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[Poll] Can a supplier terminate a service contract because of a negative customer review?
As you may know, this is a continuation of a negative incident that occurred in this community. Let’s stop debating and cast our votes to see whether this is truly a buyer’s market or a seller’s market.
Regardless of whether the supplier has signed an unconditional termination clause in advance with customer or whether the customer has done something unforgivable to the supplier, is the supplier actually allowed to do this? 
Thanked by 1dedipromo
For buyer or seller
- Can a supplier terminate a service contract because of a negative customer review?122 votes
- Yes49.18%
- No50.82%
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I also posted the same poll on the Chinese "MJJ" community. If you're interested in seeing the reactions there: https://www.nodeseek.com/post-688535-1
Yes, a seller can do this at any time or with no reason
If you are not happy with them, as a customer, why would you stay or trust them further?
Am I blind or is there no way to see voting results without voting?
Is this the MXRoute drama again?
It will depend on the country in question but I guess in most countries there will be some kind of legislation to regulate contract termination clauses, even if the contract does not have them, they are implied.
Relax, let me give you a spoiler (at now): https://fs.to/tFNk
customer can choose supplier they want but also supplier can choose customer they want
about customer loss/ refund / etc because termination can be communicated before
make sure to follow TOS and AUP from supplier
Not exactly. I think the original argument of this farce is meaningful to the community.
My opinion: If suppliers have such terms in their contracts (including unconditional contract termination), they can certainly do so.
In the Chinese community, we have a term "oneman" to refer to suppliers like MXroute, where one individual holds all the decision-making power for the company's business. Their thoughts and actions determine everything about the brand and the company. Therefore, choosing such a supplier essentially means evaluating the character, behavior, and technical capabilities of a particular individual.
It's more complicated than that. Generally speaking, no. However, if the feedback is retaliatory, yes. It's not all black and white so can't be adequately answered as it's a bias question.
Most of the time, there is no third party to evaluate preferences; even if everyone considers the review to be neutral, ultimately it is someone from the supplier’s side who makes the final decision.
I wonder why immediate termination is not distinguished from a delayed one to let the paid term to expire?
My point exactly. In the low-end market especially, people use 'reviews' to strongarm their supplier frequently. We don't objectively know the whole story usually so the point of a poll like this is moot.
This poll is essentially a survey of community members’ attitudes toward such incidents. supplier come here because this is where their potential customers are, and it also allows them to gain insight into the community’s dynamics. You’ll also notice that the Chinese MJJ forum differs from LowEndTalk in the way: https://fs.to/srWH
mostly because you have paid for 1 year or have a running contract with them ?
Yeah, these two cases are wildly different. Also whether immediate termination is with refund or not and do they give a few days to backup any data.
That would explain why most MJJ who come to LET to complain about a provider are perceived by many LET users, me included, as completely delusional and unrealistic in their expectations.
However, this also relates to the service terms regarding "whether reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the customer is aware", and when the service terms specify that changes may be made without notice, there is effectively no difference.
"Can" or "should"? Your question is ambiguous because there are two possible interpretations. I voted no because I don't think it's acceptable. Can they do it legally? Well, depends on their ToS and their (and your) jurisdiction.
"Can". This is because, in most cases, "lowend" customers actively choose suppliers but passively accept the terms.
Edit: It really depends on the terms of service. If you have to take legal action, the costs will be disproportionate, and most suppliers take advantage of this. And the most most that customers can do do and are economically acceptable only is to leave more "negative reviews".
The supplier can do what he wants but that does not mean it's legal. It would depend on the country of the supplier and the country of the customer.
For EU the supplier can do it if there's a material breach of the contract, meaning something like deliberate false statements. If it's an honest review or opinion it's not legal for the supplier to terminate the contract no matter what the TOS says. Not just for the unlwful termination but the supplier would also be on the hook for GDPR violation.
I think either party should be able to choose to sever the relationship for any reason then tell us about it so I can decide which if any (or both) go on my avoid list.
It's an ongoing source of amusement for me the hosts that pop up here and show their ass apparently not realizing that the display is going to have impact on their sales.
I can IMMEDIATELY think of 3 just in the past several days.
edit: voting is theater, unless it's about cheese consumption.
edit: bad context :P
Disagree though. Small claims court tribunals in various countries doesn't cost much. People don't pursue due to lack of awareness or lack of time.
Yes, that's correct. People have to weigh the costs in terms of time and money, and since most suppliers are overseas companies, this results in higher costs.
doesnt makes sense. hetzner/ovh/oracle and other decent provider will terminate your account for less, also without any explanations whatsoever. it's private business, your best effort is to bitch and moan in a lebanese slippers enthusiast forum when that happens.
As I said before in the other thread, if you post a review with the worse score possible, you are clearly not happy with the service. In that case, the provider cancelling the service and providing a full refund is the best possible outcome.
I can think of only a few edge cases:
That said, I think it makes sense that as a customer, if you leave a terrible review for a provider, especially if their ToS say they can terminate you for any reason, you should have packed your bags and worked out your exit plan in advance of kicking up a fuss. And of course, if the provider offers a full refund without needing to leave a bad review, then you shouldn't be leaving the worst-score review anyway IMHO, because you effectively got a free service that you didn't like.
Like many things in life, it boils down to not being a dick, and treating others how you'd like to be treated yourself. If you go out of your way to sabotage a provider's business, you have nothing much to complain about if they're a small company, your actions cause them to suffer consequences that affect them personally, and they choose to react back.
Well, I look at it like this, since you referenced it. We're only just past that while MX shit show, no need to stir it up again with a pointless survey. There's just no point.
Just my 2c.
I don't mind this, as long as a proper and fair refund is provided (and a few days to backup, though it's not as important in my use cases). Some providers even go above and beyond, and refund the entire paid term (e.g. year), even if it's some months into the year already. More than OK if latter is the case.
Yes, but you can't just boot a VPS customer out.
You can terminate contract one-sidedly, but you are a seller, so you must refund and ensure that customer can leave with his data if he's no longer welcome.
Common sense applies.
If you just boot him off and keep the money and his data, you lose trust as a provider. Otherwise other customers would think when its gonna happen to them next and not risk it and move away from your services.