Sometimes when you think the sky is about to fall down, you might be standing tilted. Sucking in the cash A door-to-door salesman has left an elderly woman feeling stupid and humiliated. Shirley Najbert, a Porirua resident, said she felt pressured into paying $3050 for a vacuum cleaner after a four-hour in-home visit by Living Longer NZ. The salesman, who Mrs Najbert said was business owner David Lord, rang her home on a Wednesday night in late May. Mr Lord and a young female trainee-demonstrator went to her home the following day. Mr Lord disputed this, saying he did not do the demonstration for Mrs Najbert and he was not in her home at the time. When asked if he had ever been to her home, he declined to comment. Mrs Najbert said the demonstration made her feel as if she never cleaned her home. "It made you feel humiliated." Her children were shocked when she told them what had happened. "When you're older your brain doesn't work as quickly as it used to.

I didn't think I was stupid, but I certainly was stupid there. I got sucked in by a smooth-talking salesman. "[My children] said, `You bloody idiot'. By that time I was starting to feel I should've crawled under a stone or something." She rang Mr Lord, explained she was unhappy and asked for a refund and to return the vacuum cleaner. He said he couldn't do that, but offered to give her $550, bringing the total sale price down to $2500. The Wellingtonian asked Mr Lord if it was common to give customers rebates when they wanted a refund. His response was, "No comment". Mrs Najbert said she accepted the $550 last week. She was resigned to the fact she was unlikely to get the rest of the money back, but wanted to make other people aware of what Living Longer was doing. "I want to stop him sucking in other old people," she said. Mr Lord said he did not think Mrs Najbert's suggestion that she was pressured into buying the vacuum cleaner was fair. "I asked her if she understood that she had the option to say yes or no," he said.

When asked how he had done this, given his previous statement claiming he was not present during the demonstration and purchase, Mr Lord declined to comment further. This is not the first time Envirotect salespeople have been in the firing line for questionable selling tactics. Five retailers around the country sell Envirotect. One of those businesses is Living Longer NZ Ltd, of which Mr Lord is listed as director. Earlier this year the Commerce Commission issued a warning letter to Mr Lord regarding allegations of false or misleading representations by telemarketers and sales staff. The letter stated the investigation had established Living Longer had breached sections of the Fair Trading Act. Last year Lower Hutt woman Joy Peffers found herself in a similar situation with the company after an in-home demonstration. In 2009, Napier woman Lara Every also had dealings with Living Longer NZ and Mr Lord. She was told she could get a discount of $400 on the vacuum cleaner if she donated 10 food items to the Napier food bank.

Upon further inquiries, it was found the food bank had broken its contract with Mr Lord a year before owing to selling tactics.harga filter vacuum cleaner The Commerce Commission said in its warning letter to Mr Lord that the number of complaints in the past 12 months about Living Longer indicated it had "a problem with compliance with the Act and it is not a one-off isolated incident mistakenly reported".vacuum cleaner paypal Complaints had been received from Lower Hutt, Wainuiomata, Stokes Valley, Pinehaven and Upper Hutt.vacuum cleaner parts wiki Mr Lord is also listed as director for Clean Air Systems. In 2008, another Napier resident, Kay Caradus, took that company to the disputes tribunal after she said she felt pressured into buying an Envirotect vacuum cleaner.

Allanah Kalafatelis, Commerce Commission spokeswoman, said: "If anybody who has been approached by these salespeople is concerned they have been misled, they should make a complaint to the Commerce Commission." Under the Door to Door Sales Act 1967 customers have a seven-day "cooling period" in which they are able to change their minds. However, this applies only to sales in which a credit agreement is made, not sales made by cash or credit card. Consumer New Zealand writer Jessica Wilson said Consumer had requested changes be made to consumer law, including amending the provision to cover all door-to-door and telephone selling, regardless of payment type. Minister of Consumer Affairs Simon Power plans to introduce the Consumer Law Reform bill to Parliament shortly. Consumer adviser Paul Doocey said if people were paying cash there was little that could be done as the law currently stood. He said in the last few weeks he had received several calls regarding Envirotect vacuum cleaners and Living Longer NZ.

Having pushy salespeople in your home, even if they do not breach the Fair Trading Act, can be intimidating and overwhelming. If feel pressured you should ask the person to leave and give you time to consider the deal. Don't be pushed into a deal you might not want because you have been told the discount is available only on the given day. Police spokeswoman Victoria Davis said if salespeople would not leave, advise them you would ring the police. "If they become threatening or you fear for your safety, you should phone 111 immediately," she said.News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. INVENTOR Sir James Dyson last night gave a huge boost to the Brexit campaign – by declaring he wants Britain to quit the European Union. One of the UK’s best known entrepreneurs – hailed as “brilliant” by the PM – broke cover in a move that will be a hammer blow to Downing Street. Sir James is the founder of Dyson, recognised as one of the top British “superbrands” in the world

The Leave campaign had been desperate to secure his backing to counter David Cameron and George Osborne’s relentless warnings that quitting the EU could “wreck” the UK economy. It comes just days after Lord Bamford, the boss of digger maker JCB, urged his 5,000 UK staff to back a Brexit, saying there was “very little to fear” from voting out of the EU. Sir James’ declaration will be a setback for the PM The move comes days after JCB boss Lord Bamford urged his 5,000 UK staff to vote Leave Dyson is recognised as being one of the top British “superbrands” in the world and is famous for reinventing everyday devices such as vacuum cleaners and hand dryers. Two years ago Sir James said he “did not particularly” want to stay in the EU because it was dominated by Germany and did not want to champion new technologies. David Cameron, pictured on a tour of Dyson’s Wiltshire HQ in 2014, has hailed the entrepreneur as ‘brilliant’ Two years ago Sir James said he ‘did not particularly’ want to stay in the EU because it was dominated by Germany and did not want to champion new technologies

He said: “I don’t see that we need to be dominated and bullied by the Germans.” David Cameron made Sir James his technology tsar in 2009 as part of his Get Britain Working masterplan. The billionaire advised the Tories on reviving Britain’s industrial base and produced a 60-page report titled Ingenious Britain: Making the UK the leading high-tech exporter in Europe. key cameron ally exposed 'I DO NOT FIND HIM FUNNY' 'We'll make a success of Brexit' ‘TORY SCUM GET OUT OF BRUM’ SHE'S GOT THE BREX FACTOR TRUCE OVER A TIPPLE 'RAID THEIR VINO' PLAN Two years ago, on a tour of Dyson’s Wiltshire HQ, the PM said: “To have seen all this expanding and all these jobs created, it’s a remarkable story and a credit to Sir James and everyone who works here.” Eurosceptics claim the EU is poised to rush through new laws to ban high-powered appliances such as kettles, toasters to hair dryers within months of Britain’s referendum.