Forum Moderators: not2easy
Ok, so he's crazy, which is exactly the problem. I worry about crazy people submitting stuff and then suing us for one reason or another. (People don't have to be right to sue, they just have to have a filing fee.) These people are like the people who sue famous movie producers who "stole their ideas" (You wrote E.T.? I had an idea about an alien coming to earth!)
So how do I handle this? How do you email the mentally ill? I've tried the tactic of ignoring, but he's still sending. Anyone got a good sample email reply?
I've pasted his emails below. His first one references an email we never received (which may or may not be a tactic.)
Kris
[edited by: digitalghost at 7:52 pm (utc) on Aug. 28, 2005]
[edit reason] no email quotes [/edit]
Are other people getting these emails?
And if so, how efficient is it for the spammers? Phishing works because it really does trick people into entering their account info. It takes advantage of urgency, and many people act before thinking.
This guy's plan is flawed in part because there's no hidden strategy. You just can't get 'duped' by someone asking for money in this way. Like, oh, you tricky, tricky man, you washed my window, now I have to pay. Oh, that was a good one. Oh, so clever...
Come on.
And the other flaw is this: he's working a lot harder than the sgueegee and Windex guys. That is, unless he's got software that analyzes websites, makes corrections and sends out emails. Is there software like this?
I missed the emails: how much time is he charging for? Are the corrections good, anyway?
And if they're actually good, here's a question: are you going to implement them? And if so (any lawyers here?) could he then charge you?
Eliz.
FTC: Collection Company Settles Unauthorized Billing Charges [ftc.gov]
It has been a long time since I looked at that act, but if it applies, then you could sue them for quite a pile of money, on the order of $500 to $1000 per violation.
Even if it doesn't apply, having someone from the state AG office contact them will usually cause them to lay off on their wacky behaviour.
And if they do file suit, the proper venue for the case is where the debt was incurred, in other words, *your* local court, not their's.
If he does sue, get a good cutthroat lawyer, and pile on the counter-claims. Possibly even hitting him with copyright wiolations for makeing a derivative work with his "corrections" and having it moved to federal district court. If he files suit, you should take control of the suit, that way you can be pretty sure that any settlment will involve him paying you, instead of the other way around.
From web page [capitol.state.tx.us...]
§ 35.45. DELIVERY OF UNSOLICITED GOODS. (a) Unless
otherwise agreed, if unsolicited goods are delivered to a person,
the person:
(1) is entitled to refuse to accept delivery of the
goods; and
(2) is not required to return the goods to the sender.
(b) If unsolicited goods are either addressed to or intended
for the recipient, the goods are considered a gift to the recipient,
who may use them or dispose of them in any manner without obligation
to the sender.
(c) Unsolicited goods received due to a bona fide mistake
must be returned, but the burden of proof of the error is on the
sender.
(d) This section does not apply to goods substituted for
goods ordered or solicited by the recipient.
Added by Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, § 7, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.
Renumbered from § 35.42 by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 167, §
5.01(a)(3), eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
I sent him email with the information.
With a request for $15.00 and a letter of recommendation... it doesn't sound so much like a shakedown artist as just weirdness. I don't know what would lead a person to believe this would work. I wanted to respond in a way to protect our interests (which I believe I did), but I also don't want to overreact if the guy's just doing something stupid versus doing something criminal.
And yes, most of his comments are minor English inflections that need to be changed. I have hesitated actually doing any of the changes for the reason that someone else asked-namely if using them opens me up to liability, but I've already found the answer to that.
I do feel a little bad a this point for even having to be as strong as I was in my response. He just made myself and my business partner a little nervous because the letter sounds so eccentric that we weren't sure what kind of a person we were dealing with. We're still a small company, not ready to be drug into court by scam artists.
[edited by: digitalghost at 8:04 pm (utc) on Aug. 29, 2005]
[edit reason] no email quotes [/edit]
Since your website was effective enough to get his attention obviously you deserve to charge a premium over his prices. :)
In all seriousness, I wouldn't worry at all about getting sued by him if you used these changes. Sure, people can sue for pretty baseless things but that's exactly the point: if you're going to worry about getting hit with groundless lawsuits you should just lock yourself in your house and certainly don't publish anything on the web.
