OT as usual: Legal Technicalities

AgentZero · #1 February 10th, 2006, 04:49 PM

Here's a question for you all. Hypothetical of course. Lets say I enter into a contract with a company for them to provide a service, and for me to pay them for that service. Now, after about a year and a half, hypothetically, I hypothetically realize that they haven't been invoicing or charging me for the service. And, hypothetically, if I no longer wish to avail of the service, would I be within my rights to asert that the company's failure to charge me for the service constitues a breach of contract & just call the whole thing off?
I know there aren't many Irish legal experts here (or in Ireland, for that matter), but anyone familiar with UK law should be able to tell me, since they're pretty much the same thing. Obviously I'd with a real solicitor, if this weren't purley hypothetical.

PvK · #2 February 10th, 2006, 04:58 PM

Can they prove you used the service? You might be able to claim that since they never billed you, you assumed they were just incompetant, forgot about it, and didn't use it.

My closest experience is not very close at all, but might be amusing: The Cambridgeshire electric company was the most incompetant company I've ever dealt with, back in '90-'91. They never got my electric bill right the whole time I was living there. Every month I would walk into their HQ/sales room in Cambridge and tell them exactly what was wrong, and they'd goof it up in some new way for the next month. I stopped paying and didn't pay the final bill until months later, when they finally got the bill close enough. By that time, the US/UK exchange rate had recovered from the first Gulf War effect enough that it saved me quite a bit.

PvK

El_Phil · #3 February 10th, 2006, 07:52 PM

A mate of mine ran his own hosting firm for a while and got badly, badly stung by this very thing.

Due to a variety of screw ups almost none of the small customers got invoiced and they couldn't back invoice for them, due to their terms and conditions (which were just standard issue, 'borrowed and word changed' from other hosting firms).

In short I think they'd find it damn hard to bill you, but it isn't a breach of contract on their behalf.

Oh and, yes the firm did go titsup as you would expect.

Baron Munchausen · #4 February 10th, 2006, 09:31 PM

I think a great deal depends on the nature of the service. If you have been getting, let's say, free cable TV for a year simply because they were too incompetent to bill you, I think you can drop it any time you like and they are pretty much SOL if they then realize they haven't billed you. They are a private entity (I think?) and responsible for their own business affairs. If on the other hand you have been getting some sort of publicly provided/regulated utilities (like electricity

or phone or something) and you decided to perhaps drop the land line in favor of exclusive cell phone service they might well be able to get after you in small claims court for any back billing even if it was "their fault" for not remembering to bill you. Public regulation is a double-edged sword in some ways. It protects you from exhorbitant rates, but it also saddles you with some additional responsibilities and they might be able to hold you to those rather than have to live with their mistakes.

Thermodyne · #5 February 11th, 2006, 12:23 AM

Hypothetically speaking, you should not pay them a shilling. Then, hypothetically, you could then tell their solicitors to bugger off and pack chips where the sun don�t shine. Then, hypothetically, they would send some ex IRA leg breakers to have nip with you and discuss the outstanding balance. You would, hypothetically speaking of course, object to this treatment and introduce them to the sensation of bullets in their butts. This would hypothetically cause the coppers to show up with the military types in tow. You know the types, ex SAS and such. And even though you had a hypothetical change of heart and wanted to promptly settle the hypothetical outstanding account. They would tell the world that you were a terrorist, and shoot your knickers off. Then, hypothetically, you could spend the next 20+ playing SE from the SuperMax lockdown or in a plea deal join the SAS and go to Afghanistan. In which case they would garnish your pay to settle the hypothetical outstanding balance.

Slick · #6 February 11th, 2006, 02:39 AM

Do the right thing. Inform them and pay what you agreed. You would want the same kind of treatment. You will feel very good about yourself for being honest. Too often in this world we resort to "legal technicalities" to take advantage of the situation whenever possible. Legal technicalities arise when people find new and sneakier ways of not doing the right thing. We really learned (or should have learned) life's most important rules before kindergarten...

do the right thing,
play nicely with others,
share,
help others that are less fortunate,
if it isn't yours, don't take it,
keep your hands to yourself,
if you make a mess, clean it up,
etc.

Combat Wombat · #7 February 11th, 2006, 04:56 AM

Oh man, back when I used to live in Texas we had cable for awhile and we called to cancel it multiple times but they never stopped the service. But they did stop billing us, so for years we had free cable. Possibly the people that live there now continue to have free cable. Good times

It was completely their fault and there was nothing illegal about it.

Strategia_In_Ultima · #8 February 11th, 2006, 08:54 AM

You know, I was thinking; maybe we should change the term "OT:" to "AZ:".....

Kamog · #9 February 11th, 2006, 11:55 PM

I have to agree with Slick, it's best to do the right and honorable thing and pay for services you've received, even if you could get away with not paying. It's only fair that if you receive something of value, you pay for it. But I guess that if they keep giving you a service after you asked them to stop, then it doesn't make sense you you to have to keep paying for something you don't want.