Bank Fails to Read Customer's Fine Print, Gets Sued for Violating TOS
Tired of receiving unsolicited credit card offers from the bank, one man finally gave in and signed up — but not before drawing up his own contract and making the bank sign it.
Dmitry Agarkov of Voronezh in western Russia says he was displeased with the terms being offered by Tinkoff Credit Systems, the country's top online bank, so he decided to draft his own contract using a scan of the bank's documents as a template.
Per Agarkov's Terms of Service, the bank agrees to an open and unlimited credit line with a 0% interest rate.
Should the bank wish to make changes to the agreement, it would have to pay Agarkov $91,000 or else void the entire thing for a fee of $182,000.
For Agarkov's part, he was not obligated to pay any of the banks' fees or tariffs.
Failing to read the fine print, Tinkoff Credit Systems signed Agarkov's revised agreement, and he held on to the card for four years, until the bank came around last year to collect $1,363 in overdue charges, including fees and other penalties.
Agarkov subsequently took Tinkoff Group to court for violating the agreement and won.
The judge ruled that Agarkov was only liable for the account's remaining balance — or $575.
"They signed the documents without looking," Agarkov's attorney is quoted as saying. "They said what usually their borrowers say in court: 'We have not read it.'"
Not quite satisfied with the resolution, Agarkov took Tinkoff to court yet again, this time demanding $727,000 for violating the TOS and terminating the contract without paying the "agreed upon" fee.
Bank founder Oleg Tinkov did not take the tables being turned on his establishment very well, tweeting that he plans to have Agarkov charged with fraud.
"Now it's a matter of principle for @ tcsbank," Tinkov wrote.
