Are verbal agreements the same as signed contracts in business

Question

I let an internet firm talk me into using them to advertise and I verbally agreed, they sent me a contract to sign but I didn`t sign it as when I read the small print of the paperwork I found they had been misleading.

There has been no cooling off period and they now state that if I try to cancel it they will follow up the remaining payments for 12 months as a verbal agreement in business is the same as a written one! Does anyone know if this is true as I thought that unless someone had a signed contract they had no hold over you, also does anyone know if advertising businesses should have a cooling off period?

Someone please help

Answer 1

you cannot agree to the small print of a contract having never been exposed to it. however, verbal agreements are generally binding.  this goes both ways, if you were mislead while talking to them then they would likely be in breach of that contract, not you. plus chances are if there is no written contract you could just tell them to eat ****.

Answer 2

Technically a verbal agreement is valid and binding, however in most jurisdictions we go by the old axiom.

    A verbal agreement is only worth the paper its printed on

They have to be able to prove you had an agreement in order to enforce payment. If you dispute it then its a he said/she said situation and a judge will side with you.