According to a study conducted by the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA), compliance with the new Finnish legislation on telemarketing is poor. Only around half of the consumers who placed an order through telemarketing had received a written offer after the call as required by the law. The study shows that positive sales practices are linked to consumers’ interest in placing orders through telemarketing.
The legislation was amended in 2023 so that the seller must now provide the consumer with a written offer after the sales call. A contract will not be concluded until the consumer has accepted the written offer sent by the seller after the telephone conversation. The purpose of the procedure involving a written offer and the consumer’s confirmation is to provide the consumer with time to decide whether they wish to conclude the contract.
The FCCA repeated a study on consumers’ telemarketing experiences which was first conducted five years earlier. A total of 2,072 Finns responded to the survey.
The revised regulation on telemarketing seems to be working well, provided that the seller complies with the law. The current problem is that companies comply with the law rather poorly.
More than half of telemarketing orders contain ambiguities
According to the study, more than half of the consumers had encountered problems or ambiguities in their latest telemarketing order. Problems occurred most often in orders involving natural products, dietary supplements, and vitamins.
The consumers had encountered situations in which the deliveries of goods or services started even though the consumer had not, in their own view, placed an order. According to the study, such situations have doubled in numbers. Five years ago, 10% of the deliveries received by the respondents involved a situation in which the consumer had not, in their opinion, placed an order, whereas the percentage was as high as 22% in the latest study.
Young people encounter problems with telemarketing more often than others
According to the study, ambiguities in telemarketing situations are most commonly encountered by the youngest demographic, namely 18–24-year-olds. Up to 90% of this age group reported experiencing problems or ambiguities in the latest telemarketing situation. The most common problem reported by the young people was that an order they had understood to be a fixed-term or one-off order turned out to be a permanent subscription. Furthermore, it was also most common among the youngest age group that the consumer started receiving a product or service without having ordered anything.
Based on the data, it is not possible to make any substantial interpretations as to why the young people so distinctly stand out from the other age groups. However, the problems experienced by the young people seem to mainly focus on contractual technicalities, which raises concerns of the younger demographic possessing inferior skills compared to the other age groups.
Appropriate sales practices are linked to consumers’ interest in placing telemarketing orders
According to the study, consumer attitudes towards telemarketing remain very negative, despite the change in legislation. In fact, the consumers are feeling even more pressured by telemarketers than before.
The seller’s appropriate and legal behaviour on the phone seems to be linked to the consumer’s willingness to place an order.
A contract is most likely concluded when the seller explains the commercial purpose of the call at the very beginning and provides distinct and relevant information about the product, instead of going on unnecessarily. Moreover, a written offer issued to the consumer, as required by the law, seems to reduce the risk of problems and ambiguities related to the order.
The Consumer Ombudsman supervises marketing and telemarketing as a sales method and provides companies with advice on their obligations regarding telemarketing.