Zenith ordered to pay £300,000 for false sales claims to ‘vulnerable’ homeowners
11th July 2017

Zenith Staybrite has been fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £250,000 costs for quoting inflated prices to make discounts look better and falsely claiming offers were time-limited to persuade customers to make snap decisions.

Guildford Crown Court heard that, at a previous hearing, Zenith Staybrite Ltd admitted ten offences under Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations following an investigation by Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards.

Five offences were engaging in an unfair commercial practice by quoting an initial inflated price before applying a number of discounts to give the impression of a bargain.

The firm had also pleaded guilty to five counts of engaging in an unfair commercial practice by falsely stating that products would be available at a particular price for a limited time to persuade customers to make an immediate decision.

Imposing the fines at a resumed hearing, Judge Stephen Climie said many of the ten victims were “vulnerable by age or intellect”. He said the company had failed to keep a tight enough rein on some of its sales force: "This was a failure to identify what were inappropriate practices on the ground.”
He added that a number of the cases involved “inflated” prices being discounted almost to a third of the original figure.

Malcolm Gibney, prosecuting, said the sales techniques used by some people working for Zenith Staybrite were aggressive: “They involved not taking no for an answer.”

The offences admitted by Zenith Staybrite were committed in 2013 and 2014.

Jonathan Kirk, for the company, said there had been no complaint about the quality of the workmanship carried out. But the company, which had a good record, accepted that greater diligence should have been exercised.

He added: “This prosecution has had a serious impact. The company has had to deal with a lot of bad publicity.”
Steve Ruddy, head of Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards, said: "Agents for Zenith Staybrite used high-pressure tactics to make sales such as applying a series of discounts to create the impression of a good price and concocting time limits on discounts to force on-the-spot decisions.

"As part of a two-year investigation around the south east, trading standards officers spoke to residents who were left distressed and angry after being rushed into signing on the dotted line and later regretting their purchases.

"We hope this substantial fine will send a powerful message to firms across the country tempted to resort to such practices."