The Commerce Commission has filed criminal charges against HelloFresh NZ, alleging the company misled former subscribers during cold calls between February 2022 and July 2023.
The regulator claims customers were offered discount vouchers without being clearly informed that accepting them would reactivate their subscriptions, resulting in unexpected charges.
Commission Deputy Chair Anne Callinan stated this practice breached the Fair Trading Act, as customers were charged for services they had not knowingly agreed to.
HelloFresh acknowledged the issue, attributing it to call centre staff “not following proper procedures”, and stated that corrective action had been taken.
The case has been filed in Wellington District Court.
Corrective action had been taken? So all good , nothing to see here then.
My kids were certainly aware that accepting a discount voucher would reactivate the subscription. So they would simply use the voucher and then cancel the subscription again before the next month. Just needed to be on the ball and not forget.