Sold advertising on phone - want to cancel, can I?

sarymclary

Hi,
I received a call last week selling me some advertising in a crime prevention magazine in my area. I have advertised before, but received no feedback, but when I asked about the previous advert, they told me it wasn't their publication involved before.

I have received the proof through, and quite frankly it is poor. I could have sourced the image myself, and the text is clearly taken from the brief summary of my business I provided during the course of our chat, so nothing there really 'sells' my service.

The other part I'm not happy with is that I was sold a 1/4 page, but notice in the small print that it is an A5 page, not the A4 I had anticipated, and this is all going to cost me £339, which I find rather steep for a local, possibly only in-house mag for the police force.

Can I cancel this due to distance selling regulations? When the sales guy was telling me about the ad being placed he told me my call was being recorded and agreeing to the ad was a binding agreement. The thing is he was speaking very fast, in a very strong regional accent, threw in a lot of 'chat' not related to the ad (Xmas, family, and lots of flattery flannel speak). I don't recall being told the price was subject to VAT, and thought the price was under £300, and an A4 1/4 page.

Any experience or advice offered by others would be very much appreciated. The order was taken on 18th Dec., so I have until Thurs. to decide if I do get a 7 day cooling off period.

jones767

I would just call and cancel it. It's your right and perfectly legal.

sarymclary

I've just spoken to Consumer Direct, who have advised me that as they've sold it to me as a 'trader' not a 'consumer' then I do not have the same rights to a cooling off period, and despite them not telling me the size of the page, they've done nothing wrong - I should have asked!

She's advised me to write to them, quoting the Sale of Goods & Services Act 1982, and asking them to provide a better quality proof, etc. The fact is, I really don't want to shell out all this money for what I feel looks like a very small, insignificant mag!

The lady from CD told me to put my complaint in writing, with proof of posting, and request a reply within 14 days.

Am I going to have to put this one down to experience, and my stupidity, but have to stump up the cash?

andyboy190

surely you have to be happy with the proof for this advert to go ahead , which clearly you are not . tell them you want a copy of the tape recording ..don't give them anything without a fight as iam pretty sure that you need a signature for it to be a legally binding contract , this form of hard sell is becoming to common :mad: stand up to them .

Beebop

Oh my Goodness - I am going through exactly the same issue for weirdly - the same amount of money!!!!
Can you let me know which company you are dealing with? PM if necessary. I am at the end of my tether!!!!

sarymclary

I've heard nothing else from the company since I sent a letter before Christmas saying I didn't want to go ahead with the ad, and felt I'd been mis-sold, and pressured by hard sell tactics at the time.

I'm so glad I didn't pay upfront (they offered a 10% discount if I did).

I'm not in the Yellow Pages, but I do have a couple of profile ads on start up business websites, such as WiRE and Women In Business. I believe it's from here they got my information.

I have done a bit of investigation, and the company who 'sold' to me have a website, and are a registered company (I looked on Companies House website). I was beginning to wonder if they were a 'scam' too.

I have taken the attitude that I do not want the service, and will therefore not pay for something I do not want.

Thanks for all your replies. I do appreciate it!

baldelectrician

I get these calls all the time

At first I use to engage in conversation, but now I don't

They have to establish they are talking to someone who is empowered to make a business decision. That is their achilies heel.
At no point acknowlege you are the owner / boss etc.
I always say 'abc Electrical, Stewart speaking. how can i help.'

Then they start
'I am not empowered to make any business decisions. how can I help?'
They ask to speak to the boss
'He's not avalable, can I help?'
They (the more dense ones) start the sales pitch
'I can not make a business decision. Do you understand?'

If that fails. Have some fun, don't answer any questions- reply by asking them a question.
What company are you calling from?
What is the postcode?
Ask them to clarifry things.

Then tell them you have another call coming through, and hang up.

I must point out- be polite - they are only doing their job.

4thfrog

I don't buy services from phone callers on principal; if the ads/service was effective then they wouldn't need to phone around putting the hard sell on all time.
If the offer interests me I tell them to put all the details, including the price, in a email so I can read it when I have time. They rarely bother to :rolleyes:

bestyman

baldelectrician wrote: »

I get these calls all the time


I must point out- be polite - they are only doing their job.

Naah, Don't be polite, wheres the fun in that ? ;O)

Seriously though,I treat these people like I would do someone robbing my van .Both are breaking the law.
Anyone phoning me with an unsolicited sales call( honest or not) is breaking the law as I am registered with the TPS.

nomnomnom

sarymclary wrote: »

When the sales guy was telling me about the ad being placed he told me my call was being recorded and agreeing to the ad was a binding agreement.

If it's the same company that rang my firm last year, they won't let up. They will play the recording back to you of you or whoever agreed to place the advert and they will keep harrassing you until you pay up. Been down the trading standards route and even got legal advice and in the end no one can help so you may as well do what we did and pay up. If you ask nicely they will let you pay a cancellation fee which is approx half the cost.

It's a horrible situation to be in, and the proofs they send out for their supposed magazine is utter sh*t, but you have to decide if you want to have months of stress over this or pay up and put it down to bitter experience.

I'm sure I'll get slated by people reading this who have never been in this situation and think I am an idiot to advise someone not to fight this. But I have been there and explored all the routes to avoid paying for a rubbish advert in a fictional magazine and in the end no one can stop them from the harrassment and stress.

Anyone who cold calls firms and asks for permission to record the phonecall is up to no good! Please anyone reading this don't be caught out like my firm was and the OP. Politely say no thanks and hang up on anyone cold calling you. Harsh but it's the only way these companies will stop making money out of small businesses.

nomnomnom

sarymclary wrote: »

I've heard nothing else from the company since I sent a letter before Christmas saying I didn't want to go ahead with the ad, and felt I'd been mis-sold, and pressured by hard sell tactics at the time.

I have done a bit of investigation, and the company who 'sold' to me have a website, and are a registered company (I looked on Companies House website). I was beginning to wonder if they were a 'scam' too.

I have taken the attitude that I do not want the service, and will therefore not pay for something I do not want.

Thanks for all your replies. I do appreciate it!

The reason why the harrassment went on for months (in my case) is because they leave it long enough between having contact for you to think they have lost interest. I did the same as you, sent them a letter. Then the overdue account reminder came about a month later. Then the harrassing phonecalls & threatening letters.