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Sued for inaccurate reading?


Saturn Celeste

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Saturn Celeste

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=81493

by mystic mal

This is something to think about.  Perhaps say that tarot is for entertainment purposes only?

A lady came to me for a reading and asked a question about her career. She wanted to know if she gave up the good paying job she had and took a chance on a lesser paid one but with more prospects would it be the right choice.....after the reading ended (where incidentally the new job seemed very positive) she very seriously said she was going to take my advice and if it turned out to be a disaster she was going to take me to court and SUE me!!!! Could this happen? Has it ever been known? I read the cards she chose with confidence..Hope the magician wasnt leading ME up the garden path..Im holding my breath!
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I have a disclaimer on my website that tarot readings are for entertainment purposes only and do not substitute professional, legal, medical or similar advice.

 

I highly doubt any court would take on a case like that but it's better to safeguard oneself. What a nasty customer though.

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http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=81493

by mystic mal

This is something to think about.  Perhaps say that tarot is for entertainment purposes only?

A lady came to me for a reading and asked a question about her career. She wanted to know if she gave up the good paying job she had and took a chance on a lesser paid one but with more prospects would it be the right choice.....after the reading ended (where incidentally the new job seemed very positive) she very seriously said she was going to take my advice and if it turned out to be a disaster she was going to take me to court and SUE me!!!! Could this happen? Has it ever been known? I read the cards she chose with confidence..Hope the magician wasnt leading ME up the garden path..Im holding my breath!

*she was going to take my advice and if it turned out to be a disaster she was going to take me to court and SUE me!!!!

There sure are some mean spirited people around...Reminds me of trolls on some websites or chat things..:(

Wonder if the lady would think to bring you by a coffee and slice of cake, if things turn out super positive...???

I have a disclaimer too, if doing in person readings, then hang a disclaimer on your door ;) or on a business card flip side... <3

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Your sitter would be laughed out of court if they tried to sue. It probably wouldn't even merit ending up in court at all. I don't see any need for a disclaimer. Just don't sell anyone a crystal or anything like that that could be materially flawed.

 

If you did a reading for somebody and told them to go swimming in shark-infested waters because they won't be hurt or to run out in freeway traffic because they wouldn't be hurt, then THAT might very well be a law suit in the making for their survivors but it would still be an uphill battle to make it to court.

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Saturn Celeste

I have a disclaimer on my website that tarot readings are for entertainment purposes only and do not substitute professional, legal, medical or similar advice.

 

I highly doubt any court would take on a case like that but it's better to safeguard oneself. What a nasty customer though.

Oh nice site Saskia!  Have you thought about joining our paid readers hub? Everyone is welcome!  X/

https://www.thetarotforum.com/information/information-station/

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Your sitter would be laughed out of court if they tried to sue. It probably wouldn't even merit ending up in court at all. I don't see any need for a disclaimer. Just don't sell anyone a crystal or anything like that that could be materially flawed.

 

If you did a reading for somebody and told them to go swimming in shark-infested waters because they won't be hurt or to run out in freeway traffic because they wouldn't be hurt, then THAT might very well be a law suit in the making for their survivors but it would still be an uphill battle to make it to court.

 

Okay, let's take this to the next logical (illogical?) step.

 

If I give a querent bad advice and he or she does succeed in taking me to court, can I then sue Grizabella for bad legal advice?  (I'm kidding, Grizabella - great grandmas don't sue great grandmas.)

 

I just did a few quick Google searches such as "can tarot readers be sued" and "lawsuits against tarot readers" and the results are surprisingly confusing and complicated.  I only skimmed quickly and I could be wrong about this, but the impression I got is that there are actually differing laws on the books in differing places, but few if any examples of successful legal action against what are grouped together as fortune tellers, including tarot readers. 

