Warning: my coworker got stiffed on a $500 commission after a verbal deal fell apart

I saw a guy at my office in Austin lose out on a big bonus last month because his handshake agreement with a client wasn't written down. The client left for another vendor and my coworker had no proof of the deal. Has anyone else lost money from not getting things in writing?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo_mason10d ago

Respectfully I see this a little different. A handshake deal is still a deal as long as you can prove it existed. I've done plenty of jobs on a verbal agreement and never got burned because I sent a follow up email right after saying "hey just confirming what we talked about..." That creates a paper trail without being weird about it. Your coworker probably skipped that step. A verbal deal isn't the problem, it's not having any backup that's the problem.

phoenixb669d ago

That's EXACTLY the issue people don't get, it's not the handshake that matters it's the follow through. It's like how nobody sends a text after a party to say "got home safe" anymore, they just assume everything's fine and then wonder why things fall apart.