Why we need contract reform.

[Admin]

It's very common that various corporations have very lengthy terms of conditions that hide a lot of nasty details that can screw people over. Of course people typically do not read that.

One big issue is that it doesn't take much to enter into a contract. Just buying into some service can for example allow them to force you to pay more for it because you didn't actively cancel in time (such as 30 days before the renewal date). They can even renew it for a much higher price than if you do not pay attention you can lose a lot of money (in the fine print it will say it's your responsibility to check your email, etc).

You can basically ruin your life by signing a single bad contract and signing a contract is very easy, you have to be constantly paranoid about corporations and others trying to screw you over.

 

[Admin]

Standard rules for purchases
There should be standard rules applying to purchases so you will not have to read any fine print, this should also apply to people running a business.

No auto renewal of a service by default, instead the costumer will be asked next time they use it if they want to renew it.

The costumer will need to actively approve changes to terms/prices.

You have the right to change your mind within 14+ days.

 

[Admin]

Entering into contracts should be much harder
Contracts (other than standard deals for purchases) should be much harder to enter into by default.

By default an approved government official will need to witness it.

People/businesses will be able to request the ability to enter into contracts much easier.

If you are for example a company selling stuff you will have obligations towards your costumers.

 

[Admin]

Artists are often being screwed over
It's very common for artists to accept really bad deals in an attempt to make it in the music industry. They are basically owned by the record label until they die.

But people not signing those deals will have a significantly harder time reaching success since they will not have the backing of some corrupt record label company.

 

[Admin]

Horror story: the signed away their home in a awful solar panel deal
The person who made them sign the deal lied to them and then they found out the actual terms were super-bad.

Predatory businesses exploit that people are trusting and often do not read all the terms themselves.

 

[Admin]

Timeshares
This is even worse than you think. You basically pay loads of money to be forced to rent a place a week a year until you die.

You can also try selling it on the second hand market but then some other poor guy will have to take up that liability instead. Often people end up giving them away for free just to escape the maintanance fee. Sometimes the company that sold the timeshare for say 100000$ will be kind enough to buy it back for maybe 1000$, actually you are lucky if they take it back for 0$, then they can sell it again for a huge profit to some sucker.

Luckily in these cases the purchase of that awful liability can typically be voiced if it is done early enough but that can be as little as 3 days and the scammer who sold you that will lie and claim you cannot back out of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFy59REVdjc

 

[Creamer]

most online stores screw sellers by charging insane commissions on sales.
the problem is, if you sell on your own site you simply won't get any traffic.

they screw because they can.

 

[Admin]

most online stores screw sellers by charging insane commissions on sales.
the problem is, if you sell on your own site you simply won't get any traffic.

There are plenty of companies that sells directly to their costumers via their own site.

But selling via say amazon FBA might still get you a larger cut than having some retail store buy it and then mark it up say 50%.