How to be out of pocket by $135,000

[fireheart]

This isn't my incident by the way, this is a friend's incident. A friend of mine works in IT, in networks. She and her boyfriend (a close friend of mine) work for a company that does both home and business networking and other IT jobs. He'll usually help me out with problems with my computer (custom job) or my laptop (Toshiba).

That's enough background. So, I present to you: how to be out of pocket by $135k.

1. Enter a 10-year contract with the company in question.

2. When the technician shows up, be as lewd and flirtatious with her as possible and make her as uncomfortable as possible.

3. When the tech twists her "wedding ring" on her finger in a point to prove that she's taken, start calling her a hussy and a whore. (they're not engaged, it's an eternity ring of sorts)

4. After she leaves in disgust, receive a call from the female tech's coworker (and boyfriend) that the contract has been terminated due to abusive behaviour towards the staff. (he also mentioned that the incident had been logged with the police)

5. Be charged an early exit fee of said contract.

So the guy is now out of pocket by $135,000 (roughly) and has 6 months to pay.

Yeah....don't mess with the female IT techs.

[Canarr]

Damn, assholes abound. Sorry for your friend; that's appalling behavior.

But... while I'll readily believe that there's a clause in the contract allowing early termination in case of massive staff abuse (and I heartily applaud such a clause!), I seriously doubt it's legal to charge an early termination fee to the party *not actually terminating the contract*.

I mean, yeah, you can kick him for being an asshole, but charge him on top of it?

[fireheart]

Canarr, I'm Australian, so again, rules are a little different.

(Do I really need to start putting a disclaimer on top of every single post?)

[scruff]

given my bank used to charge me for putting money -in-, I am sure this is legal.
:-)

[fireheart]

I just checked with my friend. Given that she couldn't show me the whole contract, she just summed up that he breached a section of the contract, which was to the effect that the client is not to have contact with any of the staff in an illegal manner (harassment, abuse etc.), with charges being pressed if this occurs.

as for the whole "is it really legal for them to be doing that?" I remember seeing/hearing some incidents where fitness clubs required the person to pay the full amount regardless after they were ejected???

[reimero]

Actually, it very well may be legal, even in the US. The client's behavior was in violation of the contract, so it wasn't the supplier that caused the early termination, it was the client. As a result, the early termination fee would be valid.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I think most contracts can include a stipulation that says is Party X breaches the contract, they are liable to pay a penalty to party Y for said breach.

[Canarr]

Canarr, I'm Australian, so again, rules are a little different.

(Do I really need to start putting a disclaimer on top of every single post?)

I'm German; of course, laws will vary from country to country. I wasn't doubting the veracity of your story, just expressing my surprise that the company could do that. But, kudos to the company for including such a clause in the contract.

[Andara Bledin]

I suspect that an early termination penalty would go into effect for any reasonably written contract.

Causing the other party to cancel for cause is pretty much the same as actually breaking it yourself.

^-.-^

[fireheart]

And another update!

This morning, the couple went out to the location to serve him with the termination notice and the order to pay up (they went together). The lewd idiot's reaction?

"You can't cut me off, that slut was flirting with me first!"



My friend's reaction was great...something to the effect of "that slut is my wife, you're being cut off and blacklisted."

So now the douchebag has been ordered to pay up.

[taurinejunkie]

Your friend has nerves of steel, I would have ripped douchebag's bottom jaw straight off at him calling tech girl a slut in my presence.

[fireheart]

The douchebag made it worse by calling the girlfriend a slut riiight in front of the boyfriend.
But yeah, the boyfriend was tempted to rip the douchebag in half.

[tropicsgoddess]

Oh, if somebody did that to me, SO would've ripped them to shreds. But I think the douchebag would more than likely shit in their pants from seeing his enormous size (6'10" 300+lbs.). Good on your friends for blacklisting and reporting the asshole for sexual harassment.

[Canarr]

Okay, this is truly stupidity in action. Nothing to do but sit back, watch, and enjoy the show.

And: nice to see Karma operate so fast for once.

[eltf177]

And another update!

This morning, the couple went out to the location to serve him with the termination notice and the order to pay up (they went together). The lewd idiot's reaction?

"You can't cut me off, that slut was flirting with me first!"



My friend's reaction was great...something to the effect of "that slut is my wife, you're being cut off and blacklisted."

So now the douchebag has been ordered to pay up.

This is more levels of fail than I can count!