Russian man outwits bank with hand-written credit contract.

This is brilliant!

A Russian man who decided to write his own small print in a credit card contract has had his changes upheld in court. He's now suing the country's leading online bank for more than 24 million rubles ($727,000) in compensation.

Dmitry Agarkov did'nt like the look of the terms of the unsolicited offer for a credit card so decided to handwrite his own.

The trick was that Agarkov simply scanned the bank’s document and ‘amended’ the small print with his own terms. He opted for a 0 percent interest rate and no fees, adding that the customer "is not obliged to pay any fees and charges imposed by bank tariffs." The bank, however, didn’t read ‘the amendments’, as it signed and certified the document, as well as sent the man a credit card. Under the agreement, the bank OK'd to provide unlimited credit, according to Agarkov’s lawyer Dmitry Mikhalevich talking to Kommersant daily. "The opened credit line was unlimited. He could afford to buy an island somewhere in Malaysia, and the bank would have to pay for it by law," Mikhalevich added. Agarkov also changed the URL of the site where the terms and conditions were published and hedged against the bank’s breaking of the agreement. For each unilateral change in the terms provided in the agreement, the bank would be asked to pay the customer (Agarkov) 3 million rubles ($91,000), or a cancelation fee of 6 million rubles ($182,000).
However, after two years of active use, the bank decided to terminate Agarkov's credit card because of overdue payments. In 2012, the bank sued Agarkov for 45,000 rubles ($1,363) - an amount that included the remaining balance, fees, and late payment charges, which violated the actual agreement. The court decided that the agreement Agarkov crafted was valid, and required him to settle only his balance of 19,000 rubles ($575).

Despite the victory, Agarkov decided to sue Tinkoff Credit Systems for fines of 24 million rubles ($727,000) for not honoring the terms of the agreement, and the decision to terminate the contract without paying 6 million rubles ($182,000) fee.

The next hearing will be in September.

well fairplay to him!

Link

That is awesome! Wish I would have thought of that.

In Russia... bank pays you!

I am so going to try this!

Excellent find!

Originally posted by Lady_Tuatha
This is brilliant!

What else is there to add, I got a good laugh, thanks!

Originally posted by tvtexan
I am so going to try this!

If it works, send me a cowboy hat!

Nice way to outwit those Bankers who think they have us by the balls. If only more people would do this, only problem is that someone at the bank has to issue you that card with a signature of the agreement, otherwise its just useless. Luckily for him they didnt read that part of his draft. Lol

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha




I thought I was the only one shady enough to change the conditions of a contract.

It is something I do fairly regularly. Typically companies send me contracts for certain things.

What is so funny is that after the conditions are changed and I send them back, they never bother to even review it. They usually just sign it and send me back a notarized copy.

I haven't done this to any banks, however, after seeing this it might be worth a try.

Turn about is fair play.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


In other news.
A Russian man recently in the news is currently in the hospital for acute radiation poisoning.
It seems that he somehow accidentally ingested polonium-210.

Good luck to that guy.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


I would love to know if someone here is able to do this.

reply to post by macman


All you really need is a good scanner.

The text can be manipulated and pasted back into a word document.

Originally posted by grey580
reply to post by Lady_Tuatha

 

In other news.
A Russian man recently in the news is currently in the hospital for acute radiation poisoning.
It seems that he somehow accidentally ingested polonium-210.

Good luck to that guy.

After all the lawsuit is against the Banking Cartel.

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum
reply to post by macman

 

All you really need is a good scanner.
The text can be manipulated and pasted back into a word document.

But wouldn't violating or manipulating any part of the agreement against the rules of the agreement? I guess they should verify before signing or agreeing to the terms.

yeah...I would get sent to jail for fraud if I tried that here in the states.

reply to post by hp1229


In the same way that they tell you to make sure you read the contract, they should follow their own advice.

The contracts I change are typically dollar figures or liability language.

If they don't read what they sign then the problem becomes theirs.

Originally posted by Thunderheart
yeah...I would get sent to jail for fraud if I tried that here in the states.

