Some FMB members have been contacted by phone recently by a publisher offering advertising space in a yearbook which allegedly has the support of the FMB.
The FMB produces its own yearbook and rarely, if ever, allows its name to appear in others. It is vitally important that if you are approached to advertise in a yearbook by anyone who claims to be acting with the authority of the FMB, you should check with the FMB before you agree to anything.
The FMB’s own yearbook which will be published shortly has a carefully controlled circulation within its own membership and selected recipients only.
Peter McHugh, partner and construction law specialist at Midlands law firm Challinors, comments: “It is disappointing to hear of someone taking these kinds of steps to deceive FMB members by posing as a genuine organisation and in effect abusing the FMB’s established brand and reputation.
For victims of this kind of aggressive and deceptive sales call who wish to make a stand, from a legal perspective FMB members may be able to make a claim for misrepresentation under the Misrepresentation Act 1967. Misrepresentations may be classified as fraudulent, negligent or innocent, but are essentially false statements or misstatements. We cannot deal with the law of Misrepresentation within the scope of this article, but should any FMB member need any further advice on this point, then Challinors lawyers can help.
CHECK IF YOU ARE UNSURE
As a first step, I would always recommend that if you receive an aggressive, or what appears to be deceptive, sales call from someone you don’t know, especially from a salesperson claiming to act as an agent on behalf of another company or organisation, you should always, before agreeing anything, check out their story, position and existence with the company or organisation to ensure they are being truthful. Beyond the legal framework, follow a number of procedures to all cold calls:
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If you receive a cold call from an unknown sales person, ensure you get their full name and who they are employed by along with all relevant contact details
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If you remain unconvinced about who they are, then ask them to provide confirmation of this information in writing before you will continue to speak to them. This will give you sufficient time to investigate who they are and should you receive anything in writing it will provide further evidence of their identity and who they work for
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If you continue to speak with them on the telephone always ensure they tell you exactly the purpose of their call
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Specifically state that you are not agreeing to anything with them on the telephone, as this will eliminate the chance of the sales person claiming that a verbal contract has been formed between you
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If you are interested in what they are trying to sell, always make the point that you require all details to be confirmed in writing and that you are not agreeing to what they are selling until you have received and signed the written confirmation. In effect you are not agreeing to anything until you have signed a written contract with them. Always ensure that you read all the documentation thoroughly and if you don’t agree with anything either don’t sign it or get it amended
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Keep a detailed written note of all telephone conversations, dates and times, etc
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If you unexpectedly receive an order form or booking confirmation despite not agreeing to anything on the telephone, then absolutely do not sign it. The best step is to return an unsigned copy of the document to the sender with a covering letter stating in no uncertain terms that the document was not requested and absolutely not agreed to.“
If you are contacted by Burrows, publishers of the FMB Yearbook please be assured that they are acting with the authority of the FMB.
