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Your notes · Before You Sign · 6 sources · updated 2026-11-01

What should I do at a coaching event so I don't sign something I regret?

Decide your rule before you go: you do not sign or pay on the day. Then work this checklist. Ask for the contract as a PDF to read overnight, photograph every screen, ask the cancellation and total-cost questions on the record, and leave the room before you decide. A real offer will still be there Monday.

What should you do before the event?

Build the rules while you are calm. In the hot moment, a promise to yourself loses the argument unless it is already a rule ^[S16].

Decide your rule and tell someone: "I do not sign or pay on the day."
Set a ceiling on what you could spend even if you loved it, and write it down.
Ask the organizer in writing: "Will there be an offer to buy at this event? What is the price range and term?"
Bring a trusted person who agrees to the same rule, and agree on a code word to leave.
Search the program's name with "refund", "complaint", "contract" and "FTC". Check your state attorney general and BBB listings. BBB complaints are reported by consumers and are not audited by courts ^[S29].
Eat beforehand, sleep, bring water. Fatigue is plausibly relevant but unproven (see the long-day page).

What should you do if you decide to go ahead after thinking it over?

Do it on paper and on a card, and on your schedule, not theirs.

Get a fully completed copy of everything you sign, in the same language as the pitch, with dates and the seller's name and address. For sales the federal Cooling-Off Rule covers, it must be given to you ^[S4].
Ask whether the cancellation notice that the Rule requires for covered sales was given orally and in writing ^[S4]. Whether the Rule covers a coaching program is unresolved; see Can I cancel a coaching contract I signed at a live event?.
Pay by credit card, not debit or direct bank transfer, because credit-card billing-error rights are better documented ^[S38]^[S39]. Never pay by wire, crypto or gift card.
Put the date you signed and each charge date in your calendar. Some clocks start on the day you sign or the day you see the charge.

What do you say when they tell you it's only today?

Say: "Then I will have to pass. If it is still available Monday, I will consider it." Ask first: "If I come back Monday, what exactly changes, and is that in writing?" A deadline that only bites in the room is a sales tool. The science is on Why does "only three spots left" make people buy?.

Frequently asked questions about the in-the-room checklist

Answers on timing, recording and what to do after.

Do I have to do every item?

No. If you do only three, make them these: no signing and no paying on the day, the contract as a PDF, and a photograph of every screen.

Can I record the pitch?

Not always. Ask before you record. Some states require everyone's consent ^[S63]. Photographs of the screens and your own notes are a safer record.

I already signed. Is this checklist too late?

Parts of it, yes. The records you made still help. Start with the options and the clocks on What can you learn about your options after signing? After You've Signed: a resource center.

What can you do next after the checklist?

Read the questions to ask and the red flags. If it already happened, tell us what happened.

Who writes this site's guidance on the checklist?

This site is written by Coached Into Debt, an organization, not a person. It names no company, coach or program and sells nothing. More about the site

Sources

S16 Loewenstein, G. (1996), Out of control: visceral influences on behavior · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 65(3), 272-292 · doi.org · accessed 2026-10-27
S29 File a complaint · Better Business Bureau · bbb.org · accessed 2026-10-27
S4 16 CFR 429.1, the Cooling-Off Rule · Cornell Legal Information Institute (reproduction of the eCFR) · law.cornell.edu · accessed 2026-10-27
S38 Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges · FTC Consumer Advice · consumer.ftc.gov · accessed 2026-10-27
S39 How can I get a refund on a product or service I purchased with my credit card? · Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · consumerfinance.gov · accessed 2026-10-27
S63 Reporters' Recording Guide, introduction (one-party and all-party consent for recording conversations) · Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press · rcfp.org · accessed 2026-10-27