I have been in the (un)fortunate position of negiotation several contracts lately, and I am amazed at the response I get during the negotiation phase of the contract phase.
It seems that a large portion of people refuse to change the text of a contract in negotiation, in favor of trying to convince you that the intent of the contract is NOT what the contract says. They seem to think that is good enough, and the intent will cover us both. The only problem I have with that is two-fold:
- Why in the name of all that is good and holy do you have a f**king contract in the first place, if your intention is not to hold to every word. Why can’t we just handshake and call it good, like my dad and his dad used to do. Oh yeah, because people no longer hold to their word.
- I am signing something that I do not agree to, that can be enforced by law.
When I ask about the first reason, I just get stupid looks, but when I approach the second issue, the answer is ALWAYS that the contract text only matters if things get bad. Guess what, that is the part of the contract that I care the most about!!! When things go south, the contract is the only thing I have to protect me and you, and you are unwilling to allow the protection in a mutual manner when you refuse to change the contract. Give me a freakin’ break.
I have had no less than 5 of such incidents in the last 4 months. I am soo lucky.
I think a good bit of the ACTUAL reason for these refusals to negotiate is the fear of having to go talk to the lawyer again. That is the only reasoning I can come up with that is anywhere near sanity.
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