A cold-calling electronics company has been forced to refund customers.

Retailer ‘Get Gizmo’ promotes and sells electronic goods by unsolicited telemarketing, targeting remote Indigenous communities in particular.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took the company to court alleging that in approximately 4,000 cases, Get Gizmo charged customers for goods during a statutory 10 day cooling off period.

The regulator was able to obtain a court-enforceable with Get Gizmo’s sole director, Himanshu Bist.

“There are laws in place to protect consumers during unsolicited calls or visits and this includes a 10 day cooling off period during which a customer can cancel at no financial cost,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.

“Mr Bist has admitted that Get Gizmo accepted full or partial payment for goods during the cooling off period, and that this was likely to have contravened the Australian Consumer Law.”

All customers who were charged for products before the cooling off period had elapsed will be contacted by Get Gizmo by email or letter with information on how they can obtain a refund should they wish to do so.

Get Gizmo must arrange and pay for the return of devices within seven days, and will also have to wipe their data within seven days of receiving them.

As part of the undertaking, Mr Bist has committed to ensure that Get Gizmo does not engage in any further unsolicited sales for its products.

Mr Bist has also undertaken not to be involved in any business that offers, negotiates or enters into an unsolicited consumer agreement for a period of five years.

Mr Bist also has to remain the sole director and shareholder of Get Gizmo for at least three years (unless deregistered) and is not allowed to deregister it himself for two years.

Reports say calls to the company’s listed phone numbers are going unanswered, and the company’s website looks to have been taken down as well.