Take precautions against scam advertisers

While it is very good news that a couple more scam advertising firms have been wound up, the truth is that the practice will continue while there are enough gullible people around to con.

Selling advertising space to pubs is an ancient game. As the trade relies on promotion, it is quite usual for local newspapers and directories to cold call - telephoning individual pubs in the area and offering to place an advertisement in a forthcoming publication or feature.

If you know the publication concerned, you can take a judgement on whether it is a good vehicle. The problem occurs when neither the firm nor the publication is known, and you have no basis for knowing whether it is a valid company or just another scam.

There are one or two safeguards, which I have mentioned before. You should instruct all staff who may need to answer the phone that you will not allow any contracts to be made by them on behalf of the pub. They are to refer all cold callers to you, so that you can take a view. They are not to trust anyone who says that the offer will lapse that day. They are to make it clear during the conversation that they are not in a position to bind the licensee, by explicitly stating that all decisions are taken by him.

In this way, the advertising firm cannot subsequently claim that the member of staff made the contract on behalf of the pub, or agreed to the insertion of an advertisement.

Some scammers merely cut and paste existing adverts and then claim that the pub must have agreed, because they supplied artwork for the ad. If you have a clear advertising system that requires written consent to the placing of promotional material, rather than a verbal agreement, then you cannot subsequently fall foul of such scams.

The other regrettable aspect of this type of fraud is that licensees may well buckle under the threat of legal action, or debt collectors. Remember that this is part and parcel of the pressure these firms employ: the threat of legal action does not make the debt any more valid, and debt collectors are only agents of the claiming company.

You do not have to pay for something you did not order and never agreed to.

Finally, I repeat my suggestion to use the services of your local council trading standards officer to pursue these companies or give you advice on how to deal with them.