Tech Vault Enterprises Limited (t/a HouseSmile) (in liquidation)

Tech Vault Enterprises Ltd, trading as HouseSmile, has been fined $60,000 for a breach of s7 of the Fair Trading Act (unconscionable conduct) that involved repeated unsolicited sales calls to an elderly woman suffering from dementia. The company has also been ordered to make a $7,500 payment for emotional harm. HouseSmile is a New Zealand-registered company which, at the relevant time, was operated by director Rahil Tharani and senior manager Abhi Bora. It primarily sold household goods, including electronics, exclusively on layby. The company invited customers to contact it through Facebook advertisements or its website. Its sales agents would then phone consumers and also make unsolicited calls to customers on its database. Shortly before sentencing, HouseSmile entered liquidation.

The Commission had also provided HouseSmile with compliance advice regarding the company’s layby sale and uninvited direct sale documentation.