honestcomm.com

A recent post on The Register, an online news and blog site, talked about an electricity firm taking legal action against a custoemr, despite them never having signed anything. Their reasoning? Because a check box on an email indicated that their electronic communication entered them into a contract.

I was surprised at this notion, but having read through the other commens, some interesting points were raised. In any job, communication is a key role. You have to be told, or tell others, what to do, how to do it, etc. And this also has to be communicated to your customers. The methods that this information is passed along will differ between internal and external.

But what level of communication counts as binding? And should every member of your staff be allowed to communicate in that manner? What happens if they make a spelling or grammar mistake? Will that impact the contract?

If all of the comapny’s information is available online, does reading the T&Cs, and checking a box count? Should it?

I have a lot of questions regarding this topic, but as long as companies keep a clear guideline for their employees communications with customers, then they shouldn’t go too far wrong.