Potential debt - help needed

hueygeorge

Hi Everyone
My partner toyed with the idea of setting up his own welding business a few months ago and contacted our local yellow pages to get a price on an advert.
A woman from the company came round and talked him through the process etc. He signed a document which the woman said needed to be signed so that they could go ahead with choosing designs and organising the layout of the advert. My partner signed the document but only after clearing wth the woman that this was not a contract that he would be bound to. I have to point out at this point that my partner took this woman's word, didn't read the document (stupid I know) and duly signed. Anyway, the woman explained that she would go off and send through some designs for my partner to approve, or he could send her a design of his own. My partner never sent any designs and we never received any designs back from the woman.
To cut a long story short, on Monday we received a call on our land-line from a woman needing some welding work done. She had got my partner's details from the yellow pages!! We checked a new copy of the pages, and sure enough, the advert is there. My partner then rang the yellow pages and was told that yes, he had agreed to the advert etc, and that he would be billed accordingly. My partner explained that the woman had stated the document he signed wasn't legally binding etc, the company disputed this fact and have since sent us a copy of the document that he signed and which is headed 'Application for Advertising - the small print reads thus:

"We have issued this contract to you. By signing below you indicate your willingness to enter into this contract. You hereby accept that the layout and content of your adverisemnts as detailed in this appliction for advertising are correct, complete and accurate, and offer to enter into contract pursuant to the terms and conditions for advertising and to pay the charges, as set out in this application for advertising. You further agree that this contract will not come into force until we write to you to confirm our acceptance of your offer to enter into contract on these terms. Following our acceptance of your offer to enter into contract, you acknowledge that you shall pay to us 25% of the charges, if you cancel the contract within 7 days of our sending the proof copies of your advertisment to you . Any termination thereafter, shall be subject to payment of the charges in full."

We never received any proof copies and didn't receive any further communication from them. This only came to light after the phone call on Monday.

So, I am now worried for several reasons -
1. We have a bill of approx £900 for an advert we didn't want.
2. My partner is employed and therefore not registered for tax - this advert puts him in the self-employed bracket
3. The company have used our home phone number, if our phone provider gets wind that we have a business advertised on our home number, shouldn't we have a business line?

Any advice greatly appreciated, although to be fair, he's signed the document so I can't see that anything can be challenged. My partner says that he has been mis-sold the product but I'm not so sure.

Help!

andrewd2006

i would go and visit the citizens advice!

the_cat

or speak to trading standards?

hueygeorge

Isn't the fact that he signed the 'contract' enough for them to legally charge him though? I don't know! Yep, I'll try trading standards - anything is better than £900 down the drain!! The best thing is that the advert has been in almost a week and he's only had one call!!

the_cat

Don't know if you will get any joy, but if its happened to you, its pretty certain that they have done this to others and if trading standards have had several complaints they will have to investigate.

Thinking about it, I would also write a strongly worded letter of complaint to the MD of the company about this 'sharp practice'. Make sure you speak to CAB first and get a picture of your legal position. But hey, I would complain even if there was next to no chance!

Good luck

rayday2

Despite the fact he signed a contract if he asked if it was a contract and she said no then she has led you astray which at the very least is bad practice. Don't go down quietly!

oojakapipi

A lesson I have recently learned is never sign ANYTHING until you have had time to go over the details. I think you should make a formal complaint to yellow pages about this salesperson by name, stating the conversation your partner had with her.

I can't advise on the contract but the phone line does not need to be a business line, so you won't be in trouble with the telecoms. You should go through the contract word for word and check if the phone number was put on the document your partner signed, it may strengthen your case against them if there is no phone number assigned as a business contact on the contract, and they have used your private number.

Good luck.

hueygeorge

Thanks for that the_cat - the thought had crossed my mind that this would have happened with others. I wasn't there when the woman came round but my partner isn't daft - just slightly impetous! I can't believe he never read it though! I suppose if commission is involved then maybe underhand tactics will be used - I'll check it out - thanks

davey69_2

I know when we did an ad with Yellow pages, as they designed the ad they had to send us over a proof and we had to agree the proof before it was advertised. It seems from what you are saying that they didnt get you to agree a proof nor did you send one over so perhaps you could get them that way aswell?? (unless it is lineage only?)

hueygeorge

Thanks everyone! Forgot to mention that when the woman was with my partner, his mother was present and so can verify what was said. Didn't mention this previously as I thought it would be a 'your word against theirs' type of thing.

cazziebo

First - contact the company and tell them the story. Detail out the fact you never received proofs etc. I used to work for a major telecoms company and we had to deal with a real scam where customers were said to have agreed to new services when they hadn't. We took it very seriously. And yes - quite likely you're not the only one. customers were compensated and heads rolled.

Second - contact trading standards and report this. Yes he should have been more careful but there will be lots of people pressured into signing who may have reading difficulties for example

Good luck and keep us posted

caz