how do customers sign my terms & conditions?

[Andy Westcott]

True, if you are able to fit them all on one page, and still retain a readable font size.

[music-2-play]

Or send two copies of the contract and ask them to keep one for their records and sign one and send it back.

Yeah, this is probably the most common approach. Sign both copies yourself, send both to client and get them to return one signed.

Remember, the contract (on paper) is really just a confirmation of an oral contract you have already agreed. So, when you write out the contract, at the head of the paper state

"An agreement is made on this date ---- (whatever date a client confirmed they would like to book for the price you quoted)

and then put down the terms of the agreement below (timings, latests arrival time, fee, date, venue etc)

Make sure you draw their attention to the terms and conditions, especially if they're on a separate page. A customer must be given adequate notice of T&Cs for them to be enforceable, even if they choose to ignore and not read them.

[music-2-play]

I've never quite understood why people provide a signed copy of the agreement before they've received the initial fee. The only time the client is provided with their copy of the agreement is when the initial payment is received and it's cleared in in the back. Then and only then do I forward them their copy.

By providing them with a signed copy before payment, you've basically committed yourself to the agreement before you're paid....or am I missing something?.

There seems to be a lot of people that do it the way you've described, maybe my thinking on this is wrong?.

Essentially, clause 7 of my Terms and Coditions reads "The Deposit of ----- is payable upon entering into this Agreement. The Engagement is not deemed to be confirmed until the Deposit is received by the Artiste". Then in the main body of the agreement under the Deposit Payable Heading, is a reference to Clause 7.

This means, although they have entered into an agreement with me, confirmation of the engagment itself is conditional on receipt of a deposit. Terms like 'the Artiste' are fairly common in entertainment contracts, though I always feel a bit pretentious

[Ace DJ]

The correct way round is.
You send them a copy of the agreement with your T&C's printed on the reverse side.
At the bottom of the agreement where it is to be signed you have a paragraph stating:
'' The booking as set out above is subject to the Terms and Conditions as printed overleaf. These form part of this agreement. By signing you are agreeing to be bound by them. On our receipt of this signed agreement
and the advance payment a copy will be sent to you for your records.''
Never send a signed agreement before you have the advance payment and the clients signed copy.

If you use any wording such as ''Artiste'' or whatever to name yourself that word must be use throughout your agreement and T&C's otherwise your agreement will be void. Because who is ''The Artiste''
It is much better to use the phrase at the begining ''Joe Bloggs Disco'' hereafter named as the ''Artiste.''

This has been said many time on here and other forums do not use the word ''Deposit'' Use ''Advance payment'' instead. Because you can get into a lot of legal wrangling using ''Deposits''

[music-2-play]

The correct way round is.
You send them a copy of the agreement with your T&C's printed on the reverse side.
At the bottom of the agreement where it is to be signed you have a paragraph stating:
'' The booking as set out above is subject to the Terms and Conditions as printed overleaf. These form part of this agreement. By signing you are agreeing to be bound by them. On our receipt of this signed agreement
and the advance payment a copy will be sent to you for your records.''
Never send a signed agreement before you have the advance payment and the clients signed copy.

If you use any wording such as ''Artiste'' or whatever to name yourself that word must be use throughout your agreement and T&C's otherwise your agreement will be void. Because who is ''The Artiste''
It is much better to use the phrase at the begining ''Joe Bloggs Disco'' hereafter named as the ''Artiste.''

This has been said many time on here and other forums do not use the word ''Deposit'' Use ''Advance payment'' instead. Because you can get into a lot of legal wrangling using ''Deposits''

Yep, I define the term at the start of the agreemenrt and then use "the Artiste" througout --- likewise with "the Client". This saves a lot redrafting.

I define 'Deposit' sufficiently well in the agreement to avoid any ambiguity, defining it as an advance payment. The exact wording is:

Total Payment Due:

A total of ______ , inclusive of all taxes is payable. ___ of this is payable by the Client immediately as an Advanced Payment (the ‘Deposit’ - see clause 6 below). The Client shall pay the outstanding balance of £220.00 to the Artiste on the Event Date, upon arrival of the Artiste at the Venue.

