Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Personal info is sold
if you enter contestQuestion: I went to a Japanese restaurant in Aina Haina for dinner earlier this year. I entered a lucky drawing for a car and filled in entries for both my daughter and myself. Only later did I notice there was some printing on the back which said information supplied by nonwinning entrants will be used to build a demographic database and sold for other marketing purposes. The form doesn't say anything about the prizes to be awarded, except that the winner's name will be drawn Dec. 31. Is this a legitimate, state-OK'd contest or just a gimmick for getting personal information from unwary people?
Note:Since publication of this column, the Better Business Bureau reviewed this case and revised its rating for Sun Club Promotions. See: Star-Bulletin Letters, 6/28/1999.
Answer: This is a case of don't sign anything unless you know exactly what's at stake.
By signing the entry form, you "agreed" to the terms of the drawing, including having personal information sold, said Anne Deschene, president of the Better Business Bureau of Hawaii.
Michele Curran, president of Sun Club Promotions, said last month, "We simply sell the information" through promotions such as the one you entered. "Basically it's a resort marketing that we do."
When we asked for information on Sun Club, the BBB sent us an unsatisfactory file report on Sunquest Travel Club, which listed the same Kailua-Kona address and the same principal -- Curran.
But Curran denied ties with Sunquest, saying it is run by a friend.
She said in May that she "wrote to the BBB two months ago and said that all complaints had been cleared. I said if there is anything outstanding to please send it to me. Their response was that everything was fine except for one person. I sent them the fact that I did take care of that person and haven't heard from them since."
The BBB disputed that statement and, based on our query, contacted Curran by certified registered mail about what it said were two outstanding complaints. But Curran, in turn, disputed the complaints this week.
Currently, the BBB is reviewing the information she provided, so there is no report on Sun Club now posted.
Although Curran had been in contact with the BBB in the past, "We have not received any responses to complaints we've forwarded on" within the last year, BBB spokesman Bill Beadle said last week, when the BBB was still trying to reach her.
The BBB says Curran was president of Sunquest from 1995 until earlier this year, when she sent a letter saying she was no longer involved in the company.
"It's a little confusing to us and we would like to get it straightened out also," Beadle said. The BBB's goal is to work with a company in resolving customer complaints.
"We're not in the business of just trying to put negative information out. We want to take care of the underlying issue between the business and their customers."
Curran said she recently moved to Oahu and began the Ford Explorer promotion last December, with 80 box locations in restaurants on Oahu. She said to write to her at P.M.B. 244, 4224 Waialae Ave., Honolulu 96816, to have your name removed from her list or to find out who won.
"Although businesses are not prohibited from requesting this information, consumers will want to weigh the possibility of winning a prize against the likelihood that the demographic information will probably be used for telemarketing, direct mail or door-to-door solicitation," said Jo Ann Uchida, executive director of the state Office of Consumer Protection.
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com