Yell - small claims court

Boat1234

Hello,  
Like many others my partner was conned into signing up for a Yell contract with false promises of x amount of leads etc per week and needless to say that these have never materialised. We informed Yell that we were unhappy and told them we wanted to cancel the contract as they were not upholding their side of providing the leads promised and thus we considered it mis-sold. We also had several problems with the initial set up. They told us we were locked into a 12 month contract and we would have to pay the cancellation charge which is 80% of the full year subscription. I understand now that Yell have a terrible reputation for doing this sort of thing. 

I understand that there is a group action legal claim going against Yell but this is likely to take a along time and as we have a large mortgage we do not want to risk our good credit score if it rumbles on for ages before going to court. 

 I wondered if anyone had tried to take yell to the small claims court themselves and if so what was the outcome? 

macman

How is joining a group action going to affect your credit report (not your score, as you don't have one: it's a fictitious number)?
I think you will find that the contract you agreed will have terms tin the small print that mean that the leads are not guaranteed. 
Mis-selling is entirely different to breach of contract, and what you have said so far shows no evidence of mis-selling.

Boat1234

Hi macman. 
In reference to the credit report. When we complained and requested to cancel the contract,  we cancelled the direct debit and now know this is likely to get passed to Yells debt collectors so don’t want this continuing to pile interest and show as an unpaid debt on the credit file while the group legal proceedings start.

I’ve never done this sort of thing before so I’m not sure how it works. 

tacpot12

Your problem sounds like a fairly straightforward piece of civil litigation, but if so, why has there been a need for a group action? It would be worth trying to get in touch with one of the lead litigants in the group action to find out the legal basis on which the action is being fought. This should give you an idea as to how difficult a legal argument you will have to make to win your own case.

A solicitor might be able to look up the previous cases involving Yell to understand how and why they succeeded or failed.

I don't see how you can fight this without some expert help from a solicitor, and that is going to cost money - possibly as much money as paying the 80% cancellation charge. Your other option might be to let the contract run for the 12 month term, but not renew. At least that way you might get a few leads from Yell later in the contract. If you cancel now, this will probably  result in no further leads coming from Yell.

You might want to look at your Partnership Agreement to ensure that potentially damaging contracts are not entered into until your solicitor (or at least another partner) has examined the contract for the risk of non-performance. 

martindow

In a business to business transaction like this, it is entirely down to the wording of the contract.  In signing this you are bound by these terms.

Unfair terms legislation only applies to B2C transactions where it is felt that a customer should not be put into a difficult postion by a company.  With B2B transactions you are seen as equals and great care needs to be taken before signing. I imagine that companies like Yell take a lot of care drafting their agreements to make them watertight and difficult to wriggle out from.

Happybunny44

Hello Boat1234
I am in a situation with Yell at the moment which is causing me sleepless nights. Can you please let me know how you got on with yours? I hope it all went well for you.

Alderbank

Boat1234 has not visited this site since 2020.

It is now 2023. That boat has sailed.