BarryTone wrote:
1) No apologies necessary, but nice to see someone on this forum man enough to admit to his error, even if it wasn’t that much an error at all.
2) But getting back to your point, the obvious weakness in verbal contracts is as you mention “practical enforceability” which should be distinguished from “legal enforceability”.
3) We enter and sometimes breech contracts every day, most of which are verbal. Some contracts are of much more serious consequence than others. ................I have yet to see a contract (verbal agreement) of this nature ever result in a lawsuit.
But to further make my point, verbal agreements are routinely entered between buyers and sellers in the real business world. .............. However I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the fact that it is does carry a higher element of risk than does a written agreement, and that there are some agreements that should never be left to a parol contract.
4) Lastly, I wasn’t making an assessment of SC’s actions, or any of the other labels actions for that matter. I was merely commenting on the events themselves as they were described by another poster. Making an assessment of SC’s actions would be the moral equivalent of accusing them of a crime or violation of a civil tort without any evidence of which I personally do not have. I only have hearsay to go by. It’s not that I have any reason to disbelieve what was posted, it’s just that I wouldn’t really make such assessments without having viewed all of the evidence first hand.
5) Whether or not Kurt is an inferior manager I have no way of either confirming or rejecting that notion. I suppose you can make that argument based on the absolute principle that all business failures can ultimately be traced back to management. However based on my own experiences with him, I wouldn’t underestimate him. You may disagree with his policies, but I don’t think he is any less competent, and perhaps he could even be more competent than the others you mentioned.
1) Thank you for your kind words. BarryTone. It's a fact that I have as many error prone moments as everyone else.
2) I don't know that there is truly a difference between "Legal" and "Practical" enforceabilty, other than the willingness of the enforcer to put forth the time, effort, and money required.
3) Whether it is common practice to enter into verbal agreements for business purposes or not is a moot point. If one were to invest the resources of one's business based on a verbal agreement, one leaves their company open to the same liability as having no agreement at all. Part of running a successful business is limiting liability, not increasing it.
As for not seeing any contracts based on verbal agreements result in lawsuits, you may wish to read back a bit on this and other forums, as well as peruse the Justia and Pacer legal sites- particularly in regard to the karaoke production business. There seem to be quite a few.
4) I second the fact that you have not commented on SC's actions. However, I would disagree that stating one's opinion of their actions would be the moral equivalent of accusing them of anything criminal. It is my opinion that their actions are certainly unethical, and unsound management. Many seem to agree about their ethics, and my assessment of their managerial skills seems to be self-evident.
Also, while many of their actions are posted here, they- as well as some of their results-have been published on legal sites and in newspapers as well. While you are correct that a lot of the information is not a part of our
personal experience, I would submit that much of it is not hearsay either- at least in a practical sense.
5) You are correct. I am basing my opinion of their managerial skills on the current condition of the company vs. it's heyday- plus knowledge of some of the specific mistakes made.
However, to end on a positive, rather than negative note, I have always thought the quality of their product was very good, and that the skills of their marketing staff were excellent.