COMBAT puts the squeeze on telemarketers

Most people avoid telemarketers, but now and again an offer sounds so good that even a wary consumer falls for it and winds up sucker bait. We repeat (for the umpteenth time), please take precautions when being solicited by telephone, especially when you are unfamiliar with the company. Being cautious can save you money as well as a big headache.

Maine has great protective laws specific to telemarketing, and solicitors must abide by our laws whether or not the company is located in Maine. But companies sometimes do not follow the rules and people get taken.

That brings us to Mrs. G. of Penobscot who received a telephone call from Publishers Business Services. The representative was offering a magazine subscription package that would provide Mrs. G. with eight subscriptions for $29.90 per month for 4 years. Unwilling to commit to such long and expensive terms, she agreed to a one-year trial for $11 per month.

Mrs. G. suspected a clerical error when she called the company after receiving her first bill of $29.90. Instead of correcting the error, Publishers Business Services told her that they had a recording of the original phone conversation with her agreeing to the full term and that they would take her to court and ruin her credit if she refused to send $29.90.

Unaware of her options, and not willing to risk her family’s flawless credit, Mrs. G. paid $29.90 every month for the next year. After the year had passed, Mrs. G. did not want to pay anymore, and she put a call into COMBAT to see if there was anything else that could be done about this company and her 4-year “commitment.”

The first thing COMBAT sought to determine was whether or not the consumer had received a written contract from Publishers Business Services. She had not, and this alone can make her verbal authorization null and void. Of course, our volunteer made this very clear in her first letter to the company’s president and went further to inquire as to whether or not they were even licensed to do business in Maine. If not, this would be a violation of Maine’s Unfair Trade Practice Law. COMBAT volunteers pride themselves on being accurate and thorough, so our caseworker told the company Mrs. G. should be refunded the difference between what she agreed to and what she had paid to date.

Less than a week after the letter was mailed, a representative from the Publishers Business Services legal department contacted Mrs. G. The strong-arm tactics and intimidation strategies were gone. Suddenly, the company wanted to work out the issue regarding her contract. Mrs. G. informed this person that despite her efforts to get a contract, she never received one. Not a problem, he told her. And, Mrs. G. immediately received the contract by fax. Where was this cooperation and professionalism a year ago when Mrs. G. first disputed the matter?

Soon after, our volunteer received a call from another company representative, who admitted it was Mrs. G’s original intention to pay $11 per month for a year, but had paid more. The company offered to refund the difference.

By securing Mrs. G.’s release from her “contract” and arranging a refund to boot, COMBAT’s volunteer accomplished a great deal. Getting cooperation from a company that refuses to send contracts and threatens their customers, can be like getting blood from the proverbial turnip … but the turnip often gives up when COMBAT is doing the squeezing.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast COMBAT-Maine Center for the Public Interest, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual membership $25, business rates start at $125 (1-10 employees). For help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, PO Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.