Is this 'breach of contract' or just an unhappy customer? Either way I want out

[boater]

Washington State

I signed a contract for advertising. I did this with a 'docusign' type of medium. The contract term was 36 months. This was in the spring of (April?) 2017.

The benefits were supposed to be:
1. Small magazine mailed to all residences in specific affluent neighborhoods near my business, with a claimed high (over 90%) readership rate
2. Marketing me as an 'expert' in the field (boating)
3. Support from "award winning" writers
4. Support from staff on anything I needed to be successful
5. Every three months, an article to be published in the magazine, authored by myself, that related to my area of expertise

What has actually happened:
1. I have never received a copy of the contract, although I have asked for it several times
2. I have polled many (best guess 150+) people and families from these neighborhoods that come into my business; not only did they not see my ads or articles, they had no idea what magazine I was talking about
3.The initial ads were wrong, and my "area of expertise:" was mis-categorized.
4. The picture of me was captioned "owner of xx business", rather than my name. I have asked for this to be changed multiple times to make it more personal and it has not. Other "experts" featured in this magazine are listed by name, then business.
5. The rep(s) have never, repeat never, shown up for a scheduled appointment. They DID however stop by unscheduled, usually during extremely busy times of the day that we are trying to service customers, to "talk" and see how we are doing. On each of these occasions, I would explain that I did not have time now, and to please either make an appointment or show up for the requested appointments.
6. I requested in writing late Summer of 2018, and several time since both in writing and verbally, that I be given a "buy-out" option on my contract, as I was not receiving the value that I was told I would get before signing the contract. This has been replied to: "there is no option for a buy out. We would love to sit down and help you". Then, they don't show up for the appointment.
7. I have not posted the articles that I was promised since spring of 2018 due to a complete lack of communication on their part.
8. I cancelled the card that they were charging in March of 2019, and finally got their attention doing that. Now they just call weekly and say I have money due, and "want to meet" to help me out.


Summary (in my opinion):
I have no desire to continue working with these jokers. If there was value to my business I would, but clearly there is not. It has also been established that they are unhelpful and have shown a pattern of mistakes, lack of follow through, and general unprofessional-ism. I have not received the value I was promised, the staff is unhelpful, the articles have not been posted in over a year, The ONLY time someone showed up for an appoinment was BEFORE contract signing. I have never received a copy of the contract. IMHO, this is breach of contract and I should be able to get out from under this payment burden. Now, that is my 'common sense' interpretation. What is the legal side of all this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Zigner]

Your "buy-out" would be listed in your contract. If not, then the "buy-out" is the remaining amount on the contract. The fact that you failed to download a copy of the contract (as is offered by Docusign), or failed to keep the signed copy that was emailed to you upon completion (as is done by Docusign), has no bearing on this.

I don't see any breach of the contract other than your failure to pay, but I don't have a copy of the contract to review. Perhaps you can get an attorney to draft a letter demanding a copy of the contract. That might make them respond (or might not).

 

[boater]

Your "buy-out" would be listed in your contract. If not, then the "buy-out" is the remaining amount on the contract. The fact that you failed to download a copy of the contract (as is offered by Docusign), or failed to keep the signed copy that was emailed to you upon completion (as is done by Docusign), has no bearing on this.

I don't see any breach of the contract other than your failure to pay, but I don't have a copy of the contract to review. Perhaps you can get an attorney to draft a letter demanding a copy of the contract. That might make them respond (or might not).

I signed it on the rep's phone; it may not have been docusign. As I said, it was this "type" of medium. It was done on his phone and never was in my inbox or delivered at any time, digitally or otherwise. I did not "fail to download it", as I never had the opportunity.

 

[quincy]

To start, you will need a copy of the contract. You will have a hard time showing there was a breach in the terms without it.

 

[boater]

To start, you will need a copy of the contract. You will have a hard time showing there was a breach in the terms without it.

I have sent another request, this time referring to remedy for non- payment. Thank you for that- I guess it should have been obvious to me that I would need that. I was thinking that never receiving a copy might make it non-enforceable. But I don't know; thats why I am asking. Thanks again.

 

[quincy]

I have sent another request, this time referring to remedy for non- payment. Thank you for that- I guess it should have been obvious to me that I would need that. I was thinking that never receiving a copy might make it non-enforceable. But I don't know; thats why I am asking. Thanks again.

You can have your request for a copy of the contract made through an attorney - as suggested earlier by Zigner - if you have problems getting a copy sent to you otherwise.

We appreciate the thanks, boater. Good luck.

 

[justalayman]

Actually, if the statements regarding the terms of the contract are correct, there is an apparent breach for at least the issue where the op was to have an article published every three months.

It would appear there is a concern of the truth of the claim the magazine would be mailed to certain neighborhoods. Op should attempt to validate his belief the mailings are not being done.

Whether the issue is great enough to warrant a termination of the contract or if some form of cure is appropriate will depend a lot on the contract and what they have failed to provide.

 

[Zigner]

Actually, if the statements regarding the terms of the contract are correct, there is an apparent breach for at least the issue where the op was to have an article published every three months.

I interpreted the OP as saying that the OP hasn't sent any articles in for publishing.

 

[justalayman]

I interpreted the OP as saying that the OP hasn't sent any articles in for publishing.

That’s possible but the op stated the issue was a lack of communication on the publishers part. I’m not sure what that means but it could lead to a breach issue. Given op doesn’t have the contract everything said is speculation anyway. It’s something op needs to look into as a possible breach.

 

[quincy]

I interpreted the OP as saying that the OP hasn't sent any articles in for publishing.

That's how I read it, too, Zigner.

If the publication was like some of the advertising material found around here, it could have been received by the targeted households but immediately trashed as junk mail without reading.

The contract really needs to be read to see exactly what was promised and what boater agreed to.