Not sure how to word this!…

I have this customer who’s been coming in over the last few years for copying of documents.

Customer always come in late and what is bought in is hardly every what we’ve discussed – there’s always ‘a few extra pages’.

Last Weds customer emails me saying they need hundreds of pages scanning and putting into one PDF for Friday. I told customer this couldn’t be done as I had too much work on. Customer then asks if I could do part of it which I reluctantly agree to. 24hrs later customer brings the file in and again it’s more than I expected and more complicated and bought in 24hrs after our emails. Customer has said in an email they’d collect file 4pm on Friday wether I’d managed it or not. Friday lunch I email to say customer had better collect folder as I’ve not even had chance to look at it.

I then get an email back threatening breach of verbal contract and all sorts of other accusations! It’s like customer has flipped and shown their true colours. I reply saying I don’t respond to that sort of threat and customer should collect folder and take it elsewhere to be scanned. Customer collects, we have ‘words’ and I hope it’s the last I see of them.

Weds morning I get another email on similar breach of verbal contract lines – so I give in for an easy life and tell them to bring the file back in, and this is all I would do, the document bought in last week. So I scan file, combine pdfs, print copies out, hand over to customer today and say ‘we’re done, don’t come in again’. And I don’t charge either.

Customer then rants off that I have a verbal contract to combine another load of PDFs we discussed weeks ago.

So – basically – is there a verbal contract for things that have only been discussed, but no details have been finalised – ie, price, quantity of files, nature of files? The basic conversation was ‘yes, it could be done’.

I don’t want this customer in my shop again, but they are an armchair lawyer type so will be like a dog with a bone and I could do without this kind of hassle.

Sorry! 😬

Personally I’d draw a cock & balls on each scanned page and tell them to do one, which is probably why I’m not in your position

So – basically – is there a verbal contract for things that have only been discussed, but no details have been finalised – ie, price, quantity of files, nature of files? The basic conversation was ‘yes, it could be done’.

Charge an arm, leg & torso then

I suspect you’ve appeased him more than most people would already.

The legal side all sounds a bit tenuous on his part but what do I know?

I think the legal precedence you need to refer to is Arkell versus Pressdram.

Tell him to do one.

Verbal contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.

For there to be a contract there needs to be offer, acceptance and consideration. I can’t see how you have made an offer and agreed a consideration from your description

so I give in for an easy life

Which was your first mistake

Next time they are looking for something, politely decline and refuse to do business with them again.
You’ll probably get a mouthful, hoping you will cave in again, but if you do you’re going to be in this cycle forever.

Basically any contract is only as good as the paper its written on….

Personally I’d draw a cock & balls on each scanned page and tell them to do one

Which is what i’d be doing, if anything was threatened.

Verbal contracts are not worth the paper they’re not written on.

Tell him to bring his contract in and you’ll create a PDF of it for him.

IANAL.

(Gah, beaten to the punch)

Customer has said in an email they’d collect file 4pm on Friday wether I’d managed it or not.

Game, set and match I’d have thought?

Just looking it up a bit more – they CAN be legally binding but:

“For a verbal agreement to be legally binding there are certain elements which need to be satisfied. These are:

Offer and Acceptance: an offer is made which is accepted by another party; 

Consideration: there must be something of value exchanged for a promise (this does not always have to be money);

Intention: there must be an intention by the parties to make a legally binding agreement; and

Capacity: the parties must have legal capacity to enter into the contract” *

If you had no intention to make a legally binding agreement, I think your customer can swivel.

* From https://www.monarchsolicitors.com/guides-articles/when-are-verbal-agreements-legally-binding/ via Google

Even if you did another job I’d expect you to have quoted with a massive amount of **** tax added.

Thanks for making me laugh – cock and balls watermark it is from now on!! 😀

And I think my hourly rate needs adjusting to cope with the cost of living crisis.

What’s reasonable for a colouring-in professional!?

Personally I’d draw scan a cock & balls on each scanned page and tell them to do one

somafunk has it 😉

I’d ask him to produce proof of the verbal contract and then tell him to **** off when he can’t. That or death by a thousand paper cuts!

I think the legal precedence you need to refer to is Arkell versus Pressdram.

Print this on A4 for him. 🙂

Obviously, when he initially gave you his bluster and bullshit about ‘verbal contracts’, you gave in, and he is clearly hoping you’ll fold (geddit) under a similar threat.

You can either have a giggle, then give it no further consideration, or close your business and relocate to another country, just to be on the safe side. 🙂

Or subtly rebrand all his pages with a fresh logo, as per Somafunk, in a David Thorne stylee.

What an arse. Tell him to do one!

Op, you’ve had your Crimea moment with this guy.

Is he called Putin by the way?

IANAL2 but…. Did anyone overhear or witness the verbal contract?

If its a “no” then its a death spiral of you said, I said, yes you did, no I didn’t… plus, the email as mentioned probably will close everything off.

C&B Watermark… oh yes…

IANAL2 but…. Did anyone overhear or witness the verbal contract?

No – there’s only me and the office dog! And he’ll get no more Bonios if he woofs anything different!

