Bad advice compensation

I have a question about an odd situation. Basically, I had an idea for an online service, so I contacted the company it would be based around (as an extension of a service they offer, to countries they do not offer it) and asked if it would be acceptable.

Their folks in the compliance department replied that it was fine.

So I went ahead with site dev and investing in the usual variety of required things - hosting, logo, web dev, php, etc.

Before launch, I contacted a number of sites where I wanted to offer the service, to see if their setup would work in unison with mine. One of them said that the original company (the one I checked with) would shut me down in days because they don't allow people to do what I had set up.

So I contacted the original people again and they said "No, not allowed." I made sure I gave the same example as the first time around.

My question is, given that I still have the emails where they said it was fine, are they responsible for my losses in setting up a business based on their misinformation? Can I claim money to reimburse my losses - or at least part of them - because they blatantly misled me?

Edit: they're a US company, international, and I'm in the UK.

 

no....

 

So you're saying that I can officially say anything I want to about my services, no matter how inaccurate it is, and I'm not responsible for any of the consequences?

So is that a "yes" or not an opinion?

 

I never said that! If you have no contract in place and they had a contractual obligation to you that they broke, this is never going to be any more than a "he said, she said", that is going to go no where in court.

 

So when I ask if something is acceptable and they say "yes" (in writing), then - later on, when I do that thing - they refuse to accept it, they have no obligation at all to compensate, even though they stated it was acceptable? Unless I have a contract that specifically holds them to keeping their word in that particular matter?

That seems... wrong.

 

So you think because they told you something they are never allowed to change their mind? Perhaps if you paid or gave some compensation then they might be obligated due to a contractual agreement. But as of now, it appears you asked them, and at the time they said it was okay, then you asked them later and they changed their minds.

There are times in the law when you can be compensated for relying on someone's promise to do something or allow you to do something, but what you describe above does not seem like it would apply. It sounds like you asked some person at the company and that person said it was okay. It does not sound like you did anything where you gave them any consideration to make their side of the deal binding.

If you think you emails amount to a binding agreement then see a lawyer. If not, it is like many cases where people or companies change their mind. Twitter or companies like that often allow companies to build certain applications and then later change their minds and say it is no longer allowed. That is business. if you don't secure the right to do what it is you want then you operate at their discretion.

 

Thanks browntwn - that, at least, makes some sense. Obviously, they can change their mind - but given the size of the company, I expect them to at least notify of changes (and this one is pretty significant, given the provider and service, which I won't go into here), rather than just leaving it to people to keep asking to check if their idea is still valid all the time.

They're actually compounding the error at the moment, by not reading the whole message when I contact them and giving me the usual crap customer service approach of "Huh? What? Here's a FAQ."

I suspect I'll get nowhere, but at least I'll cause them massive hassle and a lot of paid employee time in dealing with me.

 

I don't know the specifics so it is hard to really know what is at stake and what facts are at play. You really should consult with a lawyer who can review the actual facts in your case. Most will meet with you for no cost to evaluate your case.

The classic case of where reliance on a promise can be compensated is where someone is offered a job, they accept and they quit their current job and move to a new city for the new job and then the company says, "sorry, we don't need to fill the position anymore". In those cases where reliance on a promise induced the person to take some action - and it was reasonable to expect that person to take those actions, courts have upheld awards of damages.

 

Maybe instead of trying to fight them, you should try talking to other people in the company. If the service you have developed is closely related to their main business and is profitable, they may buy the idea and your development work off you. Without knowing any specific details it is impossible to give any more advice than that.

You could take them to court, but big companies have very good legal teams. An email is very easy to fake and will probably not hold up in court. Your other idea to waste employee hours, will also be a waste of your time. It would be better to move on and do something more productive with your time. Next time you do something like this try to get a formal agreement and a contract.

 

I knew of an employee once that called cell phone company, and got a cell phone in the business name....
after 1-2 years, the employee stopped paying the bill, and the company went to collections...company
got out of it because the employee was never authorized to obtain a cell phone through the business.....
of course the employee got fired for fraud by opening an account without permission....so it does not
really matter what some random employee tells you, so unless it was from a decision maker, and
in binding contract, then it was fairly pointless from the start asking some random employee via email....
those employees are not decision makers, they just work for the company, and if anything, it
was just inappropriate for that employee to even give you a yes or no, and if it was a bigger
company, then they should have refereed you over to legal/contract dept....

 

Unfortunately unless you paid them something there is unlikely to be a contract between you so you can't sue for a breach of this, however they are guilty of negligence and misrepresentation based on their action. The problem is that any law suite would need issuing in the USA and this would be expensive and by no means sure to succeed. Try sending a letter with an invoice showing your losses and indicating that you relied totally on the promise they made that your idea was acceptable. If your costs don't run into £0000s they may choose to pay you as a goodwill gesture. Also if you can show that the service you offered was both viable and ethical then you may still be able to salvage something. Good luck.

 

Purely cathartic.

It was't a random employee: it was someone in the compliance department who is authorised to say "yes" or "no" to these things.

Thread closed, effectively. I have what I needed to know, thanks to a couple of excellent responses.