 

I will gladly defer my opinion to that of anyone who actually researches or has already researched this issue.  As ridiculous as I agree the idea is, pretty much nothing about ridiculous laws and legal proceedings would surprise me

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The reason it seems to me unlikely that it would succeed is that finding an attorney who would take the case would mean quite an expensive output. Attorneys work when they smell money (sorry to any attorney here) so if the person wishing to sue for this has a bundle of money to pay, they just might get an attorney to sue. However, another factor in the case would be how much money the client might make on the suit if they win. Now, I'm a good example---I live on less than $600 a month. If somebody were to sue me, you can't get blood out of a turnip, so there's just nothing in it for the attorney or you.

 

Mind you, though, I'm in agreement with doing whatever is possible to stop unethical readers and scams, so in those cases, I don't mind seeing the perpetrators punished and put out of business. But if you're an ethical reader and you're providing the best reading you can without ulterior motives, the likelihood of being sued is remote.

 

I don't use a disclaimer for several reasons but one of the main ones is that, when you say it's only for entertainment purposes, but the sitter has paid you for information they're genuinely seeking, why would I put that disclaimer on my wall? Why would they pay me for something they really want from you if you're just saying "I'm a schmuck who isn't for real. This reading is just a game" or something like that. It's just ridiculous in my opinion. I know I'm ethical, I know I'm honest, I know my readings are extremely good and will pan out most of the time, and that sticks out in the mind of anyone who sits for me. I don't need to put a disclaimer on the wall. And if I did need to, I'm pretty sure my greedy, unethical ways would lose me business anyway.

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I don't need to put a disclaimer on the wall. And if I did need to, I'm pretty sure my greedy, unethical ways would lose me business anyway.

 

X-D X-D X-D

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when you say it's only for entertainment purposes, but the sitter has paid you for information they're genuinely seeking, why would I put that disclaimer on my wall? "This reading is just a game" or something like that.

 

I hear you, but I meet people on a daily basis (in my office job) who don't know how to or don't want to use their own judgement. Hence, I'm wary that even if I'm doing my utter best to deliver an accurate reading I can't know whether it is 100% accurate before things have unfolded. It's obviously not deliberate misleading, but, I see the disclaimer as a healthy 'buffer' between claiming you offer 100% fact or you offer wise counselling, subject to client's own judgement call.

 

I honestly don't want anyone to use my cards for medical, legal etc expert advice - I don't claim I know how they can cure cancer or win a law suit, I can only offer viewpoints to consider and probabilities to think about. 'Entertainment' may not be the most apt description for it but given that I work in the legal field, it's the only one I can think of that clearly defines legal boundaries.

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Most advice for tarot readers is to steer clear of pregnancy, financial, legal or health issues. 

Thankfully a reader being sued is rare as most people are grateful for the advise given or can take it with a pinch of salt. 

 

 

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Clairbuoyant

Yes, at least in the US, people have successfully sued tarot readers and psychics. I’m not sure if any of the successful claims were brought by customers, basing their claims on a breach of contract.  I’ve read about successful consumer fraud cases, where a “psychic” intentionally dupes people into coming back over and over for more readings or spells, etc. that they know are bogus. It’s like any consumer fraud issue.

 

The “for entertainment purposes only” disclaimer lets the public know the reading is not for legitimate advice and that your predictions aren’t guaranteed accurate. This is where the meaning of “professional” reader gets confusing.  When you pay for a service, you expect to “get your moneys worth.” If I pay a tarot reader $50 and what  they predict doesn’t happen, I’m not entertained and I didn’t get helpful advice. 

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Haha! Should we sue the weather-man when their "predictions" are incorrect and it rains on your wedding day?  :))

 

The way I see it, predictions with tarot are possibilities and potentials, they aren't guaranteed. Time is not linear, energy is constantly shifting. That's the disclaimer I would have.

 

Let's say a reader did get sued for the outcome not developing as they foresaw, could they not sue back the querent for not following the advice of the previous cards that lead to that outcome? Besides, if they came with the belief that the messages come from the divine, shouldn't they be suing the gods? :P

 

This BS game of lawsuits really gets old...people need to know how to own their own choices and their own lives.

 

Admittedly there have been people who pretend to be psychic and exploit people just to get money, which is just plain sad :( and I agree with OP, I am happy to see them discredited.

