[Naderfan]

Sorry if the title sounds dramatic...I really couldn't think of anything else short and to the point.

Anyway, a friend of mine from Minnesota has just moved to Japan for a year as part of this English teacher program where they have a bunch of college students/recent grads go to Japan and teach English to Japanese elementary students or something close to that. He doesn't speak much Japanese, though he's trying hard to learn, and very few of the teachers speak English and those that do, don't speak well. I recently got a panicky email from him dealing with the phone company he signed up with. Here's what it said:

"Dear friends,

This week has been the worst of my life to date. On Thursday morning I
looked at my bank account online & noticed that 50 dollars was gone from my
available funds column. When I looked at it the international phone company with whom I had recently signed had authorized 50 dollars. I was shocked. First of all, I assumed that this was a charge because in my experience this had always been a prelude to a charge. The company explicitly stated that there were no startup/hidden fees.

Unfortunately my supervisor, the other English teacher, and the other
teachers who spoke English were all away for the day. I could not use the phone to contact the company from school because no personal phone calls are allowed. I then emailed the company demanding a refund & emailed a bunch of JETs explaining that I had been charged & that they should contact me if they had any information & they should watch out for this company.

Later that day I received a phone call from the President of the
company explaining that they authorize 50 dollars from peoples’ accounts to
make sure they have sufficient funds, but they do not charge them. He then told me that he wanted me to delete the yahoogroups postings that I had made. The next morning I did that & I emailed everyone explaining the situation & apologizing. Last night he called me again & told me that they are possibly going to take legal action against me because some people dropped their service because of me. Only if I met several conditions including getting people to sign up for the service, would I avoid legal troubles (both in Japan & in the US).

At this point I’m very nervous still about what the future may hold. I
would appreciate all of the prayers I can get, and if anyone knows anyone in
Japan looking for an international phone service let me know.

The ironic thing is that I received my activation packet yesterday
afternoon so that I could call home & tell my parents I might be getting sued by the company that is making it possible for me to talk to them."


Now, I don't know much about these kinds of things, especially international business law, but this doesn't sound right. Basically, they're threatening to sue him if he doesn't advertise for them. Do they really have a case or are they bluffing? I really don't see anything wrong in what he did. Anyone ever heard of anything like this or have any advice that I could pass on?

[Luca]

Well, I know nothing about Japanese law. If this were the USA, then the company could try to nail him with slander charges, but it's extremely hard for those arguments to hold water. They'd have to determine that he intentionally and knowingly lied about the company for the purpose of harming the company. As I said, libel and slander charges rarely result in convictions in the US because not only do all of the above criteria have to be true, but there has to be proof for each. But in many countries, it's much easier to convict someone of libel or slander.

If he was in the US, he shouldn't worry. But since he's in Japan, someone had better start doing some research into Japanese law.

[Naderfan]

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. But I don't know anything about Japanese law, so who knows. I just feel bad for him. Sucks to be in a new country (he's been there for about three weeks) and then can slammed with threats of legal action.

[Maciej]

I'm sure hes doing this already, but I would suggest finding a Japanese American lawyer.

[curiousuburb]

And if it's not obvious by now, take a pill before going off half-cocked and posting slander online.
Doubly so if you're then going to email the company and point it out for them.

[Naderfan]

I suppose, but if a company had suddenly taken $50 out of my account without warning, I'd be a little upset as well. But yeah. This guy is a bit hyperactive. Still...not really slander so much as a "what the hell is going on, has this happened to anyone else."

[Maciej]

Actually, depending on what he said, isn't that what sites like those are for. Reviewing companies? In my opinion taking out money like that without notifying, they got what they deserved.

[_Ω_]

Personally I would tell the company to shove it.

Let them prove people left specifically because of the posting on the internet or from your friend making a negative comment about the firm.

I personally would not be losing any sleep about it, though your friend might need to new carrier!!

[curiousuburb]

Now, I might give the bank a serious talk about withdrawals from this company in future.
I'd certainly put a stop payment on any transaction to them before I told them to shove it.

If the fine print said they were permitted to do it and he just didn't read what he signed, no sympathy. Even if it were only written in Japanese... get a friend to help read it or ask questions.
Due diligence and all that. Still sounds like bully tactics, though.

[Barto]

If the guy isn't leaving anything out of his story (big 'if'), it's a bluff. No legitimate business would do something like this.

[LoCash]

For what it's worth, blackmail like this in asian countries such as Taiwan and South Korea are quite common. In fact, if you do some research by reading sites that explain in depth the whole teaching abroad in asia thing, they actually go over a number of these scams with potential teachers. This scenario sounds particularly similar to one on a site about Taiwan that I was reading.

[Moogs]

Sounds like a scam to me and a non-legitimate company. If you go with a big-name Japanese company usually they are very formal and to the letter about such things AFAIK. Tell this guy to have his bank deny any transactions being requested from this company, cancel his service and if they threaten again (they know he's "gaijin" so they're probably trying to scare him into not saying anything because they figure he doesn't know what his rights are), call their bluff and tell them he has already contacted a lawyer who is looking into their company and hang up.