Contracts - Does a photo or Scan Count?

[Clive McLaughlin]

As title says - does it need to be printed and posted? Does a scan or photograph of the signed contract hold up??

[Steve Bleasdale]

Yes it does Clive, you have sent the form they have scanned it and signed so therefore it is binding.

[Clive McLaughlin]

That's all I needed to know! Thanks!

[Roger Gunkel]

There are a number of companies offering online signing facilities, where you can use PDFs of your own contracts which are emailed to your customer, then digitally completed and signed by both parties.
Here is a link to one https://www.cudasign.com

I am seriously considering changing over to this format in view of the ease of use and freedom from Royal Snail Mail.

Roger

[Steve Bleasdale]

That looks good roger, is it only $1 per month or is it a con?

[Roger Gunkel]

Originally Posted by Steve Bleasdale

That looks good roger, is it only $1 per month or is it a con?

That's a good question Steve!

I've used SignEasy a few times and that seems to work well, so having read some good reviews on CudaSign, I downloaded the trial programme on the iPad last night. The first thing I found was that when I tried to access a Word document the programme tried to convert it to a PDF and failed with an error message, although SignEasy had no problem with it. After a couple more tries I tried loading a PDF version of one of my contracts. It loaded fine into CudaSign and I was able to set text entry boxes for potential clients to fill in. I then emailed it to my wife on her email address and to myself on a rarely used address.

This is where the problems started :-( I immediately received a confirmation that my contracts had been sent to both addresses and were awaiting signing, however neither were actually delivered to the email addresses. I tried again with the same result, then this morning went on their 'Live Chat support'. After entering my details to tie in with my registration, I posted a question. A message came up saying that an operator would reply shortly, please be patient. 25 minutes later, with no response I gave up.

I tried again a few hours later, this time I posted my question and after the same 'be patient' message, I waited 12 minutes before a message appeared telling me that 'as the chat had been idle for 12 minutes it was now closed, but I could leave a message'. I did, a very blunt one!! I also posted a review in the App Store, but that has also failed to appear so far.

Whether it is a con or not I don't know, but there are a big number of favourable reviews for the earlier version and nothing negative online. Perhaps I am just unlucky as it would be a great product if it worked.

Roger

[Roger Gunkel]

OK, a new development, we received both emails after about 5 hours, but there were no contracts visible and nowhere obvious to click on. We eventually found that we could click near the CudaSIgn logo, but that took us straight to their website to download the app.

I would assume from that, that potential clients would also need to be subscribers which is a pain. I frequently have echosign contracts sent to me which I don't have to be subscribed to before signing, but it a comparatively expensive service. In the absence of any communication with CudaSign support, it looks like back to the drawing board.

Roger

[Darren Levine]

i've been using echosign by adobe on pdfs. haven't had a complaint yet

[Roger Gunkel]

Echosign works well, but the trouble is it is very expensive for occasional one man band contract exchanges.

Roger

[Steve Bleasdale]

Roger yes i fear a scam somewhere with the site, i to went through live chat waiting there for 30 minutes to no avail!! Surely this day and age we can just send a form via mail and get it signed with out costing a fortune.
I attach all documents via mail they scan and sign and send mail back or post back to me but it sure looks easy signing on line and getting that email back straight away. Steve

[Roger Gunkel]

Steve I've been doing the same thing as you, which is scanning and attaching a contract to an email, then getting them to either post it back or re-scan and email back. Trouble is they need to be able to print attachments as a minimum, and a scanner if possible, which is simple to me, but some clients just haven't got the skills to do it.

I'm trying a few other of these types of apps, as it would be so simple and immediate to Esign a contract. Most of the apps seem to offer a few free trial signings, then you have to buy the pro version which is great if you are regularly sending dozens of contracts but seems to be expensive for comparatively small numbers of weddings.

Roger

[Paul Mailath]

I use Shootq which has online contracts, the bride simply types her name and it records the IP address.

"Electronic contracts and electronic signatures are just as legal and enforceable as traditional paper contracts signed in ink. Federal legislation enacted in 2000, known as the Electronic Signatures in Global and International Commerce act (ESGICA), removed the uncertainty that previously plagued e-contracts.
This 2000 e-signature law made electronic contracts and signatures as legally valid as paper contracts, which was great news for companies that conduct business online, particularly companies that provide financial, insurance, and household services to consumers."

I'm in Australia and got an opinion before I went electronic but it certainly makes things easier