At the end, where the client signs, is a declararion 'I, the undersigned, being over the age of 18, have read and understood the above Terms and Conditions and agree to abide by them.

[music-2-play]

I tried to condense my contract to 2 pages, which is understandable for a client and is as watertight and fair as possible. I know what a court will look for in a contract in order for it to be enforceable.

If you want to make a longer more complex contract, you'd have a separate section in the agreement with a heading called "Condition Precedent" (these are things that must happen in order for the contract to..umm..become a contract. In here, you would have a clause that states that the agreement shall not come into effect until the Advance Payment/Deposit is recieved.

It's fairly common practice (at least with the two agents I've worked for), to be sent two copies of an agreement already signed by the agent. I sign both copies, keep one, then return the other. There's no reason this practice need be any different with a company/client contract, as long as the contract is worded correctly.

If you have a Condition Precedent, or wording to that effect (as I have), there is absolutely no harm in signing two copies and sending them to your client. They return one, with the deposit (voila..agreement made)... They don't get the deposit to you (agreement not made) and you have no obligation to perform or reserve the booking.

This approach saves you extra postage and fax costs, plus seeing your signature already on a contract puts the client's mind at rest immediately that you are bona fide. That signature means "NOTHING", unless you have recieved the required Advance Payment/Deposit.

[CRAZY K]

Yeah, this is probably the most common approach. Sign both copies yourself, send both to client and get them to return one signed.

Remember, the contract (on paper) is really just a confirmation of an oral contract you have already agreed. So, when you write out the contract, at the head of the paper state

"An agreement is made on this date ---- (whatever date a client confirmed they would like to book for the price you quoted)

and then put down the terms of the agreement below (timings, latests arrival time, fee, date, venue etc)

Make sure you draw their attention to the terms and conditions, especially if they're on a separate page. A customer must be given adequate notice of T&Cs for them to be enforceable, even if they choose to ignore and not read them.

I would say an alternative approach ( which I copied off a Hire Agreement many years ago) is to say at the top of the page--

CONTRACT FOR HIRE OF SERVICES

I agree to hire the undernoted Services on the terms and conditions as shown below-

List all relevant info date, place, hirers name, fee etc including your T and Cs and have a signature at the end of both Parties.

Hirer retains one copy and sends the other back signed.

Its worked ok for 25 years including collecting fees for several cancelled gigs

CRAZY K

[music-2-play]

I would say an alternative approach ( which I copied off a Hire Agreement many years ago) is to say at the top of the page--

CONTRACT FOR HIRE OF SERVICES

I agree to hire the undernoted Services on the terms and conditions as shown below-

List all relevant info date, place, hirers name, fee etc including your T and Cs and have a signature at the end of both Parties.

Hirer retains one copy and sends the other back signed.

Its worked ok for 25 years including collecting fees for several cancelled gigs

CRAZY K

Yep, for sure, the good thing about a contract, is as long as a piece of paper shows:

-what the client has to do (i.e. pay you, etc)
- when the client has to do it
- what the dj has to do and where and when they have to do it.
- and that both the client and dj agree to everything on the piece of paper

...then it will be a contract.

It doesn't matter really how its phrased or how the written contract is structured, as long as a judge would look at it and think 'well, this looks pretty clear...'

The main requirement of a contract are:

Consideration (money or money's worth)

Offer and Acceptance (have both parties signed?, or even agreed orally...a court can impute acceptance from an action. So for example, if they send you a deposit, but forget to sign the contract, they would probably still be bound)

Intention to enter into legal relations

----

You don't even need a physical document, but evidentiary reasons, it would obviously be desirable to have some form of contract.

[CRAZY K]

You don't even need a physical document, but evidentiary reasons, it would obviously be desirable to have some form of contract.

This is the problem wIth technical issues--you need some focus on the
really important issues.

LIKE GETTING PAID YOUR MONEY



CRAZY K