Draft llepard to Union Leader

[Galileo Galilei]

I am contemplating sending this letter.

I haDRAFT


Dear Sirs and Madams:

My representative, Linda Lagana contracted verbally with your representative, xxxxxxx, to run an advertisement supporting Ron Paul in your newspaper today, Sunday, December 30, 2007. Payment was made in full in advance. My representative received several verbal assurances that the ad would run.

However, the ad did not run. I do not know why. Perhaps it was an honest mistake, but I cannot help but wonder if you would have made an honest mistake if the ad was for John McCain who you have endorsed. Either way, I expect to be compensated for this contractual breech on your part.

The value of the publicity on this day is literally irreplacable. We will never catch the NH voter on a better day than today was.

Your decision is very simple. You can choose either of the two following paths.

1. You run the ad every day between now and the NH primary at no cost to me and insert the following text above the advertisement. "The Union Leader is running this advertisement for free because we made a mistake and did not run it as promised on 12/30/2007".

or

2. I will purchase a page in your paper every day between now and the primary and run the ad at my expense. Furthermore, I will file suit against you for breach of contract and the damages figure will be huge. I will then depose every single one of your employees and make them testify under oath as to whether or not they received any instructions to not run the adv. I may find nothing, but who knows. I may find something. But be sure of this, I will do this.

I hope you will choose to make the right decision and try to correct the greivous wrong. If not I will be prepared to meet you face to face in court.

Sincerely,

Lawrence W. Lepard


Ive not sent it yet. Paying for the ads will be tough.

Thoughts?

I would call the sales rep first and ask them what happened. They might offer you next Sunday, but one extra bonus day. That would be a lot easier than going through the legal hassles and maybe better for RP as well.

Your NYT essay was great, my parents read it last night as we got together for dinner. Please keep up the great work.

 

[jenninlouisiana]

Don't send it.

Let first contact be by your attorney.

 

[UtahApocalypse]

As of now we now believe it will run tomorrow for starters. But, this is just the beginning.

What?!?! Please don't tell me you are settling for a much lesser day.

 

[emilysdad]

What would Ron do?

 

[Mark]

What?!?! Please don't tell me you are settling for a much lesser day.

He said this is just the beginning.

Unfortunately we can't turn the clock back, moving forward towards the most equitable solution is our only choice.

Perhaps as well, we can also milk this for additional media exposure beyond the initial proposed impact.

 

[Mark]

What would Ron do?

Triumph over adversity.

 

[me3]

Triumph over adversity.

Beautiful. Thank you!

 

[max]

larry,

If they claim that no date was promised to you, you may also want to add that all of us here on the forum can attest to the fact that you indeed told us it was supposed to run today..

Go after these sons of bitches hard and contact local media ....there's no easy way around the battle that we will be facing

 

[Thanehand]

Contracted verbally? Really? Verbally?

That's a shame. You should have gotten the terms and conditions in writing.

Yes, ALWAYS get a copy of the insertion order for advertisements! Insertion orders are basically the receipt that the media buyer gets when they place an order to insert an advertisement. It contains dates of the run and the cost for each.

 

[Suzu]

I am having a hard time believing this is even being discussed on a public message board where the whole world - including staff of the Union Leader - can read it at will!

 

[Mark]

I am having a hard time believing this is even being discussed on a public message board where the whole world - including staff of the Union Leader - can read it at will!

Maybe it'll give the paper the chance to think hard about their response before they respond too lightly.

They need to know we mean business. They all do.

 

[dt_]

You misspelled "breach" toward the start of the letter.. I don't know if someone else mentioned this yet

 

[colecrowe]

QFT

Four Words.

Consult. An. Attorney. FIRST.

But if you don't want to do that, or don't have time....try this letter instead:

-----

Sir:

My representative, Linda Lagana, entered into a verbal contract with your representative, xxxxxxx, for an advertisement in your newspaper to be run Sunday, December 30, 2007.

Payment was made in full, in advance.