 

I actually did find a post on reddit by someone offering free readings, figured I would give it a shot and they gave me a one short sentence "reading" which was not only inaccurate, but also quite negative. I took it with a grain of salt and ended up doing some digging into other posts by said person, which revealed their hubris in believing they were totally psychic, despite being wrong about a vast majority of their attempts on public forum. I worry for the people who might take them all too seriously. I don't know if the person doing these "readings" really realizes what harm they could be doing to someone who doesn't doubt their word. I think it's rather irresponsible, but it's not like there is anyone regulating the practice of tarot reading, so aside from having some level of discernment, there isn't much to do about it.

 

I remember one of the first readings I did for someone else which was not all flowers and kittens. I laid awake in bed that night worrying that I had read the cards wrong and had given them some unfounded worry in their life. I ended up being surprised by a page long reply in which they described exactly how everything in the reading resonated, but had I not had that feedback, I would have followed up. I have a hard time understanding how anyone could not give a crap about another person, enough to abuse the trust that is given. Ugh, gross.

 

On that note, I almost always have had the desire to tell people a brief disclaimer about what the tarot can or cannot do for them prior to giving a reading. Hanging on to just one idea one reader told you isn't healthy. It's important to keep your mind open to all possibilities and allow the guidance of the cards to steer you in the better, more positive direction. Perhaps having this kind of disclaimer would really help people understand how tarot can benefit them, but deter them from relying on readings for all the choices they have in life.

 

I have seen this kind of behavior. It was a friend of mine. She kept asking me for readings about the same thing and after one of the readings, she was dissatisfied with the answer, which was that the answer was not to be revealed yet and asked for another card. I had to deny her, the message was clear through the whole reading and I told her, there isn't anything else here for you right now. Just live life and see what happens! I see the potential of a dependency on tarot. Sometimes it's important to remember how to make choices based on your own thoughts, realizations, and reflections from meditation. Cards are meant to be a pathway to those insights, not the end result IMHO.

 

Wow, I rambled.

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DownUnderNZer

A story circulated around one Spiritual site I was in well over a decade ago about a femaleTarot Psychic reader that was sued for around US$300,000 I think. A very large sum whatever it was and she lost the case.

 

She predicted the birth of a baby only the client miscarried.

 

This was when the internet was active, but not really anything like we have now when it comes to information or tabloid news.

 

After this occurred that is when DISCLAIMERS were introduced and used more. My understanding.

 

Maybe it was just a tactic used to make us more aware and careful when doing a reading, so I think backing yourself up with something like a disclaimer or saying something like nothing is set in stone should cover anything brought up that might seem fine to you at the time, but might not be quite later.

 

 

DND X/

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No. A reader can be sued if he/she extorted money for their reading(S). Such as telling a person they are cursed and got 350,000$ in further readings and "clensing" rituals. One reading is not the cause to indicate malice.

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Clairbuoyant

Haha! Should we sue the weather-man when their "predictions" are incorrect and it rains on your wedding day?  :))

 

It depends.

If you didn’t pay the weatherman for a forecast, you wouldn’t have a legal basis to sue them.

 

However:

(1) had you hired a meteorologist to forecast which weekend would be sunny for your wedding and, based upon tried and tested scientific data and forecasting programs, they did so and you set the date for your wedding based on your reliance on his/her conclusion, and on your wedding day there was inclimate weather, then yes, you could have a claim for breach of contract against them. 

 

Or

 

(2) If the meteorologist held out to the public his accuracy in forecasting sunny days, knowing it was untrue, he intended to deceive you to get the contract, his deception actually induced you to contract with him, a reasonable person would have relied on his promise to predict a sunny day to have your wedding, and it rained on your wedding day, then you’d have a claim against him for fraud.  (This is the Miss Cleo’s psychic hotline scenario. They were sued successfully for fraud.)

 

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A prediction is only an estimation. Tarot reading isn't a precise venture. It's using the tools at hand to detect/predict outcomes, but the interpretation with those tools is by no means a guarantee.

