That’s INSANE!

 

One of my favourite sayings used to be that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

I use it with my children – if you keep forgetting to tell me that we’re out of milk, be prepared to go without cereal for breakfast!

I use it with clients – if we’ve already sent a letter before action threatening legal proceedings in 7 days if the other side don’t pay, and they don’t, then all you’ll achieve by sending another letter saying the same thing is increasing your legal fees whilst simultaneously giving the other side the impression that you’re not serious!

And occasionally I use it on Paulo who (for those of you who don’t know) is the bartender at my favourite location, who (very rarely) asks my silly questions (do you want more champagne!) and is then surprised when he gets “the look”!

However, I’m now going to replace it with ironic sayings like

“Don’t you think that it’s wrong that only one company makes the board game Monopoly?”

Or that recently a company that was advertising to warn people of the dangers of using photographs without the permission of the artist, got done for using a pirated photograph in their advertisement!  Obviously, they didn’t get the right legal advice!!!

Or perhaps, commenting that a company that sells beauty products aimed at the over 50’s shouldn’t use such tiny writing that even if I could put my glasses on without getting them covered in face cream, I still couldn’t read it!

Which brings me on to an important point.

It’s simply not enough to have terms of business.  They must be readable, legible, and easy to locate at the right time.

If, for example, you’re running a hotel, and your terms of business are on the back of the bedroom door meaning that a visitor is only going to see them after they’ve booked the room, then you cannot rely on them.

Even if your contract provisions are on your website, you still need to be able to show that your client was directed to them BEFORE they committed themselves to using your services.

Interestingly, however, you don’t necessarily need to prove that your customer actually read them or that it was a good deal for them (subject to provisions of the law such as the Unfair Contract Terms Act).

I have, recently had people argue that they shouldn’t be bound by the terms and conditions, because “no one ever reads them” and “I could have gotten a better deal elsewhere”.  But it’s up to you to read and check them, and it’s up to you to do your research – a bad deal is still a deal!

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full-service law firm.   A jury is just 12 people who have to decide who has the better solicitor!