Agreeing to a contract after a cold call

charli_lennon

Hi All,

Hope you can help me as I'm not sure what to do about this.

At the end of October I received a cold call asking me to sign up over the phone for a google ads type account to advertise my small business. They advised me on the phone it would cost me £30 a month and that there would be an unlimited amount of clicks for that amount. I used to pay £30 a month for my google ads account and only got about 30-40 clicks for that amount so I agreed to it.

On the phone I was advised that it would cost me £30 a month exc VAT and that I would have to pay an up front fee of £139 to buy into the service. I was sent a contract via email which detailed that they would provide 5 keywords and that I could cancel at anytime I would just have to give 30 days notice. They did not detail any of the costs that I had agreed so I did not realise that anything was amiss.

A month later I received a bill for £150 exc VAT perplexed as to what this was for I contacted them, this was then they advised me that it was £30 per keyword and I had been signed up for five. If I had of realised this was what the service was for I would not have signed up for it, my business cannot support an advertising campaign of £150 a month.

When I formally complained to them they advised they had recorded the call and that I had been advised that "Each key phrase will charged at £30 a month thereafter" however I did not pick up on the sales guy saying this and the fact they sent such limited info when they sent the agreement through meant I had no chance to pick up on the fact it was going to cost me more than £30 a month. I haven't been able to listen to the call yet but I am sure that if you listen to the call it would be clear that I believed it would only cost me a total of £30 a month exc VAT because I remember repeating this several times.

Is there any law that can help me with this or do I have to put it down to experience?

Many Thanks

GillsMan7

charli_lennon wrote: »

Hi All,

Hope you can help me as I'm not sure what to do about this.

At the end of October I received a cold call asking me to sign up over the phone for a google ads type account to advertise my small business. They advised me on the phone it would cost me £30 a month and that there would be an unlimited amount of clicks for that amount. I used to pay £30 a month for my google ads account and only got about 30-40 clicks for that amount so I agreed to it.

On the phone I was advised that it would cost me £30 a month exc VAT and that I would have to pay an up front fee of £139 to buy into the service. I was sent a contract via email which detailed that they would provide 5 keywords and that I could cancel at anytime I would just have to give 30 days notice. They did not detail any of the costs that I had agreed so I did not realise that anything was amiss.

A month later I received a bill for £150 exc VAT perplexed as to what this was for I contacted them, this was then they advised me that it was £30 per keyword and I had been signed up for five. If I had of realised this was what the service was for I would not have signed up for it, my business cannot support an advertising campaign of £150 a month.

When I formally complained to them they advised they had recorded the call and that I had been advised that "Each key phrase will charged at £30 a month thereafter" however I did not pick up on the sales guy saying this and the fact they sent such limited info when they sent the agreement through meant I had no chance to pick up on the fact it was going to cost me more than £30 a month. I haven't been able to listen to the call yet but I am sure that if you listen to the call it would be clear that I believed it would only cost me a total of £30 a month exc VAT because I remember repeating this several times.

Is there any law that can help me with this or do I have to put it down to experience?

Many Thanks

Were you sent a contract detailing the costs? This might be a legitimate exercise, but it sounds very similar to a scam I dealt with in a former job which involved advertising in a European magazine.

In that case, it was a clear scam, so I advised people to ignore the scary letters and debt collection demands and eventually the letters would cease.

Personally, I'd be asking for a copy of the phone call, and look at any paperwork you have. If you don't have any, they're going to struggle to convince a judge in a court that you owe the money.

I certainly wouldn't chalk it down to experience just yet.

charli_lennon

No I didn't receive any paperwork detailing the costs. All it said was that I would get five keywords and how I could cancel. I have asked for an auditory copy of the call but I don't hold out hope that I'll get one because its took them 6 weeks to reply to my complaint! In the mean time they've taken another payment from my credit card!

GillsMan7

Ouch. OK, this is going outside of my sphere of knowledge, but I'd contact your cc company to see what they can do. Might not be a lot as technically you did authorise it, but you could advise them that you only authorised £30, not £150 and see what they say. Someone else might have better advice than me!