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  1. #1

    Legal Action Threats - How Serious Do You Take?

    No doubt many us have experienced the threats made by the few unhappy and highrate customers who has lost out on "millions of pounds worth of sales".

    So I suppose my question is, how serious do you take these threats? Do you outright suspend the client due to his theats? Or do you simply overlook?

  2. #2
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    I am not a host, but I'd assume when it comes to legal threats you are past any point of providing a service

  3. #3
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    As a general rule, people who threaten to sue are usually not going to sue. People who really do sue usually won't tell you in advance. If somebody is making threats to sue, just tell them to have their lawyer contact your lawyer.
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  4. #4

    Re: Legal Action Threats - How Serious Do You Take?

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidBee View Post
    No doubt many us have experienced the threats made by the few unhappy and highrate customers who has lost out on "millions of pounds worth of sales".

    So I suppose my question is, how serious do you take these threats? Do you outright suspend the client due to his theats? Or do you simply overlook?
    You should have something in your TOS which states you're not liable for anything. When a client signs up for our services they have to agree to the TOS.
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by larishosting View Post
    You should have something in your TOS which states you're not liable for anything. When a client signs up for our services they have to agree to the TOS.
    Depending on your jurisdiction such terms can be void.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by larishosting View Post
    You should have something in your TOS which states you're not liable for anything. When a client signs up for our services they have to agree to the TOS.
    Zoid already spoke for what I was going to say. Such clauses arn't always allow.

    I also agree what was mentioned above, people who do sue don't tend to bring this to your attention.

  7. #7
    Seriously, when someone threatens to sue, you simply forward them your lawyers address and ask them to send anything there.
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    Quote Originally Posted by NoSupportLinuxHostin View Post
    As a general rule, people who threaten to sue are usually not going to sue. People who really do sue usually won't tell you in advance.
    Yep. If someone has intention to bring a suit, they'll have their lawyer send you something instead. Have the person's lawyer contact your lawyer. That stops nearly all of these empty threats.

    For laughs, replace "lawyer" with "daddy" in any legal threat you get.
    If you have to operate your company behind the scenes or under a fake name, maybe it's time to leave the industry and start something fresh.

  9. #9
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    If a client says it 99.9% of the time it's all talk to get something out of you. But if its a legal threat by a big company due to copyright / abuse I would take that seriously and co-operate with them.

  10. #10
    Threats are normally just that "Threats". And they will normally work against the person making them because they do it to try and get help or something else out you. But now we have to stop talking to them all together and direct them to our legal department. Once it is a Legal issue I don’t want our tech or sales team saying anything that may hurt us in court (if it ever gets to that point). So you have to take it serious in that regard but it normally never goes further than that conversation.

    Good Luck!
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  11. #11
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    I usually laugh while I delete the email without responding.
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  12. #12
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    Upon receipt of a legal threat, we inform the client that all future correspondence must be sent in writing, and we provide them with our mailing address. We will also almost certainly terminate our business relationship. Depending on circumstances, we may terminate immediately or we may terminate at the end of the cycle. Once a customer escalates to the level of making legal threats, it's generally best to wish them well and send them on their way.

    The best way to mitigate any legal threat is to simply be reasonable to the customer whenever possible. Once the demands become unreasonable or threatening, the customer has obviously become unsatisfied with you, and is best encouraged to find a replacement host.
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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by DavidBee View Post
    So I suppose my question is, how serious do you take these threats? Do you outright suspend the client due to his theats? Or do you simply overlook?
    I normally laugh. Then I provide them our address for their lawyer to send any correspondence to, and give them their notice to leave/not renew/disappear into a blackhole and never be seen again.

    Only one person ever took me up on it and had a lawyer send something through, but quickly batted away by our attorney and never heard anything again!
    Alasdair
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  14. #14
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    We had a customer that threatened us against legal action because we had terminated their account for breaking our TOS of spamming, we then hit back by saying because our servers are hosted in the US and your breaking the Can-SPAM leglisation then i think you'll find your being sued
    Regards
    Josh Kility, Former CEO AllHostOne

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    Quote Originally Posted by AllHostOne View Post
    we then hit back by saying because our servers are hosted in the US and your breaking the Can-SPAM leglisation then i think you'll find your being sued

    Last week we have same scenario
    and we say almost exactly this
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    Quote Originally Posted by lostmind View Post
    Seriously, when someone threatens to sue, you simply forward them your lawyers address and ask them to send anything there.
    That's what I'd do. I know a lawyer personally. I've known him since I was 8. We're very good friends.

