Beware Anyone Doing Business Completely Sans Paper

Live and learn. Or so the saying goes, but sometimes we never just learn, despite our inner voice warning us away.

Recently, I had that experience, as I had stumbled on what I thought would be a fruitful business relationship. We both had something mutually of interest to offer the other professionally, and had initially agreed upon the terms of service over the phone.

Then came time to do the deal – or so I thought. Turns out, our brief phone call was the deal, at least in the mind of the other party to this “business” relationship.

I’ve always been weary of those that won’t put things down in writing. We hear time and again how flimsy verbal agreements are, how they don’t really hold up in court because they depend on a judges’ interpretations of what each person claims the other said.

Even in our modern era of emails, instant messages and SMS text messages, I get cold feet when someone sends me the terms of a deal only via one of these digital forms of communications.

Not that I expect the worst, but anytime someone tells you "let’s just shake on it" – walk away.

I should have run away prior to latching onto one of these “business” people. Any legitimate business person wouldn’t even THINK of doing any business deal on the basis of nothing more than a smile.

That smile sure didn’t last long with this “business” person.

I got suckered in by the passion for what I do, and the opportunity to share that passion with the world. The business looked legit – they had a website.

"Hey Jordan, my five-year-old kid can create a website."

Now you tell me . . .

At first everything was great, I did my part of the deal, they did theirs. 

Then, a couple of months in, they started to change. They weren’t living up to the terms of our verbal “agreement.” Sometimes they were early, most of the time they were late.

Then for a while there was a string of early deliverables, which was followed by requests for additional ones on my part.

This wasn’t part of our original verbal “agreement” but they quickly amended our non-existent arrangement via email.

I didn’t mind, so I went along with it, for another few months. Then they asked me to do even more but at a fraction of the price.

I thought about negotiating. But how do you negotiate when you have nothing in writing to back you up? As it was, I wasn’t happy with myself for signing a non-existent agreement.

That little voice in my head kept nagging me, calling me a fool. Telling me "you'll be sorry."

I’ve been burned in the past by verbal agreements when I was young and naive. And part of me was questioning my own intelligence and business savvy, having fallen into another verbal agreement so many years later.

I declined their additional requests, but said I was happy to continue with our current “agreement.”

They obviously took great offense to this, as the pattern of their lateness began again – even increasing to the point where I started wondering how I was ever going to exit this situation gracefully and without harm to my interests.

Then they decided to give me “notice” via email to amend our non-existent agreement cutting both their and my deliverables down by half.

"How can you give me notice for a contract that doesn’t exist?" I scoffed.

Then it dawned on me, you can’t. There’s nothing binding between us. They have nothing to give “notice” on, for or with, according to my legal team. In fact, if you don’t have anything in writing, there is no binding agreement. The word "notice" has to refer to something already defined in writing, usually (but not exclusively -- my lawyers point out) another word: "term."

A verbal contract is no more binding than the air it is “written” on.

“You might as well have signed it with invisible ink,” said one legal expert.

So you’re free to leave it at anytime, and without any notice he tells me.

And that’s what I did.

Though I did let them know via email.

I wanted to send a letter. 

You know, one of those old fashioned documents printed on paper. 

I like things in writing. I’m funny that way.