[tonychang]

I'm trying to get my mothers money back as she has been cold called and sold SEO services by top page marketing ltd over the phone that she has paid for, for a site I made for her.
She is a pensioner and knows nothing little about the internet except emailing etc.
As it is a B2B senario she has no recourse for a refund...

...except in the companys terms and conditions they state you have a 30 day moneys back guarantee providing you give them your FTP detail within a week.
http://www.toppagema....co.uk/tac.html

The site has no real traffic at the moment so it looks like thats the only way to get a refund, would you guys agree? That is the advice I've had so far from consumer direct.

[chtyrone]

Doesn't everything bought over phone have to comply with "distance selling regulations"

http://www.compactla...-regs-2000.html

[tonychang]

chtyrone, on 21 September 2010 - 09:15 AM, said:

Doesn't everything bought over phone have to comply with "distance selling regulations"

http://www.compactla...-regs-2000.html

not if its B2B selling

[RobertG]

if its done by visa, just go to the bank and do a visa dispute, they will pull it back as you can claim mis sold. If its by direct debit, again claim it back and stop the future payments.

[RobertG]

also it is against the law even with business to business...

The law protects the buyer against things like this.

Just because its Business to business doesnt mean anything, the only thing it means is you cant get legal help free!

[RobertG]

also the terms and conditions are shody at best. You can get your money back easily through legal action regarding these terms and conditions.

For starters was your mother read the terms and conditions out over the phone. As these terms and conditions do not apply to the cold calling, only the website it is on.

[tonychang]

When I explained the situation to consumer direct they said a vocal contract was binding and as she had paid they could sue her for breach of contract if they couldnt cary out the work or for the wotk theyve done...
...where as if I let them do the work (and let them in the site) and they dont comply with their 30 day money back guarantee then I can sue them.
She is also going to try the visa dispute approach

[mrsminkie]

tonychang, on 21 September 2010 - 10:22 AM, said:

When I explained the situation to consumer direct they said a vocal contract was binding and as she had paid they could sue her for breach of contract if they couldnt cary out the work or for the wotk theyve done...
...where as if I let them do the work (and let them in the site) and they dont comply with their 30 day money back guarantee then I can sue them.
She is also going to try the visa dispute approach

You're right about the verbal contract. Have you tried calling them and just telling them that she didn't understand what they were selling and that she doesn't need it? You've said above that she doesn't understand marketing, so I would just try that route.

It's risky to let them do the work, and then try the money back guarantee. However, you do have the problem of invalidating that clause by not providing the FTP details......horrible situation - I don't envy you at all.

Ok - third scenario - call the company up as a new customer and ask them some questions and then ask them what their refund policy is in case you change your mind or whatever. Get them to send it to you in writing if possible and if there is one.... Then you can use that to get your mum's money back.

Good luck! And keep us posted.

[wil]

The terms and conditions on their site are completely meaningless. They are very specific in stating that the title is "Terms and conditions for website users:" meaning the users of their website; not users of their services.

They then go on to say ...
"Legal notice
Upon visiting our website you are required to accept the terms and conditions listed below in return for receiving information about our company, services and any other business information supplied.
Use of this website signifies your agreement to the terms of use."

What this actually means is that you are agreeing to these terms if you want to read the information on their site about them. It has absolutely nothing to do with the service they offer. These t&c's have not been drafted by anyone with any legal knowledge - I suspect that they have copy and pasted it from somewhere and tried to amend it themselves.

You need to check the actual contract /order form/ written terms that your mother got when she agreed. Do you have a receipt of payment too? If you havent got anything in writing from them, call them and ask them to send you their terms of business, and specifically say that you will not provide your ftp details upon you have seen their terms of business, which is a fair request to make.

Good luck!

[mrsminkie]

wil, on 21 September 2010 - 11:11 AM, said:

The terms and conditions on their site are completely meaningless. They are very specific in stating that the title is "Terms and conditions for website users:" meaning the users of their website; not users of their services.

They then go on to say ...
"Legal notice
Upon visiting our website you are required to accept the terms and conditions listed below in return for receiving information about our company, services and any other business information supplied.
Use of this website signifies your agreement to the terms of use."

What this actually means is that you are agreeing to these terms if you want to read the information on their site about them. It has absolutely nothing to do with the service they offer. These t&c's have not been drafted by anyone with any legal knowledge - I suspect that they have copy and pasted it from somewhere and tried to amend it themselves.

You need to check the actual contract /order form/ written terms that your mother got when she agreed. Do you have a receipt of payment too? If you havent got anything in writing from them, call them and ask them to send you their terms of business, and specifically say that you will not provide your ftp details upon you have seen their terms of business, which is a fair request to make.

Good luck!

You make a very good point Will! Also - usually, some form of quote/schedule would have been sent i.e. you pay us £x, and we will do y & z.....

I think a lot of this will hinge on the telephone conversation because if during the phone call certain things were agreed etc. then it can still be deemed a legally binding contract regardless of what is on the site. You need to find out what your mum agreed to during the call, and what they said they were going to do.

[tonychang]

Thanks I wondered about wether t&c's would be applicable to telesales, didnt even read that bit stating is for website users.

[PopzyD]

I have a client who has used this company and they took £500 from her for their SEO services and promptly disappeared a month later. The contact name there was Emily Walker.

There are a lot of SEO companies out there. If one of them tells you they can get your website onto the first page of the Google rankings ask them to show you thay can do this before you part with any money.

I have been designing websites for 15 years now and the best thing to get you up and onto the Google rankings is the amount of time you have had the website and the traffic it has received during that time.

[RobbieD90]

PopzyD, on 20 December 2011 - 07:19 PM, said:

I have a client who has used this company and they took £500 from her for their SEO services and promptly disappeared a month later. The contact name there was Emily Walker.

There are a lot of SEO companies out there. If one of them tells you they can get your website onto the first page of the Google rankings ask them to show you thay can do this before you part with any money.

I have been designing websites for 15 years now and the best thing to get you up and onto the Google rankings is the amount of time you have had the website and the traffic it has received during that time.

I'm sure that will be a great help nearly 400 days after the OP.

[Dizi]

I wonder if they got the money back... another unsolved forum mystery

[oakleaves]

I've read that first post three times and I still can't see what 'top page marketing ltd' is supposed to have actually done wrong?

[rallport]

oakleaves, on 20 December 2011 - 08:54 PM, said:

I've read that first post three times and I still can't see what 'top page marketing ltd' is supposed to have actually done wrong?

Actually, same here ....