Question about verbal agreements

Ok, it seems that I've heard here that an agreement is not binding unless it's in writing. (I may have misunderstood)

Here is what happened to me one time:

I was unemployed, living with my parents, and a Telemarketer calls with an offer of free Voice Mail service for 30 days, and I would get a free Walkman Stereo. (he made it sound like it was such a great deal, and he said I would not be charged if I canceled in time) He said cancel before the 30 days were up, so I called them and told them to Cancel it (a week before the month ended) and they told me they will cancel and I won't be charged. I stopped using the service.

Anyway, a month went by and my father gets the phone bill. He was charged $29.99 for the voicemail service. (not the telephone Co's service.)

I called the voice mail service back, and you guessed it: They said they had no record of my call to cancel service. They would not take the charge off, so we contacted the phone company, and told them we refuse to pay that third party. They said they would take it off, and they did. They just said to pay the phone bill minus the $29.99 VM charge.


They did advise me that the voicemail company could try to get a CA after me, so they told me to write them a letter telling them I cannot pay it, and I was disabled, blah, blah blah. They forgave the bill.

But, is a verbal agreement enforceable?

A verbal agreement that meets the requirements of a contract is indeed enforceable. The only problem becomes burden of proof -- unless you can prove what was said, then the judge really has nothing to go by when it's a he-said/she-said situation.

I never cancel anything over the phone for just this reason. I always send any sort of cancellation by certified mail; that way I have proof they received it in case they ever try to say they never got it.

In the least, if I do something over the phone, I always ask for their full name and ID number, and a confirmation number for reference.

Thank you!! Ever since then, I never trusted Telemarketers or Sales People again. If I want something, I will get it myself, not buy something because someone is pushing it on me, even if there is "No Obligation" which is a big lie!!!

If the telemarketing firm records their calls they could be subpoenaed in court if you wanted to that far to enforce the contract.

I thought recording calls without my knowledge/consent was illegal?

Oh, I live in IL.

It varies from state to state. IL for instance is a one party state, meaning that it only requires the consent of one party involved in a phone conversation to record it. (in this case you, or another if they also reside in a one party state) in the cases of most companies they inform that calls may be recorded if it is their practice to keep themselves from being held libel.

If the company calling you is based in a two party state they must inform and gain consent from the other party(s) in which they are speaking to in order to legally record.

FANTASTIC INFORMATION HERE.THANKS!!!

Wikipedia must have been wrong. It said IL was a 2 party state.

I LIKE WIKIPEDIA BUT LIKE GOUDAH TOLD ONE TIME IN THIS FORUM THAT WIKIPIDIA HAVE MANY ERRORS SOME TIMES AND GOUDAH WAS RIGHT LIKE ALWAYS SHE IS RIGHT.I FOUND SOME ERRORS IN WIKIPEDIA ANOTHER DAY IN MY RESEARCH.
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO STOP THE SERVICE
FOR 2 MONTHS ONLY?

IF I GO TO TRAVEL AND I'M NOT HERE IF I NEED TO STOP THE SERVICES OF PHONE,ETHERNET AND FPL FOR
1 MONTH OR 2 MONTHS WHAT I HAVE TO DO?

Tania, I don't think you can usually stop the services for just a month or two -- especially if you are locked into a contract.

You could probably cancel it completely for those two months; but then you would have to setup new service when you come back, and they might give you a new phone number. But doing that, if you are on a contract, then they will charge an early termination fee; and they may charge an activation fee to setup service again.

You might call customer service and ask them if they can suspend your account for 2 months.

DEBTCRUNCHER I HAD TO SEND A CERTIFIED MAIL
TO THIS PEOPLE.THIS ACCOUNT IS IN THE NAME OF MY HUSBAND AND HE IS BLIND.I PUT EVERYTHING IN HIS NAME BECAUSE HE LIKE TO PAY ALL BILLS BUT SOMETIMES PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THAT HE IS BLIND AND I'M HIS WIFE FOR 25 YEARS FRIEND.
I HAVE NOT AN CHECKING ACCOUNT WITH MY HUSBAND EITHER.
IF I WRITE AND HE SIGNED MAYBE IS OK.
ANY WAY IS ME THAT PAY ALL BILLS HERE.
MY HUSBAND IS PAYING ONLY HIS CREDIT CARDS
AND I'M HELPING HIM TO PAY IT.
I PUT THE MONEY IN HIS ACCOUNT AND HE PAYS ALL BILLS.HE RECEIVED ONLY 643,00 A MONTH.
(DISABILITY CHECK)
THANKS FOR ALL GREAT INFORMATION HERE.

THANKS FOR YOUR GREAT ADVICE DEBTCRUNCHER..
I THINK IS BETTER TO LEAVE LIKE THAT AND MAYBE WE WILL HAVE LESS PROBLEMS WHEN YOU CAME BACK TO USA.
WE WILL DISCONNECTED THE REFRIGERATOR,COMPUTER
AND ALL APPLIANCES ALWAYS.
ONE TIME FPL CHARGE US A LOT AND NOBODY WAS HERE.