Legalities help

[jenny2]

Hi guys,
I have recently asked to advertise in my local magazine over a period of six months.
The magazine should have been distributed in the first week of Dec. After speaking with present clients the magazine has not as yet been distributed to surrounding areas, causing me much concern.
I have been advised that it began going out last week and will be delivered within the next two weeks.
Obviously from a business perspective, december is one of the main months for gaining new clients and with the mag now not hitting the areas by the date initially advised i am concerned i have paid for advertising that is not going to give the service i had initially hoped for.
Can any one advise on this matter

 

[Cat_Therien]

Did you sign a contract with the magazine when you paid for your ad? In the contract should have been a date for distribution of the magazine. If they failed to deliver by that date, then you should have grounds for at least a partial refund. But my guess is, you'd probably have better chances at getting action on it by hiring a legal advisor.

Cat

 

[jenny2]

Hi hun

No contract was given. Only a conversation over the phone. It was said that the advertisement would go out the first week in December to areas. Invoice has been received, but as yet no mags have gone out to people that i no. I have been told it has started to go out and will be out to every one within a two week period.
I have been told if i wish to cancel my other months davertising i will need to pay a fifty pound charge for putting the advertisement together.

I feel as though the service has not been met, especially with there only being 15 days till christams .

 

[number1kitty]

This is why I now only advertise in well established media. Theres very little you can do other than play hell for leather with the company.

Before cancelling ask how they will 'rectify' your problem. See if they will give you a larger add for the next issue(s) or perhaps an editorial/review etc.

Its worked for me on the past, because they don't want to lose their comission and they count on you regularly placing adverts. Also tell them you are a member of a business club who also look for additional sources to advertise in and tell them you will not recommend them if it isn't sorted.

Hope you get things sorted.

 

[jenny2]

Hi hun, thank u for your quick replies:hug:

I have just been and looked at the magazines web site were it shows this months issue and from what i can see i am not even on it.:irked:

I have contacted my clients, from all surrounding areas and no one has had there mag yet.

The email responce i have had back, is stating that the mags have been going out since last week, and will be with every one by the end of this week. That they are sorry i am unhappy with the service and that i will have to pay extra for this months advertisement if i cancel the mag for the other months i had origianlly booked.

After ringing round the areas the mag covers and know one has received there s along with the fact i am not on the web page showing this month issue, i am thinking that it has not even gone to print yet, hence why mags not gone out, hence why i not on web page. I THINK SHE HAS JUST DELETED ME AS I HAVE COMPLAINED AND SAID I WILL NOT PAY DOUBLE FOR AN ADVERTISEMENT THAT HAS NOT GONE OUT WHEN IT SHOULD :irked::irked:

 

[RedAdmiral]

I know how you feel M8 I am tryiny to get some money back from a business directory who I decided not to go ahead with but who took the money from my account anyway. I also have exactly the same with the small ads circular who dont deliver to a week before the end of the month I just withheld payment for a month to see how they liked it!
Just use your remaining ads to promote ahead I'm putting in Januarys now for February!

 

[Ruth Mills]

Grr, cheeky bar stewards! Not a good way to run a business, and I bet they were expensive too!

 

[AndyP]

Ask them to post you a copy - it is the least they can do if you had paid to go in and most publications will do this. Then if you are not in it, you can sue them for breach of contract through the small claims court will costs about £50 and you can claim this back from them. At worst use the fact that there is no contract to avoid paying the £50 for the ad creation as if you have no contract they cannot enforce the debt, or if they tried you would be able to claim breach first by there not being an ad and the mag not distributed.

Hope this makes sense

 

[bombini]

Have you spoke to the person concerned by phone or just email ?

It will probably better to speak directly to them over the phone or better still in person, they can hide behind an email to a certain extent ifykwim

I would probably say to them you will continue with the 6 month booking but you want one months free as they haven't kept to the agreement.

I would not be very impressed either, I advertise reguarly in a directory that is distributed in my town and I pay £100 for a full page advertisement. I had booked space for Nov & Dec back in the summer and advised them that I would be designing a new advert specifically for xmas. Not long after I found out I was pregnant so decided not to bother with any further advertising as when I cut my hours down I won't have any spaces for new clients, I had forgotten all about the advert mentioned above until I received an invoice for Novembers edition !!!

Now im not sure if either me or the directory are at fault here but they had basically printed my usual advert (Which is my full treatment list) and not confirmed this with me even though I had said I would be doing a new one for xmas. What has cheesed me off the most is not only is the price list out of date due to it being re-designed but so are the prices !! I emailed straight away requesting that all futher adverts be cancelled and that I hadn't even been aware the advert was going in as I had not been contacted (like i usually am) to confirm it, plus it was out of date.

I haven't actually paid the invoice yet although I suppose I will have to at some point but im tempted to only offer 50% as I don't believe the service was what was agreed.

I think at the end of the day they have printed the advert so they should receive some sort of payment BUT I can't see how they can enforce a £50 charge on you for cancellation of the other issues. Sounds like their customer service could do with an update to !

 

[jenny2]

Thank you so much guys,
well the lady came to see me and we have resolved the matter. The mag actually came through my door 5 min after she left:green:.

I should have spoke to her on the phone rather than by email, as obviously by text or email often things are miss interpreted. Just glad it is now resolved.

I actually apologised as obviously was not aware of the situation. But at the same time this should have been explained at the begining. Oh well all well that ends well

Thank u for your support though guys, u are all fab :hug: