Pubco boss thwarts till-roll bandits

A pub company boss has issued advice for licensees who receive payment- demands for goods they never ordered after being cold-called by a salesman.

Pub People Company MD Kevin Sammons said the advice has thwarted Canadian till-roll supplier Merchant Retail Supplies' (MRS) attempts to take money from his firm.

The advice relates to powers under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971, which makes it an offence for a company to send goods the recipient has not ordered.

The advice was compiled after consultation with trading standards officers, Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the Department of Trade and Industry and Icstis, the regulatory body for premium-rate phone services.

Sammons said: "We have 70 managed houses - around 2004 to 2005, we were plagued by MRS at individual sites.

"I was so annoyed by these people's tactics that I invested time and money with the company solicitors and our local trading standards department to create a battle-plan to tackle this company.

"The plan completely thwarted MRS - and we have had no contact since."

Licensees accuse MRS of demanding huge amounts for till-rolls after addressing goods to employees who never ordered them or unwittingly agreed to a purchase.

Sammons advised affected pubs to contact OFT, Trading Standards Authority, or De-

partment for Business, Enter-prise & Regulatory Reform.

The MA received no reply to messages left with MRS.

Pub People Company's tips to beat cold-call scammers

1. Write to the company: Make it clear that you consider its call to be an "unsolicited telephone sales call" and that you do not intend to pay.

2. Offer the following ideas for resolution:

i) Suggest a location and times when the goods can be

collected. You're not obliged to return the goods yourself, but should offer a reasonable time-scale for them to be collected.

ii) Ask the company for evidence that the call was not

unsolicited; confirmation that they had never supplied goods to this site; confirmation of the precise order instructions they received; transcript of any recorded calls; confirmation

that they stated their terms and conditions and pricing details, and explained the call may be recorded and used at

a later date - this is required in the legislation.

iii) The company can take its claim for non-payment to the County Court and stop the calls demanding payment.