Not Really A PDF File?

[GrtArtiste]

A company I’ve been doing business with recently presented me with a 9-page document...via a web page...and requested that I date/sign it electronically in several places. I declined, and so our relationship has ended. Still, I thought it would be prudent to save the unsigned document for future reference. Supposedly, it was but I was not given the opportunity to download it nor could I copy/paste the text. Okay...I guess that was part of their intent. I also cannot go back to their web page to view it again.

The only thing I could think to do at that moment was to SAVE PAGE AS (Firefox) and I ended up with . The document does display as desired in a separate browser tab, but I still cannot copy/paste the text. I would be happy if I could print it, but I can’t do that either. The last one or two words in each line of the document are missing. Do I have any useful alternatives? I suppose I could transcribe it myself but I was hoping to not spend a lot of time getting this done.
Thanks for any assistance

 

[tshephard]

PDF does not always mean text at all.
Many old manuals are pdf pictures of pages folks scanned - similar?
If you can only highlight the page and not a word - picture!

 

[MoneyJohn]

Usually, all options are disabled until you sign. You get a download option AFTER you sign.

While I understand your hesitancy, this has become a norm nowadays. This has increased especially since the pandemic.

 

[Leo99]

My company uses DocuSign and I've used it several times for personal stuff to capture electronic signatures.

Was the reason to reject signing due to the nature of the document or the nature of the electronic signature capture?

 

[GrtArtiste]

Definitely due to the nature of the document. Perhaps I could understand if I was someone new to them, but I did business with them for almost 21 years. I didn't want the relationship to end like this. If this is the new norm they can have it...without me.

 

[paulri]

If I were in your shoes, I would try one of those "unclutter your webpage" addons. PrintFriendly is the one that I've used for a few years now, and I don't recall the last time it failed me. You can go to the printfriendly.com page, look for extensions, and install it for your browser. Click the green icon when you go to the page that you want to print up. It will then give you options to save as PDF to your computer, or just print it. This addon is great when you want to print up a webpage that has all types of clutter. You just click on each photo or add, and poof it disappears before printing or saving. But this addon will also work for your purpose, I believe.

 

[atikovi]

Definitely due to the nature of the document. Perhaps I could understand if I was someone new to them, but I did business with them for almost 21 years. I didn't want the relationship to end like this. If this is the new norm they can have it...without me.

What was the nature of the document you found so offensive that it caused you to terminate with them after 20 years?

 

[GrtArtiste]

Too many restrictive terms and conditions. Possible legal action against me if I violated these terms. Non-specific language about the remedies they would seek. Insistence on making these retroactive to the beginning of our relationship. Also a gag order..."don't say or do anything that would influence others in a negative way towards the company". Among other things.

 

[JC1]

Many companies doing a CYA move.

I'm wondering if the people/department that created the PDF file actually tested it to make sure it worked for different people on different platforms like windows/mac/phone etc.

Hopefully it was ok for you to move on and there is no major loss on your part. I recall after 9/11 having to get drug tested and background checked while working in Connecticut.

Welcome to the new world.

 

[atikovi]

The chances of having to enforce any of those terms are slim. Probably just something the legal department came up with on a slow day. Just try and read all the discloses they require you to sign when opening a new checking account. Not something I would worry about. Just because you sign, doesn't mean they can enforce.

 

[Hall]

Too many restrictive terms and conditions. Possible legal action against me if I violated these terms. Non-specific language about the remedies they would seek. Insistence on making these retroactive to the beginning of our relationship. Also a gag order..."don't say or do anything that would influence others in a negative way towards the company". Among other things.

You think they would provide you a different version if you visited them in person ?

 

[BeerCan]

The chances of having to enforce any of those terms are slim. Probably just something the legal department came up with on a slow day. Just try and read all the discloses they require you to sign when opening a new checking account. Not something I would worry about. Just because you sign, doesn't mean they can enforce.

They may not be able to enforce legally, but they can certainly try. If they try one would most likely have to hire a lawyer and that can get expensive. IMO OP did the right thing rejecting terms like that. Companies will keep doing that stuff as long as people continue to agree with it and have laissez faire attitude.

edit: laissez faire is probably not the right term but you get my drift

 

[GrtArtiste]

You think they would provide you a different version if you visited them in person ?

No.

 

[Hall]

You think they would provide you a different version if you visited them in person ?

No.

So your issue with them has nothing to do with a PDF, being able to download these docs, etc ?

 

[GrtArtiste]

My issue is that I currently have the document in an unusable form and I'd like to be able convert it to a real .doc or .pdf that I can print if necessary.

 

[BeerCan]

Screen print? If you use fastone capture you can get all the text using the scrolling window option

 

[Dave9]

YGPM

 

[JustinH]

Might be a challenge for you moving forward. Every car loan, lease, rental apartment, real estate agreement, Home Loan, Refinance, Employee Contract within the last few years uses Docusign.

You read it as you go, and if you agree to it, you sign it and you can download it as a PDF after the signature session.

 

[Hall]

My issue is that I currently have the document in an unusable form and I'd like to be able convert it to a real .doc or .pdf that I can print if necessary.

and so our relationship has ended. Still, I thought it would be prudent to save the unsigned document for future reference.

Ask them to mail you a paper copy. They have the ability to do this as they created this PDF and then securely uploaded it to DocuSign or some similar service. On the other hand, this company probably has no interest or reason to do so now.

Honest question, why the need to save a document / agreement that you're not part of ?

 

[Kawiguy454]

The very reason that PDF still exists is due to its ability to lock many apects of the documents the file container holds. Id say best bet would be screen capture each page and paste into word doc. I use free GreenShot for captures.