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Question
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Hi Ken.
I had a weird situation come up today. I went on a sales appointment a few
weeks ago. The couple was interviewing several companies. They asked me to leave blank copies of my contracts with them. I told them it was my policy not to leave blank contracts behind but I was happy to provide them copies while there and they could take their time looking them over while I waited. They did.
I then got an email with several questions, which I answered. They asked if I could email them a pdf of the contracts and I agreed to do that.
Tonight I received an email from them telling me my company is at the top of their list and their very lengthy email proceeds to outline 58 questions relating to system features and company policies. But most of the questions relate to language in the contracts. What does this mean? What does that mean? What happens if this or that?
On the one hand, I don't feel it's unreasonable for them to request clarification from me. On the other hand, somehow it doesn't seem like a good thing for me to be explaining or translating the contract for them. They wanted me to respond to their email. I would be more comfortable discussing it with them over the phone. But where do I draw the line in explaining contract terms? Do I need to provide some disclaimer that I'm not an attorney and if they want legal advice they should hire one to review the contract?
Not sure how far to go here. We use your contracts.
anon
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Answer
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You should be very careful how you respond to subscriber questions, especially about the contract terminology. The contract language has been very carefully thought out, laid out and presented. No doubt you have given considerable time to any promotional material and advertising you've displayed to the public. Your personal portfolio or power point that you may use during a sales presentation has been thoughtfully prepared and hopefully passed by counsel for approval if there is any doubt about its content.
There is an inherent conflict between the alarm contract language and your promotional material and your puffery during a sales pitch. Emphasizing the contract terms, particularly the protective provisions, would indeed hinder a sales presentation. On the other hand, the Standard Alarm Contract forms clearly state the terms of the "deal" and the alarm company's limitation of exposure and liability. You don't want your promotional material or your sales pitch to contradict the contract terms or interfere with the enforcement of the contract, and that's exactly what you risk when you try to explain the contract. The proper response to a request by your subscriber asking what the contract means, or asking you to explain it, is to let them know you are not an attorney and that they should seek counsel if they need to. You can start by suggesting that the contract is written in plain language and they should take the time to read it. If for any reason they can't read it, you can, if they request, read it to them, but you should not offer any explanation or comment.
My impression reading your email was that these subscribers are either nuts or working for a consumer agency and looking to trip you up. I can't tell you how many lawsuits I've had where the subscribers claim that the salesman told them something other than what's in the contract. Sometimes Judges dismiss these claims as "hearsay" and other times lean on the alarm company by threatening to sustain the defense of "fraud in the inducement". Five year contracts and the subscriber claims the salesman said it was cancelable any time; monitoring only contract and the subscriber claims the salesman said service was included; cut telephone wire and subscriber claims salesman said there was back up communication, or that no back up was available; unprotected areas and the subscriber claims salesman said it was unnecessary to protect; failure to have permits and AHJ approval and subscriber claims salesman said it was unnecessary; subscriber moves and claims salesman said alarm system would be moved for no charge. I'm sure you've heard it all before.
If you go ahead with this subscriber I suggest you made sure the contract is signed and initialed in several places.
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