I love it when people send me copies of monstrous T&C to me… I’m very nosey.
I love to see providers think are the most appropriate words to create loyal customers and good relationships.
A particularly sticky example was sent to me by Lee Jackson (a speaker on ‘getting good’ at stuff). There are just three clauses I wanted to extract to discuss by way of a contract ‘teardown’.
Make it Simpler
We can change or add to this Subscriber Agreement at any time… to make [it] clearer or easier to understand
What a great idea! Currently the Subscriber Agreement for England & Wales is 12 pages, nearly 6000 words long and pretty hard to read. I highly recommend the provider does try to make it clearer and easier to understand. No-one will get past the first paragraph at the moment!
Create Balance
The Subscriber Agreement is bookended by two clauses about passing on rights. For the provider, there are less than 25 words and it provides total flexibility:
We can transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement to any company, firm or person without any need for consent from you
Simple. Possibly a paradigm clause.
But for the subscriber, there are nearly twenty times as many words… covering everything from capacity, geographical location, registration, transfer and sharing etc etc etc. It is definitely a provision which smacks of paranoia and ends with this veiled threat:
If we determine that you have violated this Agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement
The agreement should clearly set out, perhaps with visuals, what is and what is not permitted, and the consequences. It would be much clearer and easier to understand if it said:
If you share your login with others outside your household, we can end your subscription immediately (and we monitor use to see if this is happening)
What should you do?
If you receive these sort of terms, let your provider know how impenetrable you find them – just because they’ve used a conversational tone (we, you) doesn’t make them clear and easy to understand.
If you are sending these terms, have a long hard look at yourself and decide if you think they create loyal customers who love your service, your brand and your terms. If not, get help!
Related post: from the Dotted Line archive (it’s not the first time I have used this title). See my appearance on the Contract Teardown show.
