European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 14, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A marketplace. Set the Jsu yer beware by Bill Walker projects editor re military Consumers provided any Protection from the Shady practices of encyclopedia salespersons the answer is not much according to in formation available from Legal assistance offices and the Book companies. In the military marketplace the advice caveat emptor let the buyer beware is a grim reminder of How helpless the american consumer in Europe can be when buying books. Taking a surface look at the Book Busi Ness and the agencies set up by the Mili tary to regulate it there would seem to be sufficient controls. There is a Usa eur commercial solicitation office which sup Posedly registers All salespeople Market ing goods to the . Forces. There is also an armed forces disciplinary control Board of dub which handles complaints against companies not following the Good business practices prescribed by the military. And agents who sell for three pm concessionaire companies Are supervised by a contracting office at cafes Headquarters in Munich. But a close look indicates that in spite of the regulatory agencies the companies doing business in Europe carry on pretty much As they want. The regulators Are policing an empty marketplace one sales Man pointed out. Where the business is being done there Are no real controls he continued. The Usa eur office where All boo salespersons except pm geared agents should be registered currently lists 19 accredited salespersons. Company officials admit there Are a minimum of 100 Active off Post Book salesmen and women i Europe today. The figure May be dose to Iso some company representatives Esti  salespeople Are not registered with Usa eur although some of them sol for firms which have a few registered salesmen. In other words the commercial solicitation program is regulating at Best one fifth of the Sellers in the marketplace. The figure May be closer to one tenth. Competing Book company representatives rarely agree on anything concerning their business but they Are  on the merits of the commercial solicitation permit issued where the business is being done there Are no real controls. By Usa eur. It is a worthless piece of paper that hurts More than it helps they say. I Don t see any Protection for the Ca Sumer in just the Usa eur solicitation permit said Wolfgang Durst manager of the Richards company est., a firm that is not registered with Usa eur. How much Good is it going to do a con Sumer if Joe blow has a clearance permit and is Selling garbage and the other salesmen Fred so and so does thave a clearance but is Selling a Good product How much Good does the permit do capt. Joseph Kirker a personal services officer at Usa eur he handles Commer Cial solicitation permit applications. He said he really did t know Why so Many of the salespersons Are not registered i Don t have a fed for that he said. He added that perhaps the sales people who have not registered know the cannot meet the requirements. In Europe there Are seven companies registered by Usa eur to sell books. But Only three have sales people in the Field. The other four Are currently inactive but maintain their clearance with Usa eur. The Active registered firms Selling encyclopedias Are american Book distributors Merit educators inc.,and Tosca distributing company. Not registered with Sarteur but Selling off Post Are the Richards company est., books inc., the Columbia corporation and Advance distributors Book division. For the companies listed with Usa eur Kirker said military con Sumers do have recourse in Case of complaints. Write the commercial solicitation of Nee in Heidelberg or go to a local Cor americal affairs officer Cao of the army be said. Kirker explained that the Cao is an individual named by the Community com Mander to assist of in handling  the Cao is primarily responsible for receiving the us Vidu. Al who wants to solicit at the installation. The commercial solicitation office has no control Over the unregistered Compa Nies which Market to the military comm  companies Are dealt with by the disciplinary control Board which meets periodically. The Board has the Power to declare firms off limits making it a punishable violation for military personnel to Deal with the , of dub Secretary capt. Peter Duffy admitted the Board is Only effective against a firm that is concerned about its Good name. If they Are willing to break the rules and change the company name on the contract we Are helpless to Stop them he said. Some company representatives chuckle at How easy it is to avoid the off limits action of the of dub and continue sales to the military. The example of trans Atlan tic marketing is an indication company representatives say of Why the of dub is powerless in most cases. In january 197$ the of dub declared trans Atlantic marketing off limits follow ing complaints about its Book business practices. The company merely changed names had new contracts printed and was Back in business under the name of books inc. Business is booming for the firm Rugby the same people and operating from the same location in Munich a rival agent  agent this one associated with books inc. Said Tam also has five other names it occasionally uses and which could be shoved into the Breech in Case books inc. Is also declared off limits. The action of trans Atlantic marketing a avoiding the off Umles action of the of dub is not an exception to general practice in the Book business but part of the Normal sequences of events when the of dub acts a Veter an agent pointed out. A former Usa eur Legal assistance officer said the situation As it now stands is a hopeless one. The of dub will never be Able to Stop any company that is willing to change names and change agents names. If less than one in five salespersons is registered with Usa eur and the actions of the disciplinary control Board Are so easily sidestepped who or what remains to exert an influence Over the companies and their agents one Assumption might be that in Ger Many where the bulk of the business is con ducted the German government would bring its Power to Bear on these firms. But indications Are the German government does t follow the business very Cloudy. Off Post salesmen residing in Germany Are. Supposed to have residence permits. Non common Market country salespersons Are supposed to have work permits Page a4 the stars and stripes tuesday