# Disclaimers that don't mean what the company thinks they mean **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 14, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disclaimers-that-dont-mean-what-the-company-thinks-they-mean/932909 "2021-02-14T22:00:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disclaimers-that-dont-mean-what-the-company-thinks-they-mean/932909/1 "2021-02-14T22:00:37Z")
I just got a “Make your own hot sauce” kit from a company called Grow and Make. On the back of the instruction booklet, there’s a disclaimer: > Grow and Make does not assume responsibility for the outcome of kits that are not used in ways which are not intended. I think you put one too many “nots” in that sentence. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disclaimers-that-dont-mean-what-the-company-thinks-they-mean/932909/2 "2021-02-14T22:07:29Z")
You should write them and tell them to get notted. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disclaimers-that-dont-mean-what-the-company-thinks-they-mean/932909/3 "2021-02-15T02:51:20Z")
Wait about 6 weeks. Then you use a kit in a way not intended, blow up your house by doing so, then have your lawyer send them a nice letter saying their supposed disclaimer in fact is clearly an assumption of strict liability. With a suitable bill for repairs attached. After they have duly had their cow, you could send a nice “April Fools” letter. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disclaimers-that-dont-mean-what-the-company-thinks-they-mean/932909/4 "2021-02-15T03:13:36Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I think you put one too many “nots” in that sentence. Or one too few. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disclaimers-that-dont-mean-what-the-company-thinks-they-mean/932909/5 "2021-02-15T03:20:58Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Or one too few. > Grow and Make does not assume non-responsibility for the outcome of kits that are not used in ways which are not intended. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2021, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disclaimers-that-dont-mean-what-the-company-thinks-they-mean/932909/6 "2021-02-15T06:25:38Z")
A law-school niece once explained to me the “reasonable person doctrine”. A judge would say that a reasonable person would have understood and been guided by the intended meaning of the disclaimer. My question had been about a motel with a “free breakfast” sign.