Expo-Guide

Trading From Mexico

Is this the follow on from Construct Data's Fairguide?

On 17th June 2008, we sent an Open letter to the owners of Expo-guide. In the vain hope that Expo Guide had somehow composed its business plan without knowledge of the Construct Data scam to which it bears such a remarkable similarity. Alas that letter went unanswered and Expo-Guide is now making the predictable claims against its victims that they have singed legally binding Contracts and that they (Expo Guide) have incurred costs and cannot cancel.

In the Open Letter we noted “Should Expo-guide continue to mail the misleading forms and/or demand money from those who have signed in error it will be hard not to conclude that it is your intent to mislead people.” Put in simple English it is now hard to conclude that Expo Guide is not a deliberate Scam.

If You are a victim of Expo-Guide Please write ALL the letters of complaint suggested below Please send your experiences and/or scans of contracts and correspondance to stopscamguides@yahoo.co.uk

Please join the new Stop Expo-Guide Group on

DISCLAIMER This website is in no way affiliated or assoaciated with the Expo-Guide. This is a non-commercial website established in Opposition to all companies that mail potentially misleading contracts .
StopECG is not responsible for the content of any external site we link to.

Page Added 28th May 2008, Last Updated 28th Decs 2008

CONTENTS

Company Info
Contract Scans
Advice if you are Pursued for money
Advice for Fair Organisers
Research and background
Press Coverage
Links
Support Email List

Basic Company Info | See Also Research and background
Expo-Guide is the newest company to come onto StopECG’s radar; we have elected to put up a page at this very early stage because the contracts mailed by Expo-Guide are so similar to those of the reviled Construct Data Verlag (CDV). CDVs forms have lead to thousands of complaints and adverse rulings in several jurisdictions. The current hope is that Expo-Guide will not follow the path taken by CDV.

Contact Info:
Commercial Online Manuals S de RL de CV,
Mariano Escobedo 752 - 9
Col. Nueva Anzures
Mexico D.F. 11590

info@expo-guide.com
www.expo-guide.com

Contract
Contracts are mailed to exhibitors at major trade fairs, they have the name of the event in a prominent position, which could lead the reader to beleive it is a communication from the fair organiser rather than an advert.

See The Contracts
Cover letter (March 2008) | Compare to Construct Data's Cover letter
Contract (March 2008) | Compare to Construct Data's Contract
Advice if you are receiving demands for money

Whenever filing official complaints, we recommend you keep your letters short, polite and factual. If you feel the original document was misleading, please breifly explain why

You should include copies of all Correspondence you have had with the guide and with their agents. We reccomend you send high quality photocopies and should keep your original correspondence on file. If you have lost or destroyed any documents please note this in your letter of complaint.

The relevant Authority in Mexico is the Procuraduria Federal Del Consumidor

Postal address:
Procuraduria Federal Del Consumidor,
Av. José Vasconcelos 208 Col.
Condesa, Del. Cuauhtémoc,
México, D.F. 06140

International call
01-800-468-8722

complaints Forms: Part Filled | Blank Form Ideally print off, fill out in writing and send to the address above. You can fax or email using the contacts provied at the foot of the form.
Online complaints Form Not Reccomended, people wo have used this have been asked to fill out the written form

You should notify expo-guide that you signed in error and consider the contract invalid, Letter of Cancellation (Note, This is simply a modification of the letter used by victims of Construct Data, you may wish to use your own wording.

Additional Information for US Readers

US Companies in dispute with Construct Data are asked to file the following complaints In Addition to the letters of complaint detailed above

Federal Trade Commission
Office of Business Fraud
600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington DC 20580
Tel: 1-202-326-2800
Fax: 1-202-326-2034
Email: OIG@ftg.gov
Online Form: https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup

If you recieved the form in the post you can also file a mail fraud complaint with the US Postal Service:
http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm

Finally try Econsumer.gov, though this is mainly for personal consumers
http://www.econsumer.gov

Should I Pay?
StopECG's Position is that those who were decieved into signing these documents should WITHOLD PAYMENT and wait to see what expo-guides's next move is. If you follow this route you should Notify Expo-guide that you signed in error (see above)..

Please be aware that while the forms are clearly misleading and the modus operandi of similar guides has been to threaten litigation without ever going to court there is a small risk that expo-guide may seek to impose a contract. StopECG would welcome such action as it would enable us (and others) to expose the contract in open court. That said we cannot be held liable for your decision not to pay or for any additional costs it might incur, if in doubt seek third party legal advice.

Debt Collection?
We have plenty of examples of Expo-Guides letters of demand, but so far no one has been subjected to the debt collectors, as used by Construct Data. If you recieve threateining letters from Expo-guide or a debt collector, please Email

THE CONSTRUCT DATA FACTOR
As part of Construct Data’s tortuous legal negotiations in Austria they argued that persons who had paid money had, by the act of paying, accepted the legitimacy of the contract. This argument must be looked at in reverse!

Most of the guide contracts purport to last for 3 years, then extend automatically unless cancelled in writing, so the demands you are receiving may not be the total amount the guide is hoping to extract from you. Paying off the current bill to get them of your back could be an expensive mistake if you then receive more demands and have weakened your legal position.

Specific Advice for Fair Organisers

StopECG are very concerned at to the marketing tactics utilized by Expo-Guide, which appear to be a mirror image of the tactics used by Construct Data Verlag AG. We feel that fair organisers have a duty to for forewarn their exhibitors and protect them from predatory marketing and scams. As a fair organiser you are in a unique position to save your customers from possible distress and expense.

We ask organisers to print a warning on their websites and also to include that warning in correspondence sent to all exhibitors. You should offer general advice that mail shots your customers receive may not be from your organisation, even if they use your name and refer to a specific event.

It will assist to process if you specifically mention the names Expo-Guide, Construct Data, Fair Guide and Fairguide. Ask that your exhibitors read any form very carefully before signing it and ask them to contact you if they have any concerns

Feel free to link to these Advice sites
http://www.stopecg.org/expo-guide.htm (This Page)
http://www.aeo.org.uk/page.cfm/link=86 (Events Industry Alliance)

Examples of what other organisers have done
Shot Show
Informex.com

IAEE

Writing To Expo-Guide
If your fair is being targeted and you feel this represents an unfair act then do write to Expo-Guide and warn them off. The more warnings that are sent, the better should this matter ever end up in court Example letter sent by the IAEE

Details on this company
StopECG has now seen several demands eminating from Expo-Guide where persons have signed in error, the demands are still at an early stage and expo-Guide still has the chance to do the honourable thing and cancel these contracts.

The Bank Referenced in these early demands is.
Caja Espana, Spain
IBAN: ES82 2096 0598 80 3349120904
Swift: CSPAES2L

More Soon

Press Coverage | See all guide and scam related coverage

Here we go again Vertikal Net24thNov 2008

Links
More soon

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