MAGAZINE
ADVERT DEMANDS
You think you’re ordering
a magazine but you end up owing money for advertising - hundreds
of NI people have been caught out.
A listener contacted On Your
Behalf about a problem he was having with the European City Guide
in Barcelona.
"I thought at the time,
that I was ordering a guide on photography and designing and I did
not read the small print," he said.
"Lo and behold I received
a letter with an invoice asking me to proof read my new ad, that
would be inserted into the City Guide. Once I realised what I had
signed for, I called them right away to let them know that a mistake
had been made, and that there was no way I wanted to advertise in
their Guide.
"The girl at the other
end of the phone said that it should be OK but to send them a letter
stating that - which I did. A few months later I got another invoice
from the this company asking for payment again.
I sent another letter stating
that I did not want to advertise with them. I told them I was only
a small shop in a town in Northern Ireland and an advert in a world
wide guide was out of the question - thinking this would be the
end of it.
"But it’s not! I
have been getting bills right up till this year for hundreds of
pounds."
And he’s not alone. Hundreds
of people in N Ireland have found themselves in the same situation.
So do they have to
pay the money?
Do the words 'The publisher
reserves the right to sue in the legal domicile of the order party'
on the so -called booking form, have any legal standing?
Trading Standards say NO - and quote a recent ruling by the Advertising
Standards Authority regarding complaints about the European City
Guide.
Trading Standards advise that
you write to the company in Barcelona, telling them that you are
not paying, and why not. You should keep a copy of this letter.
ADVERTISING STANDARDS
AUTHORITY ADJUDICATIONS
January 1999
Objections, including two from
Trading Standards departments, to a direct mailing sent to businesses.
It was headlined "European
City Guide" and invited recipients to fill in their details
to have an entry in a guide.
Directly beneath the address
of the recipient was a large printed statement "Please check
your address carefully. Complete the form and return it in the enclosed
envelope even if you do not wish to place an order".
The mailing claimed "We
are presently compiling information for the European City Guide.
In this guide, all city information may be searched for and found
under the respective country or city section ... Filling in this
form will give you the opportunity to be published within our "shopping
business or cultural" section. We'll also put your business
in our Internet-directory."
The terms and conditions of
the contract and a copy of costs of the directory and each entry
were stated at the foot of the advertisement, above the space
for a signature, captioned "Legal Signature/Company Stamp".
The complainants objected that
the mailing gave the impression that the directory entries were
free and did not make clear that signing and returning the mailing,
even if one merely wanted to correct an address or give the information
about the type of business activity, would commit recipients to
paying for three entries and a copy of the advertisers' directory,
a total of £1,018.
Adjudication: Complaints upheld
The advertisers argued that
all the important terms and conditions were included in the form
and that they had taken legal advice to ensure that European guidelines
were observed.
They thought the mailing was
clear. The Authority considered that the statement "Please
check your address carefully, complete the form and return it in
the enclosed envelope even if you do not wish to place an order"
directly below the address box was likely to give the impression
that the costs for entries would not necessarily be incurred if
the form was signed and returned.
Because that was not true,
the Authority asked the advertisers to amend the mailing to include
a clear and prominent statement that, if the recipient did not want
to order advertising space or copies of the guide, the form should
be sent back unsigned.
|
