Westfield shopping centres will no longer host Dead Sea Spa kiosks, after revelations staff were using bullying sale techniques targeting the elderly and impaired.
A Westfield spokesperson said this morning it was a joint decision between Gratiae and Premier, the seller of Dead Sea products, and the shopping centre.
Dead Sea Spa came under fire after TV3's Campbell Live revealed last week an 82-year-old woman was bullied into spending $5000 on cosmetics at the LynnMall shopping centre in Auckland.
Dead Sea Spa products are sold at kiosks staffed by youthful, good-looking Israelis in shopping malls up and down the country.
Since the initial story, others have spoken out about falling victim to the aggressive sale techniques, including a man who suffered from short-term memory loss and an autistic man who has difficulty making friends.
In October 2012, the Manawatū Standard reported that a man with Asperger's syndrome had spent $6232 on skincare and cosmetics at the Dead Sea kiosk in The Plaza shopping centre in Palmerston North. Because of his condition he was unaware of exactly how much money he had handed over or what he had bought. The man's family complained to the owners of the mall, the Kiwi Income Property Trust.
The day after the first Campbell Live report the Kiwi Income Property Trust, which owns LynnMall and The Plaza, evicted Dead Sea Spa.
"They've removed all the stock, the staff are gone, the equipment will be gone very shortly and they will be out of The Plaza by the end of the week. If you look at what happened with that lady, it's not acceptable and we've asked them to leave," Kiwi Income Property Trust retail manager Karl Retief told the Manawatū Standard last week.
"We believe we're a responsible organisation and when these types of things happen we investigate them and we look at getting the right outcome."
A former employee of Dead Sea Spa then revealed yesterday to Campbell Live, Dead Sea Spa workers are trained in Israel, and brought to New Zealand specifically to sell products in a highly aggressive manner designed to target Kiwi shoppers, and are here illegally.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, told Campbell Live he was originally on a visitor visa whole working, as were 99 percent of his co-workers.
"After work we would go to the manager's house, and if you don't reach the target of $500 a day the managers will go off at you," he said. "You also get punished if you don't meet target, like not being able to work the next day."
All employees work on a commission-only base and would receive their pay in cash every Sunday at the manager's house.
Campbell Live will have more on Westfield's decision tonight at 7pm, on TV3.
Key events in the Dead Sea Spa saga:
October 2012 - The Manawatū Standard reported that a man with Asperger's syndrome had spent $6232 on skincare and cosmetics at the Dead Sea kiosk in The Plaza shopping centre in Palmerston North unknowingly, due to his condition. The man's family complained to the mall's owners, the Kiwi Income Property Trust.
June 25 – Revelations an 82-year-old woman was bullied into buying $5000 worth of cosmetics – mostly wrinkle cream for a range of different skin types.
June 26 – Kiwi Income Property Trust, which owns the LynnMall shopping centre in Auckland and The Plaza in Palmerston North, evicts Dead Sea Spa.
June 26 – Revelations a man with short-term memory loss was charged more than a dozen times for $13,000 worth of Dead Sea Spa products.
June 26 – An autistic man, Maartin van der Neut, says Dead Sea sold him $4400-worth of cosmetics in just half an hour, his EFTPOS cards charged five times, with $1000 unaccounted for – not detailed on the receipts.
June 30 – Campbell Live talks with former Dead Sea workers, who expose the company for recruiting Israeli staff here in New Zealand illegally, working on visitor visas.
July 1 – Westfield shopping centres announce they will no longer host Dead Sea Spa kiosks.
Source: 3 News and Manawatū Standard
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