Cases taken against Prima Holding firms across Europe

IRELAND

Since the beginning of 2014 ComReg has received more than 500 complaints about Prima Holding’s Irish company Yourtel. An investigation launched last September found Yourtel failed to inform customers of their right to cancel contracts within 14 days. In January, Yourtel gave an undertaking to perform a number of remedial actions.

GERMANY

In September 2011, Prima Holding subsidiary Primacall was the subject of a court ruling fining the company €50,000 for ‘repeated illegal telemarketing calls’. During the case it was successfully argued that Primacall should not have cold called people who originally gave their details to a sweepstakes offer, not realising it would result in cold calls.

AUSTRIA

An Austrian subsidiary of Prima Holding – also called Primacall – was the subject of a 2013 case in Vienna taken by the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The court upheld a complaint that the company had engaged in unauthorised and aggressive business practices as well as unsolicited marketing calls. Primacall appealed the ruling without success.

SWITZERLAND

In Switzerland the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs brought a civil case against a Swiss Prima Holding company, called Primacall, for unsolicited marketing in 2013. The State Secretariat first warned the company about its practices in November 2012 before proceeding with legal action. The case was settled in 2014.