RTA snares shop sellers with dodgy contracts, then sues
PAUL O’Reilly runs what claims to be Britain’s biggest business transfer agency RTA – a potential port of call for struggling shops, cafes and restaurants wanting to find a buyer.
But RTA often ends up suing its own clients after they refuse to pay its fees because it has failed to do its job.
O’Reilly likes to play the innocent, saying all he wants is for clients to honour the contracts they signed. It would be a good argument, if not for two points: Those contracts are unfair and, as we reveal today, business owners can be tricked into signing them.
Of all the tales I’ve heard from people saying that they were misled into signing a contract to sell their business, none is more shocking than 78-year-old Greta Sibley’s.
The owner of an Indian restaurant thought the bit of paper that was thrust in front of her was simply to confirm that she had been visited by the sales rep for RTA ( Business Consultants) Limited. She couldn’t read the document to see that it was really a sales contract – because she is blind.
RTA called Greta several times when her restaurant in Saltney, near Chester, was already on the market.
“I agreed to see their agent to shut him up,” said Greta.
“Although the leasehold was for sale at £35,000 he said he could sell it for £70,000.
“He didn’t look round properly or see the books, didn’t even look upstairs and their prospectus wrongly described the premises.
“As for the paper I signed, I can’t see to read a document – I thought it was just one of those cases where you sign to prove the agent has made the call.”
RTA sued Greta when she failed to pay a £1,200 registration fee, claiming £3,000 – half of the commission that the
investigate@mirror.co.uk company said it would have earned if it had sold the business.
But Greta says that she never received the demand for £1,200.
Besides, RTA did not get a single prospective buyer to view her restaurant so she didn’t feel they deserved a penny.
Chester County Court dismissed RTA’s claim, ruling that the contract was unenforceable because Greta did not know what she was signing.
“I was absolutely petrified when I went to court,” said Greta. “It was the most dreadful day I have ever experienced.”
Her daughter Alison, 45, who helped at the restaurant, described RTA’s action as “disgusting”.
Paul O’Reilly did not make any comment on any of these four cases or the allegations of misrepresentation and unfair contracts.
Instead he issued a general statement claiming: “As a company we are up 30% this year on recommendations and referrals and sales are up 30% also which is a clear indication of the success we have and the many satisfied customers.”
Have you had problems with RTA or another company in the business transfer industry?
You can get free support from the Campaign for Ethics for Business Transfer Agents, www.cebta.org.uk.