The father of an intellectually handicapped Tauranga man, who was talked into buying a $5000 vacuum cleaner by two salesmen, is relieved the money never changed hands.

Peter Adams was called by his 38-year-old son Edwin's Tauranga bank this month after staff became suspicious of the salesmen accompanying the Avalon disability development centre trainee to withdraw the money from his account.

Tauranga man Edwin Adams nearly bought a $5000 vacuum cleaner when two salesmen accompanied him to his bank to withdraw the money.

'They [the staff] noticed he [Edwin] seemed to be a bit uneasy, and they got a little bit suspicious,” says Peter.

'One of them had taken him into the bank to draw the money out.

'I understand the salesmen wanted $5000. The bank people became a bit suspicious so they took Edwin aside to have a bit of a chat with him, and they rang me about it,” says Peter.

'Thank goodness it never went any further. No money actually changed hands, so that's a good thing.”

Peter says Edwin lives on his own, but he doesn't understand things like the value of money too much.

Edwin also doesn't have the $5000 he was told the air purifier and vacuum cleaner were worth, says Peter.

Edwin says two salesmen sold him the vacuum cleaner the night before, took him to the bank the next morning – and, when that failed drove him to Avalon, saying they would meet after work.

Peter, who had been called by the bank, was waiting for them.

The vacuum cleaner salesman turned up about 6pm, and said he realised his mistake and left when Peter confronted him about their sales tactics.

'I don't know how they got my number,” says Edwin.

The Envirotect brand air purifier-vacuum cleaner combo is currently being sold in Tauranga by Auckland company Healthy Air Products Ltd.

Earlier this month Tauranga Phillipa Lewis approached SunLive to warn fellow residents not to be pressured into buying the $7000 vacuum cleaner and air filter package when redeeming a free gift from a flyer-drop.

Phillipa Lewis' friend phoned the number on a flyer – which is being put into city letterboxes – advertising residents can receive a free gift if they call up.

Instead Phillipa's friend found themselves on the receiving end of a two-hour long high pressure sales pitch for a vacuum cleaner and air filter combo costing a total of $6980.

The Envirotect brand importers have previously been warned by the Commerce Commission about their sales techniques, with Consumer Magazine regarding the vacuum cleaner as the worst.

Consumer NZ tested the Envirotect vacuum in 2012 and found it came at the bottom of their test of more than 50 machines.

The $3990 Envirotect vacuum cleaner performed no better than a vacuum that can be bought for $100, says Consumer NZ.

It managed 5.9 out of a possible 10 points for removing dirt from carpet. A top-rated cleaner scores 8.3 out of 10 and sells for less than a quarter of the $3,990 price of the Envirotect.

The only task the Envirotect performed well was picking up pet hair.

Consumer NZ says their tests show claims the Envirotect is a top performer are false. The vacuum is grossly over-priced, 'and we think consumers are being ripped off”.

Consumer NZ also complained to the Commerce Commission over misleading claims being made about the Korean manufacturer's ISO qualifications.

They were being applied to the vacuum cleaner when ISO 9001 and ISO1401 are certifications for business processes and cannot be given for specific products.

Importers Carmen and Brenda Glenn, trading as Healthy Air Products Ltd, were warned by the commission over making misleading claims about the vacuum cleaner's performance, about the ISO representation, and for continuing to claim to be a sponsor of a particular Christchurch charity four years after it had lapsed.

According Companies Office online search engine Healthy Air Products Ltd was registered in January 2014 in Auckland, with Carmen Glenn as sole director.

SunLive's repeated attempts to contact Healthy Air Products Ltd through the phone number on the flyers have been unsuccessful. A phone message states the extension is unavailable.