Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ames!mailrus!cornell!uw-beaver!ssc-vax!wanttaja
From: wanttaja@ssc-vax.UUCP (Ronald J Wanttaja)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm
Subject: Re: Utilities Unlimited Inc.
Summary: Experience with another company...
Keywords: Companies, Fraud?, software, distributor, submissions
Message-ID: <2237@ssc-vax.UUCP>
Date: 19 Sep 88 06:58:53 GMT
References: <814@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US>
Organization: Boeing Aerospace Corp., Seattle WA
Lines: 113

In article <814@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US>, scottc@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US (Scott Craig) writes:
> Has anyone ever heard of "Utilites Unlimited Inc."?
> Let me help you. They advertise a lot in RUN magazine.
> 
> Their office hours are only 10am - 4pm weekdays.
> But I've always had trouble reaching the right people to talk to

I sold a program to another company, Academy Software, a few years ago.  Of
course, things have changed quite a bit in the market since then.  At
first, either of the two main guys would be there anytime I called.  As
the software market got soft, it seemed like one guy went out and found a
job somewhere...

> ... I had taken precautions such as
> sending myself the program with documentation by registered mail to myself
> before sending them any copies. I would send it to them certified mail with
> receipt even. 

Good precaution... looks like you've done all you could.  You might
consider filing an official copyright on it, but legally you're already
protected by taking steps to prove ownership.  The copyright process only
costs $10, though, so you might go ahead and do it.  Call your local
Federal Information phone number.

> I was then promised a check. Before I sent it I asked:
> 
> "Once you receive this and you like it, when will I get my check?"
> 
> A: "I see no reason why not right away after that."

To quote Hollywood mogul Darryl F. Zanuck, "A verbal contract isn't worth
the paper it's printed on."

> 2) A contract was made up on their terms, which I typed with a few basic
>    things, ich I signed and sent to them. I never got a copy with their
>    signatures on it.

Then you don't *have* a contract.  When Academy sent me a contract, they'd
already signed it.  If I had decided to add some clauses, it would have
been necessary for both parties to initial the clauses for them to become
legal and valid.

> 3) This deal was made for $1400 to be sent to me. $1400 is nothing.

I am slightly confused.  Was the agreement to sell the program outright for
$1400, or was the $1400 an advance against royalties?  For the C64/128
market these days, $1400 is probably a pretty good payoff for a freelance
utilities-type program.  In fact, they may have decided that $1400 was too
much.

If it were considered an advance against royalties, the final contract
probably would have had a clause requiring you to pay back the unearned
portion of the advance.

In any case, they promised to send you $1400 and didn't...

> 4) They were going to sell the program for about $15 in a package with
>    some others once it was out. The previous copy of a simliar program
>    sold about 4 yrs ago was done in BASIC, never compiled, short, hardly
>    any options and sold for $29.95 for a long time. Claimed to make around
>    $30,000+ on it. I don't remember specifics on that.
>    I was only getting $1400!

My initial royalty agreement with Academy Software was for 15% of the "out
the door" price... in other words, if they sold it direct to a customer for
$30, I got $4.50; if they sold it to Toys-R-Us for $15, I got $2.25.
Later, when the market went soft, I volunteered to drop my royalty to 10%.

I never felt "stiffed" by 15%.  That was the going rate at the time, as I
had offers from 10-15%.  What did they do with their 85%?  They put
together a *very* nice package, advertised in all the magazines, and used
they contacts with the major distributors to get my program picked up.  One
guy gave me a hard time, a few years back... he was trying to do it all
himself.  I used to see his program at one local computer store, where he
hand-delivered disks in baggies with xeroxed copies of dot-matrix
documention.  Then I'd go to Toys-R-Us, where they had a BBIIIGGGGG poster
advertising my program.  All I had to do was collect royalty checks

All right... say they made $30,000 on the combining of your program and
another on one disk.  10% is $3,000, of which you'd get half: $1,500.  *If*
the program sold that well, their quoted $1,400 is quite reasonable.  But
in this day and age, I doubt if any "hole in the wall" software house could
do that good, expecially on a utility.  As they say, "It sounds too good to
be true..."

> 5) They don't even have an 80 col monitor to test the program in 80 col
>    mode

80 Column monitor?  I get along quite well with my trusty 1702.

>   Why can they still advertise Program Submissions wanted if they can't
> afford to buy?

Advertising, typically, is sold many months in advance.

Take a look at it from their point of view.  Here's this guy nice enough to
send them an excellent program.  If they sell it without compensating you,
it's up to you to hire a lawyer and take then to court.  If Academy had
screwed me, there would have been very little I could have afforded to do.

The only other thing you might have done is ask for references from the
other folks whose software they market.  Talking to those guys directly
might have given some indications, but when a company is in trouble, all
sorts of stuff can happen.  Heck, Academy gave my name to a couple of folks
a couple of years ago.  They called and I said all sorts of nice things
about Academy.  Then the market fell through... I doubt if they sold very
many copies, because five programs of that time hit the market at the same
time.  Gee, I hope they don't blame me... :-)

Anyway, you don't have a legal contract with those clowns.  Tell them to
pay up, or you'll go somewhere else.  Then do so.

				       Ron Wanttaja
				       (ssc-vax!wanttaja)