Pure Collection which markets its fashion range in the US as well as the UK, has had to pay the US government close on US $1 million following the actions of one of its former employees who blew the whistle on Pure Collection’s evasion of customs duties. The former employee, Andrew Patrick, who had worked for the business from 2010 – 2014 had said that Pure Collection had trained staff to systematically divide customer orders into separate parcel shipments which were then of a low enough individual value to escape customs duty. This action meant that buying from Pure Collection offered American consumers lower prices that they would expect to pay for equivalent garments from competitors.
The case against Pure Collection and its chief executive Samantha Harrison resulted in Andrew Patrick collecting a reward for ‘shopping’ his former employer. The attorney, Molly Knobler of Phillips & Cohen, who brought the case said: “One of the company’s marketing pitches to US customers was a promise that they wouldn’t have to pay customs duties on the merchandise they bought from Pure Collection online. It was successful as a marketing strategy but wrong as a company practice.”
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