Federal Reserve strikes again!
When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
21–30 of 267 posts
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#22Is there ground for legal action, particularly if you depended on this? It seems like a contract of sorts, and if any of their sales people ever assured anyone it was "free forever" I think that becomes a verbal contact.
IANAL, but: 'If only one party offers consideration, the agreement is a "bare promise" and is unenforceable.' [1]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consideration_in_English_law
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#23Is there ground for legal action, particularly if you depended on this? It seems like a contract of sorts, and if any of their sales people ever assured anyone it was "free forever" I think that becomes a verbal contact.
There's no consideration though.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#24I am not sure why anyone is surprised or this should even be news. I don’t have a speck of business education and I can see this is no way sustainable. “Free forever” is not a sound business strategy (shock emoji). If it is free, like Youtube, Reddit, Zulip, than expects them to profit in some other way. If you can’t explain how a business profit you shouldn’t use it because:
1. Its not going to last.
2. They are doing something shady.
Apply this to any companies, even your family’s.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#25This is an ad for Zulip
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#26Is there ground for legal action, particularly if you depended on this? It seems like a contract of sorts, and if any of their sales people ever assured anyone it was "free forever" I think that becomes a verbal contact.
IANAL, but: 'If only one party offers consideration, the agreement is a "bare promise" and is unenforceable.' [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consideration_in_English_law
Consideration doesn't have to be money. Facebook doesn't charge you money and nevertheless has enforceable contracts.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#27I am not sure why anyone is surprised or this should even be news. I don’t have a speck of business education and I can see this is no way sustainable. “Free forever” is not a sound business strategy (shock emoji). If it is free, like Youtube, Reddit, Zulip, than expects them to profit in some other way. If you can’t explain how a business profit you shouldn’t use it because: 1. Its not going to last. 2. They are doi…
This is good advice. I don't understand how venmo floats, and it has been a long while so...
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#28If I were a legislator, I would introduce a bill to ban footnotes in advertising. Everything that the company feels it needs to print, must be included in the main ad copy.
Enough with this coy duplicity.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#29Is there ground for legal action, particularly if you depended on this? It seems like a contract of sorts, and if any of their sales people ever assured anyone it was "free forever" I think that becomes a verbal contact.
There's no consideration though.
That’s debatable. Not all consideration is obvious.
Re: When “free forever” means “free for the next 4 months”
#30Is there ground for legal action, particularly if you depended on this? It seems like a contract of sorts, and if any of their sales people ever assured anyone it was "free forever" I think that becomes a verbal contact.
Yes. It does not become a "verbal contract," but the concept is promissory estoppel. Look it up.
If you make a promise, and I rely on that promise, and I suffer financial loss, you're liable.
It's a good idea too. If you promise that a plan will be free forever, people should be able to rely on that promise. You might get beta tester, promoters, or whatever you want. If those people stop being useful to you, you can't just throw them on out on their bums. You're hosting their data, there's a cost to migrating that data away. If they've integrated with your APIs, it can be a high cost. If that what you'd like, promise "free" but not "free forever."
It almost never makes sense to sue -- it's just not worth it -- but a business which breaks a "free forever" promise is probably breaking the law, and in the era of the internet, is almost definitely breaking the law in some jurisdiction.