    He was my lawyer in a child abuse case against me and my parents. The stupid school had reported child abuse when I had a sun burn.

    What's in the quote below is what the lawyer told the judge. And about 10 minutes later I was released back to my parents and we were able to go home.

    If anybody's gonna be put in jail for child abuse it should be the sun as it's clearly the sun that did this burn.

    Anybody with any sense could know the difference between a sunburn and a burn by another object.

    Then he shows a sunburn he has on his back.

    My parents never abused me or my siblings. They were loving parents and still are.

    So if anyone wants to threaten me with any legal action. Then go ahead I know the personal home phone number of a lawyer.

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  17. #17
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    Bring it on is usually my general response.

    Clearly I say it in a far more business like manner...
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  18. #18
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    If it's a client that is just annoyed I simply ignore it. If it's repeated or they do the "I'm losing thousands of dollars(Because I'm to cheap to spend more than 5 bucks to make those thousands of dollars)

    They get told we will only respond by mail. Anything and everything will also be sent to our legal council.

    Then 99% of the time they will apologize and service will resume as they usually would.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by VMakerHOST View Post
    Last week we have same scenario
    and we say almost exactly this
    I heard no response since I responded to their email
    Regards
    Josh Kility, Former CEO AllHostOne

  20. #20
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    As a serious point, even for a small business its a good idea to have a route into legal counsel.

    If somebody is going to bring legal action, even if frivolous, then it needs to be dealt with early.

    Recognising a letter before action can sometimes be hard if its mixed in with vitriol and emotion.

  21. #21
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    All threats should be taken seriously and should be directed to the proper channel. As we are not lawyers we forward them to our lawyer who would await their pre-action protocol letters / intent to sue letters in laymant terms.
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  22. #22
    So most of you shrug it off and others say get in touch with lawyer.

    Has anyone here been sued and allow to talk?

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by DavidBee View Post
    Has anyone here been sued and allow to talk?
    I have received the initial letter before the actual "being sued". I have had to do the response letter and the waiting game for the next step.

    My recommendations are:

    1. Invest time with a lawyer to understand your possible jurisdictions. Your jurisdiction can be where your business is located and/or where your servers are located. Each of these jurisdictions will have different laws in place for primary and secondary damages.

    2. Once you understand the possible damages, then work with the lawyer to craft your TOS to cover your liability. Remember, the TOS is your prenuptial agreement. It's primary purpose is to protect you when the relationship goes bad. With 99.9% of your customers, you will never reference it.

    In my case the customer was referencing multiple secondary damages. My attorney, quickly read it, and indicated it was a normal attorney bully act. He sent a letter explaining each point and their obligation to prove damages.

    He also included the line that all correspondence has to go through him. Never heard from the person again.

    It is unsettling when you first get the letter. With any business, a couple of hours with an attorney in the beginning is cheap insurance.

  24. #24
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    Just to expand on one point. The jurisdiction is of your choosing and should be specified in the contract.

    This will prevent you being dragged off to far flung places to answer issues.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by AL-Benjamin View Post
    Just to expand on one point. The jurisdiction is of your choosing and should be specified in the contract.

    This will prevent you being dragged off to far flung places to answer issues.
    Yes and no. It's smart to have a choice of law provision ("all claims arising out of your use of the service shall be governed by the laws of ____") in your terms. However, they are not necessarily binding. A judge can decide that it's in the public interest to ignore your venue. Your choice can be struck down as a matter of substantive vs procedural law. Or the issue may simply be ignored.

    Example: You're a Texas company with servers only in Texas. Your terms state that the service is governed under Texas law and all disputes must be brought in the Texas courts. A Pennsylvania customer files suit against you at his local district justice (our small claims court) for $150. You now have to fly out to Pennsylvania and make your argument about choice of law, or hire a local attorney to appear in person on your behalf -- both very expensive options, and certainly more than the $150. If you don't, you will lose, and the choice of law clause is irrelevant.

    Again, still a good idea, but this is where spending a paltry few hundred bucks on a lawyer really pays for itself. And having reasonable terms also goes a long way towards shutting down meritless lawsuits.
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