Agreed to advertise - now don't have the money

thecoffeehouse204

I work for a small electrical contractor and three weeks ago we got a call about advertising in a local directory. It seemed a good deal at the time and we agreed to a quarter page advertisement. They said all the paperwork and invoice would be sent out to us, this arrived last week but since the agreeing to the ad we have been let down by a large customer who are saying they will not be paying our latest bill.

This has left us in financial dire straits and there isn't going to be enough money to cover our PAYE bill this month so paying for this advert is out of the question.

I've just spoken to them and they have said they could offer an instalment plan but we're tied into the advert. Even the 3 instalments is not possible for us to pay right now so just wondering if we have any rights to cancel. We never signed anything or paid a deposit so how do they prove we agreed to the ad in the first place. I feel really bad to let them down but there is no way we can pay this invoice. I thought it was odd at the time they didn't want payment upfront and at the time we could have paid it (although now it would have left us even worse off!!).

One of the managers is ringing me back later so any advice would be much appreciated. Wasn't sure as they cold called us whether we would be entitled to a cooling off period or if this doesn't apply to businesses.

TIA

thecoffeehouse204

Well no replies but thought I would post an update anyway.

Have had a call back from them and they say they can't offer us a cancellation as the space is booked but they can offer us 30 day payment terms so we have till January. Not sure where we'll find the money then either as at the moment my income forecast has us £700 short to pay the VAT man so unless a christmas miracle happens or we get some jobs that are immediate payment rather than the 30/60 days we're usually on we're stuffed!! At this rate i'm probably going to have to find the money out of my own pocket as i'm the one that agreed to the ad in the first place.

McKneff

What kind of a publication, please tell me it wasnt one of these Police/hospital magazine things. Its a big con because none of the locals ever get to see them.

Ring them again and tell them you are on the brink of going into administration and offer them 10% handling fee, thats better than 3p in the pound under
bankruptcy. See what they say then.

thecoffeehouse204

We're a sole trader rather than ltd company though so I don't think liquidation is an option. It's the mini pages but after reading through a few things online i'm regretting signing up for it. Just amazing how quickly things can change as we could have paid the bill no problem last month then a customer lets us down to the tune of £5k when we've already paid for materials and wages and it all goes to pot.

podperson

If you simply agreed on the phone then you have no contract with them and can just cancel - surely it was subject to seeing the paperwork anyway? Sounds like they're just being pushy as they want the money.

somethingcorporate

podperson wrote: »

If you simply agreed on the phone then you have no contract with them and can just cancel - surely it was subject to seeing the paperwork anyway? Sounds like they're just being pushy as they want the money.

This is rubbish, agreeing on the phone IS a contract (although a verbal one) so you are on the hook for it.

I would just try and negotiate if I were you - I am not sure you have any other choice.

PlutoinCapricorn

Most people on here advise against responding to cold callers, and there are many reports of people paying for advertising and being cheated.

If you can find evidence that this is not an ethical company, or that there are no satisfied customers, you can tell them to take you to the small claims court where you will present this evidence. Cancelling orders is very common, and what about a cooling off period?

somethingcorporate

Anecdotal evidence from other customers would not be a good enough reason to cancel contracts, unless it really is fraudulent.

A cooling off period would be contractual - so get a copy of the written contract and see what cancellation term is in it.

Wywth

thecoffeehouse204 wrote: »

I work for a small electrical contractor and ...

thecoffeehouse204 wrote:

We're a sole trader rather than ltd company ...

thecoffeehouse204 wrote: »

... At this rate i'm probably going to have to find the money out of my own pocket as i'm the one that agreed to the ad in the first place.

Why?

Surely as an employee, the contract you formed was one between your employer and the advertiser?

Or were you acting above your station?

podperson

somethingcorporate wrote: »

This is rubbish, agreeing on the phone IS a contract (although a verbal one) so you are on the hook for it.

I would just try and negotiate if I were you - I am not sure you have any other choice.

I said 'simply agreed' as the OP seems to not be aware of the terms and conditions - ie cooling off period, payment terms, and it was agreed that 'paperwork would be sent out' - which presumably they believed would clarify these things. Under those conditions the OP would have a good case for it not being a contract as one of the parties was not made aware of the terms. Since all correspondence seems to have been by phone as well then they could also be covered by Distance Selling laws.

AbbieCadabra

This is business to business, i don't think distance selling regs apply (or cooling off period either). B2B sales are all down to terms & conditions agreed at time of sale.

If your company hasn't got the money, they can't have it. If there is no way to cancel, just explain that you'll need extended payment terms. Getting paid late is better than not getting paid at all.