Why?

When two parties enter a contract, aren't both supposed to be responsible for the wording?

If the bank changes some fine print before your final signing that you overlooked, how is it fraud?

They generally wont, because they have a business to run.

I'm still giggling at the thought of some bank employee in a hurry to take a break... from rubber-stamping people half to death. I call those, and people like them, the sitters.



Look at the sitters, those buildings are tall.
They're calling it progress, it's nothing at all.
They push around paper, their assets are wide,
a higher class raper with laws on their side.

They govern our time, and our land, and our lives,
and our thoughts, and our dirt, not a damn grain of rice.
It shows in our faces, and cracks in our hands,
the less that we have, the more they demand.

Originally posted by Thunderheart
yeah...I would get sent to jail for fraud if I tried that here in the states.

How, if it is up to the other party to read and understand something - the same terms and conditions that they provide to you with every expectation that you will not read and simply sign a document - and they sign it, then there is no fraud comitted.

Surely? I'm no beagle however... And if it were me I'd be charged with defacing a legal document or something.

I dunno about it tho, using their tactics against them and then claiming success when it works, is to accept that it works both ways.

I'd rather it didn't work in this way at all.. Where a written legally binding document is used to unwittingly trick a second party.

Haha still, bloody good on him ! But yeah, he'll be sleeping with the plutonium any time now..

This is genius. Bravo to this guy for turning the game around on the Banksters. Big financial institutions have been doing this kind of thing to us little people for ages. It is refreshing to see the courts backing him up.

What's that old saying about geese and ganders?

Ingenuity at its best. Fair play to this guy getting one over on the banks, i hope he successfully sues those depraving bastards!

Originally posted by hp1229

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum
reply to post by macman

 

All you really need is a good scanner.
The text can be manipulated and pasted back into a word document.

But wouldn't violating or manipulating any part of the agreement against the rules of the agreement? I guess they should verify before signing or agreeing to the terms.

It IS changing their documentation but after all its in THEIR interests to write down WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO HAVE, not the other way around, NO BANK wants to actually help their customers they only want what they can get from them.
Fair do's to the guy for trying and YES the bank should have reread the paperwork after receiving it, it standard practice in the bank I worked for a few years ago.
But these days banks think they are always in the right and shouldn't need to waste time or resources that come out of their profits on checking paperwork out or for errors. All they want is your signature on the paperwork so they can screw you.
The case isn't going to go anywhere UNLESS the guys lawyer is good and if theres a jury to hear the case but I doubt it as the bank will insist on not having it heard before a jury, too many people are unhappy with the banks right now. So in my opinion the case will simply disappear.

I get what the guy was doing though, as banks can change the conditions of YOUR account at anytime they so wish and there's NOTHING you can do about it once you sign, you CAN however change the conditions BEFORE you sign, send the paperwork back unsigned by you and hope the bank honours your changes, but all they'll say is the paperwork has been altered.

Originally posted by hp1229

Originally posted by ShadellacZumbrum
reply to post by macman

 

All you really need is a good scanner.
The text can be manipulated and pasted back into a word document.

But wouldn't violating or manipulating any part of the agreement against the rules of the agreement? I guess they should verify before signing or agreeing to the terms.

I would think you'd have to sign the agreement to violate the agreement. And if you change the rules of the agreement before you sign, you can't violate your own rules can you?

The only thing I would say here I find curious, is that I though contract had to be initialed on any lines that were changed from original copies. By both parties.

If it holds up though, I'd say amazing. Curious about those convicts who get hauled off to jail and asked to sign contracts while they are admitted.

(Signing for your own incarceration? ...Yeah seriously, I've heard first hand people sign themselves into jail. How odd is that?)

*Section 9A Subsection B, This offender shall be granted full released and clemency of crime should he formally declare "Banana" to any administrator in corrections.

"Why does inmate 5600342 keep shouting banana at us??"

To me, anyone who works in an office, and cannot be bothered to do their job properly, is a 'seat warmer' I have met a few, job for life, fat pension, don't care, they make me sick!