If you exhibit at any of the key shows in the industry, you'll certainly be targeted: the pitch comes via an A4 form inviting you to update an online listing run by a European publisher. Because the listing is overtly linked to a particular trade show, you could be forgiven for thinking that the website in question is somehow endorsed by the organizer, when in fact it is nothing of the sort.
What it is, is a lesson in how to take advantage of people who are just too busy to check the small print. Through the two-minute act of updating and returning the form, which appears to suggest the service is free, you are actually signing a contract binding you to a three-year agreement, which will leave you with very little change from 1,000 Euros a year. Although this highly pertinent fact is actually mentioned in the small print, it's buried in the layers, and not something you're likely to spot unless you're the sort of person who enjoys taking eye-tests. What's worse, the contract you've just signed is then self-perpetuating until you cancel it in writing.
When an invoice lands on your desk sometime later and you query it, the nice online listings people are happy to clarify that they've done nothing illegal (which they haven't) and refuse to cancel the 'order', aggressively pursuing payment with threats of legal action. This approach is nothing new and well-documented on numerous websites. It's called the '10% Rule' - based on the theory that, when threatened about money, roughly 10% of people give in and pay up to get rid of the problem.
Our advice is to avoid the problem in the first place and bin the form. Several Government authorities are aware of, and looking into, the practices of this particular company. Visit the website below to read more about some of the current companies that use these tricks to net their victims. If anyone has found themselves in this situation, please e-mail us and we'll do all we can to help.
(Ruth Rossington)
