of the Office will also notify the relevant public prosecutor's office about the case, indicating that the members of the company's management board may have breached their financial reporting obligations.

All decisions are not binding, the entrepreneurs and the member of the company's management board may appeal to the court.

Consumer support:

Tel. 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer hotline
Email: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
 Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or district

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
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