Phoenix Business Agents
Complaint 148227 Details

After advertising my business on businessesforsale.com earlier this year I was called by someone at Phoenix offering to send one of their sales reps to see me, no obligation, with regards to them helping to sell my business. I agreed and a few days later their agent, who I'll call P.A. came to my house.
It was quite a high-pressured sales pitch, but he sounded convincing and after looking at my accounts briefly he came up with a figure, much higher than I expected, and assured me he thought he could get that amount for my business. He seemed to know what he was talking about, and although I thought it was overpriced, I asked him again and he was quite sure they would achieve that price.
He explained that if they sold the business I would be liable for a £6000 fee.
I would also have to pay £500 marketing fee there and then.
But he went on to say that if they hadn't sold the business within 6 months I could end the contract, get my marketing fee back, and there would be no penalty or risk to me. He was very clear on this point, and even made a show of writing £500 fee refunded if contract ended after 6 months in a big box on the contract.
I asked if I could have time to think about it and discuss with my husband, and this is when he got stroppy and said he'd driven all the way from Oxford so he'd like me to sign there and then. Being a female alone in the house with this man, I felt very intimidated and pressured into signing the contract. I reluctantly agreed. He filled in my details on the contract and pushed it on front of me to sign, covering most of it with his hand and not giving me chance to read any of it. He said he had to somewhere else after seeing me and was running late, and I was also in a rush to go out, and I now deeply regret not getting chance to read even part of the contract.
It was at this point he bothered to inform me that the £500 marketing fee was subject to VAT and the fee payable was actually £600. I reluctantly handed over my credit card and he rang the office to take my payment there and then.
He said that my business listing would be live within a few days. That turned out not to be the case. It was over a week before it went live, despite me trying to get in contact with him or anyone else at the office.
During my time with Phoenix, I had great trouble getting in touch with the lady, let's call her R.J. in charge of selling my business. I'd say she only replied to about 50% of the emails I sent her.
I recently found out that the 6 months is just an initial selling period, and if you want to cancel you have to give 2 months notice after that. And wait for it...there IS a penalty! If you cancel your contract at anytime, whether within the first 6 months or after the 6 months + 2 months notice period, you'll be invoiced for £3000 + VAT. So much for P.A.'s assurance of no penalty!!!
And the £6000 fee payable if by some miracle they manage to sell your business is subject to VAT. They don't tell you that! P.A. just wrote £6000 fee on the contract, no mention of VAT unless you read right to the end of the contract, and then it's in lower case, rather than the upper case VAT how it should be written - a very sneaky way of trying to hide it!
When I found this out I decided to do a bit of research on Phoenix, and lo and behold I'm not the only one to have been conned by them! There are countless stories online that read pretty much the same as above. Just Google "Phoenix Business Agents Complaints."
I decided to take legal advice, and after doing so I have ended my contract with Phoenix, despite still being in the initial 6 month period. My choices were to either end now and get invoiced for £3000, or wait until my contract had ended, give 2 months notice and get invoiced for £3000.
Seeing as they're not going to get a penny out of me it wasn't exactly a tough decision to make!
I have of course received an invoice from them, and also had their accounts dept try to ring me on the day I received that. I don't answer any of their calls, and let them go to voicemail. I'll continue to do so. It's their phone bill!
I know from reading other accounts that their next moves will be to send solicitors's letters and get debt collection agencies involved, none of which will bother me and I know they're the ones in the wrong and the only way they'll get me to pay a penny is by taking me to court and letting ajudge decide. I am aware of one other time they did this and the judge ruled against them, saying that the £3000 was a penalty fee rather than a loss, and wasn't legally enforceable. I've told them I'd happily see them in court, and we'll let the judge decide.
Meanwhile they can waste their money on phone calls, solicitors and DCAs. It won't make any difference to me. It'll just make me more determined to let as many people as possible know what this company are really like and to stop this happening to others.
I would strongly encourage anyone ripped off by Phoenix to report in the first instance to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service online. They will report on your behald to Trading Standards. You can also file a report to the Office of Fair Trading. They may not do anything with your individual complaint, but will record the complaint in their database, and if they get enough it may force them to investigate.
I would advise not to speak to them by phone but insist all communication is done by email or phone then you have written records of everything.

Here are some legal points against Phoenix:

Under the Misrepresentation Act 1967, a representation is something
that you were told by the trader, or the trader's representative, that
led you to agree to entering into a contract. If you later find out
that what you were told was false, you may be able to seek damages or
rescission (rescission is the cancellation of the contract so that you
are put back into the position you were in prior to the contract taking
place).

A consumer can look to make a claim
under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 if they
feel any term and condition is unreasonable or unclear.

The majority of unfair terms would come under one of the following types:

1. Limiting your rights against the
trader if they do not provide the service (i.e. stating you can only
claim up to a certain figure, even if the real amount owed is higher).

2. Making the contract binding on
you but not the trader (one example would be saying they can stop
providing the service at any time, but you must keep paying).

3. Making excessively high charges for non-payment.

4. Automatically extending a contract without giving the customer a reasonable chance to prevent this.

5. Enabling the trader to change to
the terms & conditions without giving the customer the choice of
agreeing (or not) to the new terms.

6. Enabling the trader to change the
goods and/or services provided without a valid reason and without
giving the customer a choice.

7. Increasing the price significantly without giving the customer a choice to cancel.

8. Limiting the trader's
responsibility for actions and statements made by their agents (one
example would be saying they are not responsible for promises made by
reps).

9. Limiting your rights under the law.

I am starting to compile a list of people who have been scammed by Phoenix, which can be used as evidence if need be, or to put people in touch with each other. If you've been ripped off by them at any time, please email [email protected] and include your name and a brief note on your case.