INFOWORLD GRIPE LINE BY ED FOSTER Bookmark this page

  
Display: Sort:
Battle of the Forms | 17 comments (17 topical) | Post A Comment
Battle of the forms - a winner[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#2)
by Anonymous User on Tue Nov 09, 2004 at 03:00:58 AM PDT

It can be very easy to sign away your rights at the sweep of a pen, but you can also do things to protect them - but you may have to be a bit sneeky sometimes. I wanted to rent a house and on being presented the contract insisted on reading through the small print, much to the annoyance of the agent who wanted to move onto the next customer. Srangly enough, up to this point I had requested three times for a pro-froma copy of the agreement for me to review prior to signing and never got one. Made me suspicious. I found that the contract had a dispute procedure, for which all costs had to be borne by me no matter who stared the dispute procedure nor who won the dispute. Also, although following the dispute procedure prior to legal action was was binding, the result was non-binding. The final insult was that if there was legal action, I agreed to pay all the legal bills for all parties, again no matter who started the legal action and no matter who won the case. I regarded this as a complete licence for the company to do anything, including breaking any agreement they wished with impunity and to bankrupt me in the process. Some perople have said that 'they wouldn't do that'. My response was,if not why wasit in the contract?. So I signed the contract when the agent was distracted and crossed out this clause - and the agent didn't notice. At the end of the rental the renting company witheld my deposit for entierly spurious reasons. (I found out that they were very well known in the area for doing this to every tennant). I started the dispute procedure and at the first hearing, they tried to come on heavy by pointing out but not-quite-theatening-me-with all the costs of the dispute - until I pointed out the crossed out section in the contract. After a bit of sputtering about the crossing out not being legal, I just had to point out the alteration was done in their agents presence and had been 'accepted' for the duration of the rental and I got a cheque for my deposit. Was I on 'good' legal grounds? Who knows, but it gave me enough leverage for them not to bother arguing further.

[ Reply to This ]


It Pays to Read the Fine Print[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#9)
by In my humble opinion on Wed Aug 10, 2005 at 09:05:20 PM PDT

    Your experience is a good reminder to all to be informed prior to signing on the dotted line. Even when dealing with very trustworthy individuals/companies, circumstances can change in the future and you don't want to end up on the wrong end of the plank.

    Last year I considered an extended warranry on a new PC (emergency purchase, no time for a white box) but quickly dismissed the idea after a careful reading of the T&Cs of the agreement. I was amazed to see that they could refund the premium if (in their sole discretion) the repair was not cost effective. Yikes ! No point in that kind of insurance.



[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Well...[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#11)
by dogbert on Wed Mar 08, 2006 at 02:18:42 PM PDT

At least you saved yourself by reading the fine print. I've been burned on more than one occasion even when I DID read the fine print. The print is just wayyyyy too fine for you to catch all the sneaky details. Yet, that is life.
Let there be love...Let there be complaints
[ Parent | Reply to This ]


yes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#18)
by maderikapapa on Fri Jun 27, 2008 at 08:37:30 PM PDT

出会い系出会い系サイト出会い喫茶出会い掲示板ナンパ出会いカフェ人妻出会い無 009;系サイト優良出会い系攻略 完全無料。アダルトビデオアダルト動画アダルトアニメアダルト画像アダル 488;サイト無料DVDアダルト風俗サンプル無料風俗優良アダルトサイト比較海 806;。人妻画像人妻パラダイス知合い人妻援護会人妻コレクション風 439;告白。熟女画像東京熟女掲示板動画熟女ビデオおまんこオナニー。エロ画像エロフラッシュアニメ 456;ロ動画エロゲームエロ漫画無料エロサイト。エッチ画像エッチ動画エッチ小説写真エッチ 450;ニメエッチ0930。セックスアナルセックス画像セックス動画セックスフレンドスワッピングSEX写真セックスボランティセ 483;クス体位東京セックス仕方 SEX。おっぱい画像おっぱい村長おっぱい楽園掲示板お 387;ぱい命おっぱいゲーム。巨乳動画巨乳画像アイドル巨乳 522;示板風俗。セフレ募集セフレ掲示板セフレ画像掲示板セフレの作り方出会い無料素人セフレ。童貞狩りエロ漫画童貞狩り童貞喪失童貞オークション素人童貞逆援。不倫パートナー不倫出会い人妻不倫不倫を楽しみたい方にはお薦め 154;妻画像など満載出会いサイトを楽しむならココ無料出会いで一緒に遊ぼう出会いはLOVEｱｹﾞｲﾝで決まり

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Battle of the Forms | 17 comments (17 topical) | Post A Comment
Display: Sort:

Menu
· create account
· faq
· search

Login
Make a new account
Username:
Password:

 HOME  NEWS  COLUMNS  BLOGS  PODCASTS  TECHNOLOGIES  TEST CENTER  EVENTS  CAREERS  IT EXEC-CONNECT   About Awards Contact Us 

Copyright © 2006, Reprints, Permissions, Licensing, IDG Network, Privacy Policy.
All Rights reserved. InfoWorld is a leading publisher of technology information and product reviews on topics including viruses,
phishing, worms, firewalls, security, servers, storage, networking, wireless, databases, and web services.

 ComputerWorld :: LinuxWorld :: Network World :: CIO :: PC World :: Darwin :: CMO :: CSO
IT Careers :: JavaWorld :: Macworld :: Mac Central :: Playlist :: GamePro :: GameStar :: Gamerhelp
ITWorld Canada :: Computerwoche :: Techworld UK :: tecChannel :: IDG.se :: IDG.no :: IDG.pl

create account | faq | search