Exhibitors watch out ... there is a new cheat in town

PrintEx has released a warning for exhibitors to beware of any dealings with Expo Guide/FairGuide.com/Construct Data Verlag and other questionable practices as they can cause extreme damage and harm.

Operating out of Mexico, Expo Guide joins FairGuide in claiming to offer online listing services. They use a form, which resembles an organiser's free catalogue listing service, inviting exhibitors to complete the form for an entry in an on-line directory.

According to UFI, unsuspecting exhibitors who sign and return the form find themselves contracted into a non-retractable three-year agreement, which could cost the exhibitor a significant amount of money, with no foreseeable benefits.

These organisations target companies through legitimate exhibition guides aimed at exhibitors, claiming to offer online listing services yet having no connection with exhibition organisers or any of their events. Their current activities cover companies throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Included in their group is debt collection agency Gravis Inkasso Gmbh and Swiss debt collection agency Premiumn Recovery AG (a Construct Data subsidiary), which works in partnership with the various guides to intimidate exhibitors into paying.

If approached by Construct Data you should immediately contact your local Austrian Embassy to provide information concerning problems with this organisation. The Osterreichisches Patentamt, the Austrian Protective Association against Unfair Competition, and the Austrian Advertising Council have each taken steps against these misleading practices.