 

A weatherman can use tools to make predictions. Satellite data, a history of our climate, knowledge of general weather patterns, an understanding in climate science in general, access to weather models and computational predictive data from 6-7 sources around the world describing what may happen. He can estimate the weather based on all that, but still he cannot say for sure that a storm is going to occur over Main st and San Jacinto Avenue and create a torrential downpour. He can just say it may rain, it may not... it may be stormy, it may be cloudy... but he can't guarantee when it will rain and where. Like Tarot, the closer it is to the date of prediction, the better the accuracy of the prediction Maybe because there's fewer balls in the air that have not dropped. I guess.

 

So if we were to put a disclaimer. I think it's clearer to say it's not an exact science. To some degree, it's dependent on the skill (and intuition) of both the Tarot reader and the weather man. There's never a guarantee and predictions can be goofed.

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The thing is, though, that I don't think that disclaimer would impress a judge. I've thought about it before and I think the judge is going to say something like, "well if it's only for entertainment, why are you charging for it?" or something to that effect. Judges aren't stupid and they've seen and heard it all so they're pretty pragmatic.

 

The readers who scam people do so on a great big scale, usually, and those of us who just do our readings on an honest, small scale aren't really likely to be sued at all.

 

I pay a lot of attention to the findings by researchers in recent years that have scientifically proved (and that's not easy to do about anything) there really is a psychic element to life and for me, it's more of a fascination and appreciation of that than just something I do for entertainment, whether it's entertainment for me or for my clients. If either of us were seeking entertainment, I think we'd play Rummy or something instead.

 

Dr. Larry Dossey, Dean Radin, PhD and Amit Goswami PhD are three authors I really respect. I strongly urge people to look into the findings by those guys. Fascinating and wonderful findings! I have lots of their books. Right now I'm reading one about premonitions by Larry Dossey.

 

I won't be putting any disclaimers on my wall. I don't see any harm in it, other than that it seems like shooting oneself in the foot.

 

Here's how I see it. I'm not claiming to be infallible. My sitters are sincerely seeking answers. Together we consult Tarot. In the process, we interact, person-to-person, and I make some money but it's a modest amount and sincerely done to the best of my ability. I don't see anything at all wrong in that and a judge wouldn't either. I don't make wild claims of my "accuracy" and stuff like that and I don't sell any diseased eggs or candles. I'd give away all my readings if I didn't need the money. To my knowledge all the people I've met in Tarot circles is the same as I am. Getting sued isn't likely to happen to any of us.

 

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I don't make wild claims of my "accuracy" and stuff like that and I don't sell any diseased eggs or candles.

 

Wait, whaat?  :o  ;D Diseased eggs?! What am I missing here?!! (I loved your entire post by the way, but I just started laughing so hard about the diseased eggs that I had to ask you about it).

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Well, you know---those eggs they break open and something all slimy and black falls out. :party: I just didn't know what else to call that. LOL  I saw something like that one time on some TV program. The reader did it to get the person to give him $5,000 or some big sum like that to get rid of the curse, probably. There are all kinds of things like that that a fake reader does to get people's money.   

 

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Well, you know---those eggs they break open and something all slimy and black falls out. :party: I just didn't know what else to call that. LOL  I saw something like that one time on some TV program. The reader did it to get the person to give him $5,000 or some big sum like that to get rid of the curse, probably. There are all kinds of things like that that a fake reader does to get people's money. 

 

I had never heard of that!!  :blol: Oh my. I don’t even know what to say. People. What won’t they do?!

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For awhile I just worked on a donation basis. The sitter wasn't asked to pay a certain amount. I just accepted donations of what they felt the reading was worth. I decided to stop doing that, though, because I noticed it seemed to put people in an uncomfortable position because lots of them weren't aware of how much a reading would ordinarily cost so they were kind of embarrassed. If I lived in an area where reading was more common, then it probably wouldn't have been an issue because the going price would be common knowledge.

 

Now I have a set fee but I've recently re-structured my fee schedule so that now the person who gets a reading pays per card and that way they can set their own amount as to what they can afford. That removes the discomfort from the whole thing usually.

