One area where I would actually like to see the government get more involved with is inside sales telemarketers. I have spent the last two hours dealing with what I believe is a scam and trying to convince them that no, I did not in fact order it. I do not have authorization to order it without the president's approval. Instead, the invoke a "verbal contract." I gave them our address so that they could send us some information, but they didn't tell me that constitutes an agreement to purchase the costly subscription. Obviously, this isn't legal. However, since it is a verbal contract there is nothing written down it will likely require more time and effort to cancel this order than the subscription costs.

A few months back, I ordered try-before-you-buy printer toners. They did not mention on the phone, in our "verbal contract," that if you are dissatisfied with the product and ship it back, you pay a restocking fee of 25%. Well I learned my lesson on that, but it may not have even mattered if I had told them I didn't want it. They could have just sent it anyway and it would have cost more to deal with it than to buy it.

In the age of the Internet, verbal contracts ought to be backed up with an email quote and response. That way if it's forged the salesmen would have hell to pay and people would not find themselves in the situation that I am in.

Does anyone have any advice for dealing with this except hiding under my desk and refusing to answer the phone? I remember the phone companies used to do this. Does anyone know how the law dealt with that?