Contract breach, chain of commerce liability?

[lmitro]

Hi,

I work for an ISP in Ohio, and one of our customers (who pays month to month) is 7 months behind in payments (they pay $1200/month for connectivity and dialup lines). In October, we agreed to provide bandwidth in a new building for them to start a webserver farm. At that time, they were only 1 month behind, and we figured we'd get paid soon since there's never been a problem before. We've sent multiple statements asking for payment, and none has been received. When we met with them in person, the client claimed that his partner in the new venture (a construction company who is renovating the new building) would get an injunction to force us to provide the services, and even threatened to attach our personal assets to cover the cost of this new building, and the cost of the T1 they got installed by the phone company. We believe that by not paying their bill, the customer is in breach of contract.

My question is:
Can we be held responsible for a promise made by our customer to a third party based on services we agreed to provide for payment, when no such payment has been received?

Thank you for your help.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Hi,

I work for an ISP in Ohio, and one of our customers (who pays month to month) is 7 months behind in payments (they pay $1200/month for connectivity and dialup lines). In October, we agreed to provide bandwidth in a new building for them to start a webserver farm. At that time, they were only 1 month behind, and we figured we'd get paid soon since there's never been a problem before. We've sent multiple statements asking for payment, and none has been received. When we met with them in person, the client claimed that his partner in the new venture (a construction company who is renovating the new building) would get an injunction to force us to provide the services, and even threatened to attach our personal assets to cover the cost of this new building, and the cost of the T1 they got installed by the phone company. We believe that by not paying their bill, the customer is in breach of contract.

My question is:
Can we be held responsible for a promise made by our customer to a third party based on services we agreed to provide for payment, when no such payment has been received?

Thank you for your help.

My response:

Of course not. Your company is not in the business of charity. They have breached the contract, and any losses they suffer are as a result of their nonpayment of your services.

They are bluffing you. You don't owe them anything.

Shut off your services to them, and sue them for what they owe. This doesn't take a genius to figure out.

IAAL