Country Contacts International Pty Ltd - s.87B undertaking

Country Contacts International (CCI) is a Sydney based company offering membership services to the public for introduction services.

CCI and its Director Voula Saris have provided a section 87B Undertaking to the ACCC following allegations that CCI:

• published advertisements in regional newspapers depicting a woman as available to meet men in that region when in fact the descriptions were often untrue and it was unknown whether the woman was available to meet men in that region; and
• induced male customers to pay additional fees which were not required to be paid to receive the services.

Country Contacts International and Ms Saris are also assisting the ACCC with its investigations into other introduction services.

Country Contacts International and Ms Saris have undertaken to:

• provide refunds to former members totalling $11,510;
• only use images and descriptions of women in advertisements if the woman has given written consent;
• not represent certain fees are due when it knows this not to be the case or has no reason to believe it is the case;
• only accept as a prepayment, 30% of the total fee payable, to the extent they provide services into Queensland and Victoria;
• implement a trade practices compliance program; and
• develop a complaints handling system.