Email Contract

derboy · Apr 28, 2008

Hi guys,

I've just come across this site and have had a look through the threads but couldn't find anything that's similar to the problem that I'm having.

I'm part of a small recruitment business and a few weeks ago we did work for a client that has all went downhill. Basically after supplying a few candidates for interview they employed one of them without telling us and are refusing to pay. We supplied our terms of business via email before we took on the work. We know that the client received this but they denying that the email had a copy of our terms attached.

We have a record of the email going out with the attachment. At this point they're solicitor denies any contract exists as they're was no attachment on their email or that they could not open said attachment.

The company have been tap dancing through all manner of excuses, at first completely denying that they had employed the guy! In body of the email itself it states how much it will cost them if they employ a candidate supplied by us. The amount stated is a discounted rate, however our terms of business state that the discount is null and void if them employ one of our candidates without telling us. Our terms also state that by interviewing an candidate supplied by us they agree to be bound by said terms.

However how does this stand up if they simply say that they never got the terms of business even though we can prove that they were sent and that they received the email? The problem is that we can't prove that the attachment came through at there end.

KidsBeeHappy · Apr 28, 2008

if they say they couldn't open it - they must have received it??!!

derboy · Apr 28, 2008

Correct. But for some reason was the attachment corrupted preventing them from opening it or did their email program strip the attachment from the email?

Is it enough for me to be able to prove that they received the email or do I need to prove that the attachment arrived intact as well?

Apr 28, 2008

You should be able to prove any email that has been sent and that it included an attachment, also that you sent others that were on the same basis.
The Company engaging your services know full well that they were entering into an agreement, and to suggest that they are not tied into an agreement is nonsence.
You may also have any correspondence that you sent the potential candidates.

I really wouldn't waste too much time with will nilly arguing on points and cut to the cusp... send them a letter before action including right to apply interest etc from the relevant act, stating what is going to happen and the timescale of this. If they choose to ignore maintain there was no deal in place, simply proceed with your action as set out in the letter, and then proceed to gather the evidence you may require to prove the point.

Apr 28, 2008

Is it enough for me to be able to prove that they received the email or do I need to prove that the attachment arrived intact as well?

You say the main body of the email contained payment details for candidates provided by you.
If you sent the attachment that is a normal file, then you have done everything you need. I really wouldn't worry about that at this time as to a large degree it is not the issue, you provided a service to facilitate their needs, they knew there was an arrangement and seem to be trying to simply save some money on a minor point...

Did they refuse to interview your candidates put forward as there were no agreed terms... no.

Paul Kelly ICHYB · Apr 28, 2008

dont you also have a contract of some sort with the candidate?

Cant you get an email from them confirming the interview details etc. If you can prove contact with them before the interview, it weakens the other companies case a little.

Cred-X · Apr 28, 2008

Hi Derboy,

This sounds familiar.
We have had other recruitment clients who have been treated the same way - The employer refusing to pay the recruitment agency and using totally bogus excuses.
It's so frustrating that they think they can use a company's services and then try to wriggle out of it by claiming not to have received terms and conditions.
Even if they did not receive a copy of the terms it does not mean that they are being provided with a free of charge service. When you buy an ice cream you don't see and T's & C's but you still have to pay for it!

It certainly sounds like the debtor is trying to evade their responsibilities.
If you would like to discuss the matter directly then please feel free to get in contact as I'm quite confident that we can help and provide advice in this situation.

derboy · Apr 28, 2008

We do have evidence that the candidate started work and know that he is still employed.

The crux of the argument is that the client knew that they had a fee to pay if they employed him. They tried to avoid this by first denying that they had employed him, then rold him that "they may need to let him go as the agency has found out". Then they said that they knew the guy from before and now they say that they never recieved terms.

We original fee we quoted was heavily discounted however there is a cluase within our terms of business which states that where the client does nto inform us that they have employed a candidate supplied by us, all discounts are deemed null and void and the full amount becomes payable.

If the client says that they did not recieve our terms attached (even though they did recieve CV's attached to separate emails in the same manner) how can I prove that they did in fact get these terms so that we can hold firm and charge them the full, non discounted, amount?

At present we have issued a statutory demand but they have put their solicitor on it. We have engaged a debt collection solicitor however I seem to be just getting CC'd in on email conversations between our representative and theirs. It all seems to hinge on proving that they did indeed get the attachment. However I'm inclined to think that if it were to go to court surely common sense will show that they recieved everything else prior to asking us to set up interviews with the candidates?

Antonia @limeone.com · Apr 28, 2008

At this stage your solicitors should be obtaining witness testimony from the employee on the words used to him, dates he commenced work, whether he knew the business etc before employment commenced.

You should have been advised to obtain server logs, hosting confirmation of the email send date and time, date time opened and if there was any issue in opening. Your solicitor is not there as a highly paid mail box, they should be dealing with giving you advice on how to frame your claim and taking the matter forward with you being aware of the risks in taking this into court.

If your email contained the full terms and these were also discussed with the client then you need to be preparing your own statement and moving this on to court.

kapow · Apr 28, 2008

The T&C and email are irrelivant... all you need to prove is that you are an employment agency and they interviewed (and later employed) a client that you sent to them.

There is plenty of precident for how employment agnecies operate and make their money... so unless you have really wierd terms which other agents don't use, just proceed to take them to court. Small claims if it'll cover your fees (as it'll cost you less and the judge will give you a better hearing, and their solicitor won't be at such an advantage).

derboy · Apr 28, 2008

i will be discussing the situation with my solicitor tomorrow. as for witness testimony my concern is that the candidate is no longer motivated to speak out against his employer due to him still working there.

Thank you so much for everyones help and input so far.

derboy · Apr 29, 2008

Our client's position is that they did not recieve our terms of business attached to the email. I'm speaking with our ISP to see if they can confirm that the attachment was in the email that we sent.

We know that they recieved the email as we have their reply with our own email attached. In this reply there is an entry put at the bottom by our CRM system that shows that the terms were attached but this could easily be forged so wouldn't stand up on it's own.

We can prove that they knew they would need to pay a discounted fee of X but we want to invoke a clause in our terms that mean they would have to pay a full fee of Y.

If their argument is that they never recieved the terms and we cannot concretely disprove that for some reason the terms never arrived or that the email attachment was somehow corrupted at their end does their argument constitute a valid denial of liability in respect to us pushing ahead with a winding up petition having already issued a statutory demand?

Should we press ahead on with the winding up petition or should we drop this and go to court?

I would hope to avoid litigation at all costs and I know from the facts and the evidence that their position is tenuous to say the least so would pressing ahead with the winding up position shock them into paying their bill or would this avenue now be blocked based on their denial of liability?

Antonia @limeone.com · Apr 29, 2008

All they have to do is comply with setting aside the stat demand on the basis of disputed liability, the judge will set it aside if they make that application in the time scale allowed. Winding Up petitions are costly and do very little to secure your debt position.

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Email Contract

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