# Pure H20 (in liquidation) directors back in business as Premium Home Cover Ltd



## Brendan Burgess (15 May 2012)

*Summary
*The Pure H20 Company Limited came in for severe criticism for its pressurised sales tactics on askaboutmoney, on RTE and elsewhere. 
They sell a  water filtration system which removes all the minerals from your water - brand names Aquathin and Aqualite 
The directors Fergus Curley and Joseph Guthrie     made three complaints to the Broadcasting Commission
All three complaints were rejected
The company went into liquidation in December 2009
The directors are now trading again as Premium Home Cover Ltd which sells the Aquathin product again and claims 10,000 installations in Ireland. 

*The original complaints
*This is thread from Askaboutmoney on Pure H20
It cost €2,580 to be installed and fitted with an annual maintenance charge of €137
They employed a fleet of telesales staff who would cold call customers and book free water tests in people's homes.
The sales guys called to the house and stuck  electrodes in your water which then turned  cloudy.  But perfectly clean water will turn cloudy anyway. They say it's due to bacterial contamination. People were getting freaked by this and buying the system.
The sales system is "You are one of the lucky ones and you can get a discount if you sign up today" 

Some have argued that distilled or pure water is actually bad for you as it leaches minerals out of your body. This was also the suggestion from a lab analyst on the Consmer Show. The H20 company disputed this.


*If you do want your water tested and a water filtration system installed, check out the guidelines in this post

*The advice on askaboutmoney was that if you are worried about your water  quality, get it tested by an independent laboratory and not by a door  to door salesman.

*Further complaints

*Users of boards.ie reported similar experiences to those of askaboutmoney users

*Broadcasting Commission of Ireland rejects complaints from Pure H20

*Philip Boucher-Hayes did an episode of Buyer Beware on Pure H20.  The programme is no longer available online, but Fergus Curley a director of Pure H20, made a complaint to the Broadcasting Commission and the complaint was not upheld

Joe Duffy took phone calls from irate customers and had  Guthrie a director on hand to answer them. Mr Fergus Curley and Mr Joseph Guthrie still complained about bias to the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland who again, rejected their complaint. 



> [FONT=&quot]On hearing the broadcast, the Commission was of the view that the programme-makers permitted callers to discuss their experiences with H2O.  The company was given the opportunity on-air to respond to the issues raised.  The presenter facilitated a fair and balanced discussion.  There was no evidence of editorial bias in this broadcast.  Further, there was no evidence of inaccurate facts and/or information that constituted an attack on the reputation of the company.  [/FONT]


*

The Pure H20 Company (Ireland) Limited is in liquidation  
*Company number   364339
Directors  Fergus Curley and Joseph Guthrie

Fergus Curley and Joseph Guthrie are also directors of Tribe Sales & Marketing Limited which went into liquidation at the same time. This seems to be the holding company for The Pure H20 Company (Ireland) Limited

I don't know how the liquidation affected customers or creditors.

*
Premium Home Cover Limited 
*Both Fergus Curley and Joseph Guthrie are back in the H20 business with this company 

They are selling the aquathin product  [broken link removed] which seems to be a mirror of phcl.ie 

They have done a lot since their recent establishment



> We are Ireland’s leading water purification provider with in excess of 10,000 installations nationwide.


I can't find any mention on their website of Fergus Curley and Joseph Guthrie or of Pure H20 or of The Pure H20 Company (Ireland) Ltd (in liquidation) 

They have written to me asking me to remove their names from the thread on H20 , although they haven't explained why I should.  They were directors. They were active. They ran the company. They made the complaints to the BCC. 

Brendan


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## Brendan Burgess (15 May 2012)

Premium Home Cover Limited seems to have a similar sales model to judge by this 



> *  [Full-time] Field sales position at Premium Home Cover Ltd *
> 
> *Location:*
> *URL:* [broken link removed]
> ...



It's interesting that they require sales experience and not any form of technical skills.


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