My representative received multiple verbal assurances that the ad would run.

The ad did not run.

The date for publication was essential, and of irreplaceable value.

As compensation for this contractual breech on your part, I propose the following:

The ad runs daily between now and the NH primary - at no cost to me.

Time is of the essence. Contact me prior to 3pm eastern 12/31/07 at:

Regards,

Lawrence W. Lepard
----

That gives you the time to contact an attorney to handle it for you. It also gives them a heads up that you mean business (phrases like breech of contract.)

It leaves you some negotiation room - by saying that you want the ad to run daily at no cost, they might offer to run it daily for what today's ad would have cost. Or maybe they run it 4 times for free. Gives both sides some options. The key is to get that ad in front of as many eyeballs as possible, and their circulation numbers for weekdays compared to Sundays is where you have the upper hand. Don't let them shit you out of Sunday.
If they do not contact you by 3pm, have your attorney contact them at 3:20pm.

That's my best suggestion.

 

[colecrowe]

I am having a hard time believing this is even being discussed on a public message board where the whole world - including staff of the Union Leader - can read it at will!

Hot Topics please

 

[Lord Xar]

Lawrence,

DID your other ads work out okay?

have you received feedback on any of them?

(maybe the third time is a charm )

 

[Thor]

I would explain WHY this last Sunday was so important to show the value of why you specifically picked that day (as you stated in another thread, holidays, families at home to discuss, etc) and how the other days do not compare, even next Sunday.

But I would not send that letter right now or you will shut down that advertising channel for good, and it could help RP a good deal. .

I would be nice and see what they offer after you explain the value (a Monday run will not have the same circulation first off, not to mention the value of the holidays) and see what happens.

Consult an attorney if they do not offer you something to make up for their mistake you feel is equal.

2 cents....

 

[driller80545]

Send it , Llepard, and start a chip in to help you pay for the ads, I will gladly contribute. What an outrage.

I will support this with my donation!

 

[vinwal]

I will help support this

 

[AceNZ]

I've been through similar situations several times (as a plaintiff; I'm not a lawyer). If you sue, the paper will likely refund what you paid for the ad and have the suit dismissed before you have a chance to depose anyone. If you manage to get past that point, the judge will almost certainly react more favorably to your position if you can show concrete proof that you tried to resolve the situation amicably.

I disagree with what several others have suggested about having the letter sent by an attorney. This is a common, everyday business dispute. There's really no reason to involve an attorney at this stage. In fact, doing so could easily backfire and result in the paper refusing to run the ad at all.

If it was my ad and my money, I would send the letter below by FAX, possibly with a copy by email.

Good luck!



Dear Sirs and Madams:

On Dec XX, 2007, my representative, Linda Lagana, spoke with xxx, who verbally agreed to run a full-page ad in the Union Leader today, Sunday, Dec 30, 2007. In response to that agreement, I made full payment in advance, by check, which was delivered by XXX {FedEx or whatever} on Dec XX and signed for by XXX. Ms. Lagana received several verbal assurances from XXX as late as Dec XX that the ad would run as planned.

To my considerable surprise, the ad did not run today as agreed. Equally disturbing is that fact that I was not notified in advance, nor was I given any opportunity to respond to whatever the reasons may have been. The ad is extremely time-sensitive, and unfortunately no other day will have the same impact as today would have had, particularly since the ad's effect would have been multiplied by the fact that it also ran in many other newspapers in NH today.

To compensate for the difference in circulation, exposure and timing, I would like to request that the ad run for the next five days, for the same price that was previously quoted to me for running it today.

Please get back to me at the phone number below by 5:00pm ET today to let me know if this is acceptable.

Sincerely,

 

[pikerz]

The value of the ad isnt limited to what you paid for it. The value is limited to the damages caused by the breach of contract.

That is less apparent in smaller, more common cases. But outcomes have a tendency to change as the dollar values go up. Also, any case is only as good as the lawyer you hire.