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SMALL PRINT COSTS COMPANIES DEARLY

International company Marketsafe

Monday March 17,2008

By Maisha Frost

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(2)

AN international marketing company has squeezed thousands of pounds out of small traders by using legal strong-arm tactics after they rejected its services.

A Crusader investigation has uncovered deplorable, although lawful, practices adopted by information supplier Marketsafe when asking small firms to renew their subscriptions for its data.

If they declined but failed to inform Marketsafe in writing, the company ruthlessly enforced its contract rights, which included automatic renewal terms. Busy traders who neglected to check the small print they originally accepted left themselves wide open legally.

They received a demand to pay for another year even though they thought their verbal refusal had been enough. Some paid up several hundred pounds. Others faced court action and lost, such as carpet shop owner Ian Bird of BK Carpets (see box).

Marketsafe, based in Bridgend, South Wales, is part of the European business services Safe Improvement Group and boasts a multi-million pound turnover.

Many companies, still smarting from a Marketsafe encounter, have lodged formal complaints with its trade body, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). All have lost.

However, when Crusader took the allegations to Marketsafe, the company promised to change its ways for good.

It insisted it had made all of the companies repeatedly aware of its renewal requirements but it refused to say it would drop actions currently pending against firms – or how much it has made from resorting to the law.

Marketsafe said in a statement: “As a result of the Daily Express bringing the issue of automatic contract renewal to our attention, we are pleased to confirm that no new legal proceedings will be launched against customers that do not wish to renew their contract or use the service once their initial 12-month agreement has ended.

“Customers who do not enter any correspondence with Marketsafe and so not use the service, after the expiration of the 12-month contract, will have their accounts automatically closed after two months.

“The automatic renewal policy has only ever affected a small minority of our customers, the majority of whom are extremely satisfied.”

REF MARKETSAFE COM

12.08.08, 10:17pm

We have just successfully defended a claim against Marketsafe. Firstly make sure that you tell the judge thst you agreed to a trial subscription, Marketsafe cannot change the terms of a verbal contract.

Secondly they do not and have never produced according to our jugde transcripts of telephone calls, so make sure that you let the judge know you believed you were only trialling their software therefore no contract exists. The impression we got was the judge was really happy to award in our favour.

• Posted by: lfstephens • Report Comment

STANDARD BUSINESS PRACTICE

06.04.08, 1:55pm

Many companys now use this tactic. They can often make more money from penalties and 0870 numbers than they do from their service. It's called lockin. They make you a super attractive deal for the first 6 months then it goes to the standard deal. They are playing the long game, knowing you will be stuck with them for years. One of the tactics is the automatic 12 monthly contrac renewal with a limited cancelation period. When you phone them to cancel, they detect your phone number route your call to their busiest and least english speaking call centre. This is very frustrating and takes ages. The agent then tells you that your contract has been successfully canceled, except it has not. Your direct debit may then skip a month so you assume it's worked. Then it starts back up again. If you call the bank and cancel the payments then you will be sent demands for payment. If you write to them then they will lose your letter, even when you send recorded delivery. This will drag on for months.

The bigger the company the more likely they are to do this. It's important to cancel Direct Debits at the bank, maybe record phonecalls, but tell them you are doing so, write to them recorded delivery and take down names and what was said. It does take months but you will win in the end.

The best thing is not to let someone have any leaverage over you in the first place.

• Posted by: Wayland • Report Comment