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I pay a lot of attention to the findings by researchers in recent years that have scientifically proved (and that's not easy to do about anything) there really is a psychic element to life and for me, it's more of a fascination and appreciation of that than just something I do for entertainment, whether it's entertainment for me or for my clients. If either of us were seeking entertainment, I think we'd play Rummy or something instead.

 

Dr. Larry Dossey, Dean Radin, PhD and Amit Goswami PhD are three authors I really respect. I strongly urge people to look into the findings by those guys. Fascinating and wonderful findings! I have lots of their books. Right now I'm reading one about premonitions by Larry Dossey.

 

Oooo, thank you for the references! I would love to see what science has discovered thus far, especially to bring up to people who are science fanatics to the point of being close minded to anything that hasn't been "proven by science". By people, I mostly mean friends, lol.

 

 

I don't sell any diseased eggs...

 

Hahaha!  :bugeyed:

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I pay a lot of attention to the findings by researchers in recent years that have scientifically proved (and that's not easy to do about anything) there really is a psychic element to life and for me, it's more of a fascination and appreciation of that than just something I do for entertainment, whether it's entertainment for me or for my clients. If either of us were seeking entertainment, I think we'd play Rummy or something instead.

 

Dr. Larry Dossey, Dean Radin, PhD and Amit Goswami PhD are three authors I really respect. I strongly urge people to look into the findings by those guys. Fascinating and wonderful findings! I have lots of their books. Right now I'm reading one about premonitions by Larry Dossey.

 

Oooo, thank you for the references! I would love to see what science has discovered thus far, especially to bring up to people who are science fanatics to the point of being close minded to anything that hasn't been "proven by science". By people, I mostly mean friends, lol.

 

 

I don't sell any diseased eggs...

 

Hahaha!  :bugeyed:

 

Well, that's what has me really enthralled is that to prove something scientifically, there have to be X number of double blind studies in order to prove it. And they did those and did actually prove it exists. There's more and more being discovered all the time. And what's amazing to me is that the studies they did were really not done in such a way as to have gotten results in the easiest way. They did things like having people isolated in soundproof rooms and then another subject was supposed to project certain thoughts, etc. I think everyone here would agree that that's not quite how it all works.

 

One of Dean Radin's books is called Entangled Minds. One of Dossey's is called One Mind. If you go to Amazon you can find all the books. I haven't had a chance to really give my undivided attention to reading for awhile now but I'm looking forward to doing that soon. The books aren't books trying to win anyone over or be preachy. They're just fascinating recountings of research that's been done and that's why I have such fascination with the subject.

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One of Dean Radin's books is called Entangled Minds. ...They're just fascinating recountings of research that's been done and that's why I have such fascination with the subject.

 

 

I am not willing to read a book just to preach to someone, but I have approached a certain friend of mine about my tarot reading (which was very private thing for me for years) and he reacted very defensively, in a way that kind of made a huge judgment that all people who do anything relevant to that kind of business were just frauds that were manipulating people for money, just like the church in history, yada yada. He kind of went off about it in a very negative manner and I was just curious what it is in him that has such hurt attached to it. I mean, by sharing something that he may actually find approachable about the subject perhaps will open up a doorway to relax whatever muscle has a really tight knot in there, enough to kind of go off frantic from a simple discussion with a friend. I hope to reach the peace within him.

 

I just grabbed a library copy of Entangled Minds from thriftbooks, I have to know, lol. I would be so very fascinated to read about such an endeavor and if we can unify science and spirituality at this point in our progression, I think it could lead to profound results in the evolution of man kind's progression as a whole.

 

I have always seen unity in both. Society, from witnessing the cycles in history, seems to flip flop between a view focused on spiritual belief to the scientific, back and forth. The logical and the dreamy, it's interesting to me. I think these cycles are the progression of evolution, a way perhaps to reach each extreme until we somehow finding a balanced middle in the end, or so is my hope. I am speculating, but it's interesting to think about.

 

Thanks for the book names! I'll try to find a used copy of One Mind at some point, I really want to read that one! I have always felt a connection to a collective mind of sorts and that type of idea entered in mind when I was very young before I knew there were ever other people who thought about it. I used to think I was crazy for such ideas!

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