And phone calls aren’t recorded (at least at my end anyway!).

It’s really spoilt my week. I can’t recall the last time I had a fallout with a customer.

I’m interested to know which court he’s going to take you to for this breach of contract. I can imagine that judges would have loads of patience for this kind of crap

Tell him to bring his contract in and you’ll create a PDF of it for him.

😂😂

And phone calls aren’t recorded (at least at my end anyway!).

I bet they were at his end.

Sounds like a right bell end though

Just re-read your op again and

Last Weds customer emails me saying they need hundreds of pages scanning and putting into one PDF for Friday. I told customer this couldn’t be done as I had too much work on. Customer then asks if I could do part of it which I reluctantly agree to. 24hrs later customer brings the file in and again it’s more than I expected and more complicated and bought in 24hrs after our emails. Customer has said in an email they’d collect file 4pm on Friday wether I’d managed it or not. Friday lunch I email to say customer had better collect folder as I’ve not even had chance to look at it.

Does this ^^^ count as a verbal agreement?

If all this is in an email thread then it sounds like you have been clear and given caveats plus the “collect ready or not” statement is a tacit acknowledgement it may not be complete. Game over. Prepare for the google review slagging off you are likely to get but he doesn’t sound like the kind of customer you need!

what does his imaginary contract stipulate.

That he must turn up late with excess work and be an arse to you?  as above Arkell versus Pressdram

You haven’t charged the customer so I can’t see how he can take it further?

Just decline to do any more for him and give him contact details of another business willing to do the work.

He sounds a real life cockchops

The file he bought in last week is now all done, complete and done FOC (Today). And I put in an email yesterday that I was agreeing to do this file and this file alone. And no other work.

It’s when they came to pick up file and pay that I said I didn’t want any money off them and I didn’t want to do any more work for them, just take the files and go. They then started on about a conversation we had 3 weeks ago and that I had verbal contract to do that work.

Tell your ex-customer that your lawyer has advised there is no contractual relationship and ‘…threatening breach of verbal contract and all sorts of other accusations’ could be construed as harassment as they are clearly intended to cause distress which opens the possibility of legal action.
In addition, your lawyer has advised that any unfounded critical reviews or communications could also lead to legal action.

If he is threatening you then don’t deal with him.nhe is trying to bully you. Tell him that you don’t deal with people threatening you. Final answer. Do not engage. He will try to engage. Just repeat and ask him to leave / hang up but tell him you are going to hang up. If you want record the conversation.

Never threaten people. You do or you do not. He is trying it on.

Edit: he is trying it in and unfortunately he has got what he wanted and for free.

In the same vein as Arkell v Pressdram…your lawyers are Sue, Grabbit and Runne.

You have given them FOC so the case should be closed.
You have been reasonable. Reasonable is the key.
However, if they continue to harass you then they have no legs to stand on even with reference to the 3 weeks conversation you had.
Next time you should charge them 24 hr no sleep special price and the price should factor in nuclear disaster and world doom.

A reminder – “Intention: there must be an intention by the parties to make a legally binding agreement”. If one party did not intend to enter into a legally binding agreement (and I’m going to guess you did not), it ain’t a legally binding agreement no matter how much he wants it to be. 🙂

A reminder – “Intention: there must be an intention by the parties to make a legally binding agreement”. If one party did not intend to enter into a legally binding agreement (and I’m going to guess you did not), it ain’t a legally binding agreement no matter how much he wants it to be. 🙂

Also if I can recall you should not be pressured into agreement.

Technically, a verbal contract can be legally binding under certain circumstances. “You said you’d do some work for me” is not one of those circumstances. And of course, proving something that was said is tricky.

You’ve gone above and beyond, I’d just respond from here either by ignoring him or saying “no” to anything he comes out with. “You said you’d do this!” no I didn’t. “You’re in breach of contract!” no I’m not.

Should’ve sold him a flatbed scanner.

Aye, give him a copy of that email if he appears again and then tell them to do one. You don’t have to take their work on if you don’t want it, sounds like they’ve burnt their bridges with you

Arkell v pressdram is the legal precedent you need

They’re a bully, tell them to go elsewhere

when i were a lad for a legally binding contract you needed offer, acceptable and consideration. the consideration.

basically, one person makes an offer that the other accepts and a price is agreed for the work.

i’m not sure if the price he’s paid in the past would be considered the agreed acceptance for a future contract.

customer sounds like an arse. you have my sympathy.

Armchair lawyers know F all. TBH I’d just say I don’t like your attitude and I get to choose which clients I work for. You are unreasonable. TTFN !

Just offer him a written contract for the work, with an extra zero or two on your usual price. Either he spots it and refuses, or else he misses it. Seems like a win both ways.

Armchair lawyers know F all.

Back when I used to have to deal with the Great Unwashed on a daily basis, the biggest shibboleth that they didn’t even remotely understand the first thing about their legal position was the phrase “I know my rights!”

I know your rights dickhead, I made a point of finding out what your rights were after hearing that phrase daily, and I’m afraid you don’t know shit. (I paraphrased)