Dealing With Contracts

A

AbbieRose

New member
How do you manage your service contracts? The majority of the work (web design and hosting) that I have done to date has been sent to me through the company I used to work for (stuff that is too small for them to bother with). For that reason I almost without fail meet with the person and we sign the contract there and then.

But what about when it's all online? What is considered a legally binding acceptance of a contract-is clicking an "I accept" button enough?
 
To be safe, I would email a contract to the client as an attachment... perhaps a Word document or PDF. Then require them to sign it and send it back (fax?)

That's what I would do.
 
And would asking them to send back by mail be considered some kind of faux pas? I already have a PO Box so wouldn't be concerned for my own privacy, I mean I have been online so long that I doubt anyone could fail to find me if they wanted to!
 
AbbieRose said:
And would asking them to send back by mail be considered some kind of faux pas? I already have a PO Box so wouldn't be concerned for my own privacy, I mean I have been online so long that I doubt anyone could fail to find me if they wanted to!
Click to expand...

I don't think requiring them to send it back via postal mail is necessary... some may think it's a hassle and would rather just sign and fax something back.

But then again, I'm not a lawyer ;)
 
demowolf thats exactly what we do ourselves. Only difference is that they can also return it via email or post.
 
Dealing with Contracts

We enjoy a local meet & greet over coffee. For those clients out of our local area we email with the contract attached and have them email or fax back. It doesn't have that personal appeal but you can get a since of weather someone is a people person weather it be type or talk.
 
I am just not a fan of relying on fax returns. Many people are unable to do that-in fact for the last two years I have had to run faxes for my ex mother-in-law despite her having her own fax machine. She simply cannot get the hang of it.


So certainly an alternative would be good, as a just in case.
 
Where I currently work we are not in the webhosting business but we do send out quotes that require signing to be considered valid. We will not proceed with an order without a sign off. Email sign offs are replies to the quote with a proceed with order in the body of the email. That is considered a legally binding contract. It works for us and the bulk of our business is based on that.
 
Online signatures...

I've heard that online legal signatures are now valid and binding in the United States.

A few advertising sites we go with have done away with paper altogether.
 
Thanks Zipservers and Countryboy. I would guess that internet law is advancing and changing so much to accommodate new technology, we have to become comfortable with electronic business.
 
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