Paid newspaper ad not printed - what recourse do I have?

lynneinjapan

A couple of weeks ago I paid for a boxed classified ad in the local newspaper (booked online), which wasn't printed when it was supposed to be. I've emailed and called them to ask for a refund - fortunately we didn't suffer any other losses as a result of the ad not being printed - and the only result I've got is a slightly confused-sounding woman saying she'd look into it and get back to me. That was a week ago and I've heard nothing since.

(The package also included the ad being shown in the newspaper's online classifieds (which it was) and printed in another newspaper a few miles away (which it may or may not have been, I have no way of knowing), but neither of those was of any interest to me - I only paid to get an ad PRINTED in my LOCAL paper, and wasn't allowed to opt out of the other bits.)

I'm emailing them a reminder and wondered if there's anything I can threaten them with to make them listen to me? I thought of the Press Complaints Commission, but don't they only deal with editorial?

Quentin

Write a "letter before action" asking for your money back and threaten them with legal action if they don't refund you in (say) 10 days.

If they ignore this, then go down the MCOL route.

bod1467

How much was the ad? (Our local paper charges from about £7.50 from what I recall reading - never placed one myself). What I'm getting at is - unless this is for a LOT of money then don't let it take over your life. You're probably in the right and deserve a refund, but you could end up "spending" more (time=money) on this than it merits.

InsideInsurance

You could threaten to issue a small track county court case (aka small claims court) for the money via a letter before action but really need to weigh up the amount of time being spent -v- the price you paid for the advert (which is all you could claim as you say you suffered no other losses)

lynneinjapan

It wasn't a huge amount, only about £16, so not worth going to court over! It just annoys me that we paid upfront and didn't get what we paid for, especially as there isn't an alternative publication that we could use instead, so if we want to advertise again then we'll have to pay them again, despite not getting what we paid for the first time!

(There was also another ad in the online classifieds, similar to ours, that wasn't printed in the physical newspaper so I think we weren't the only ones who got ripped off, though the other advertiser wasn't local and so may not be aware that their ad wasn't printed.)

Firefox1975

lynneinjapan wrote: »

It wasn't a huge amount, only about £16, so not worth going to court over! It just annoys me that we paid upfront and didn't get what we paid for, especially as there isn't an alternative publication that we could use instead, so if we want to advertise again then we'll have to pay them again, despite not getting what we paid for the first time!

(There was also another ad in the online classifieds, similar to ours, that wasn't printed in the physical newspaper so I think we weren't the only ones who got ripped off, though the other advertiser wasn't local and so may not be aware that their ad wasn't printed.)

No, you wont pay again, if they realise theremistake they will probably give you free ad space in a future publication. It woudl be incredibly bad business practise not to!

Quentin

lynneinjapan wrote: »

It wasn't a huge amount, only about £16, so not worth going to court over!

Still no reason why you cannot send them a LBA - they wouldn't like it if you were to go all the way, and your letter could do the trick and get them to do the right thing and repay you. (You don't have to carry out the threat should they ignore you!)

And it will only cost you a stamp!

shaun_from_Africa

only about £16, so not worth going to court over

Maybe not, but if you owed the newspaper £16, I doubt if they would just write it off.
£16 is 3 gallons of petrol or 7-8 pints of beer and the money is better in your pocket then in the bank account of the newspaper.

lynneinjapan

Update: I've had an email apologising for the failure to print and saying they'll give me my refund, so all is good (assuming that the refund materialises!).

Firefox, you're right but the submission was done via an automated online system and I don't think it would allow for the waiving of charges; that would have to be done manually afterwards.

NiallB

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

£16 is ........ 7-8 pints of beer .

Where do you live dude? I'm coming to visit for the cheap beer!:beer:

arcon5

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Maybe not, but if you owed the newspaper £16, I doubt if they would just write it off.
£16 is 3 gallons of petrol or 7-8 pints of beer and the money is better in your pocket then in the bank account of the newspaper.

30-40 if you use the money to brew your own