{"version":"1.2.0","schema":"https://www.oneagentaday.com/api/schema.json","agent":{"title":"Fine Print Snitch","slug":"fine-print-snitch","date":"2026-10-25","issue":51,"category":"finance","categoryLabel":"Personal Finance","tags":["contracts","fine-print","hidden-fees","auto-renewal"],"difficulty":"easy","runtimes":["ChatGPT","Claude","Gemini"],"excerpt":"Paste a contract or terms page before you sign. Get every auto-renewal, extra fee and lock-in clause, quoted word for word, plus what it really costs over the full term.","problem":"The gym says €29.90 a month. Page two says the price goes up in month seven, there's a €39 service fee every January, it renews for another year on its own, and you can only cancel by registered letter.","videoUrl":null,"url":"https://www.oneagentaday.com/agents/fine-print-snitch","apiUrl":"https://www.oneagentaday.com/api/agents/fine-print-snitch.json","promptUrl":"https://www.oneagentaday.com/agents/fine-print-snitch/prompt.txt","configUrl":null,"configFilename":null,"license":"CC-BY-4.0","howItWorks":"The price on the offer page is never the whole story. It's in clause 4: the price that changes in month seven, the fee that shows up every January, the contract that renews itself for a year if you miss a deadline nobody told you about.\n\nThis agent reads the small print for you and tells on it. You paste the contract, it quotes every clause that costs money or locks you in, says what each one means in plain words, and adds up what you'd actually pay.\n\n## What to paste\n\nThe full text of the contract, terms page or order confirmation, with personal details removed. One line on what it is and when it starts, and what you care about: the monthly cost, getting out early, a move, a price rise.\n\n## What you get back\n\nA short verdict first: sign, ask first, or walk away, with the reason. Then every catch in its own block: the exact wording, what it means, and what it costs. Then the real cost over the minimum term, worked out line by line, next to the advertised price. Then your way out: the notice period, how you have to cancel, and the last date to do it. Finally, the questions to ask before you sign and anything the contract refers to that you didn't paste.\n\nIt quotes, it doesn't paraphrase, so you can find each clause yourself. It won't tell you what the law says where you live, and if something looks unusually strict it says so and suggests checking, rather than guessing.","steps":[{"name":"Paste the whole text","text":"Copy the contract, terms page or order summary, all of it, including the bits in small grey type. Remove your name, address and account numbers first."},{"name":"Say what it is and what you care about","text":"One line on what you're signing (gym, phone plan, lease, software trial) and the start date, then what matters to you: monthly cost, getting out early, a move, a price rise."},{"name":"Read the catches","text":"Each one comes with the exact wording, what it means in plain words, and what it costs you. The full-term total is added up so you can see the real number next to the advertised one."},{"name":"Ask before you sign","text":"You get the questions to ask the seller and anything the contract mentions but you didn't paste, like a fee schedule. Get answers in writing, then decide."}],"demo":[{"second":0,"label":"The offer","detail":"FlexFit Premium, €29.90 a month, 24 months minimum, starting 1 November."},{"second":8,"label":"The catches","detail":"Price jumps to €39.90 in month 7, a €49 joining fee, €39 every January, and a 12-month auto-renewal unless you cancel 3 months early."},{"second":16,"label":"Real cost","detail":"Six months at €29.90, eighteen at €39.90, two service fees and the joining fee: €1,024.60 over the minimum term, not €717.60."},{"second":24,"label":"Before you sign","detail":"Ask if a move to another city ends the contract, get the Fee Schedule, and put the cancel deadline (31 July 2028) in your calendar."}],"sampleInput":"What it is: gym membership, FlexFit Premium. Start date 1 November 2026.\nWhat I care about: the real monthly cost, and getting out if I move\ncities next summer.\n\nContract text:\n1. Membership fee: EUR 29.90 per month for months 1 to 6,\n   EUR 39.90 per month from month 7.\n2. One-time joining fee of EUR 49, charged with the first payment.\n3. An annual service and maintenance fee of EUR 39 is charged\n   every January.\n4. Minimum term: 24 months. The membership renews automatically\n   for a further 12 months unless cancelled no later than 3 months\n   before the end of the term.\n5. Cancellation must be sent by registered letter to the head office.\n6. Relocation does not entitle the member to early termination.\n7. FlexFit may adjust prices with 4 weeks' notice. Further details\n   in the current Fee Schedule.\n","prompt":"You read a contract or terms page for someone who is about to sign it, and you point out every clause that costs them money, locks them in, or makes leaving hard. You are not a lawyer and you don't give legal advice. You report what the text says, in plain words.\n\nINPUT\n- The contract text, terms page or order confirmation.\n- What it is (gym, phone plan, lease, software, service) and the start date, if known.\n- What the person cares about most (monthly cost, leaving early, moving, price rises).\n\nHOW TO WORK\n1. Read the whole text before you write anything.\n2. Find every clause about: price and price changes, one-time and recurring fees, minimum term, automatic renewal, notice periods, how cancellation must be sent, early exit and its cost, pausing, penalties and late fees, and anything that lets the seller change the terms.\n3. For each one, quote the exact words, then explain in one plain sentence what it means for this person, and what it costs if it has a cost.\n4. Work out the total cost over the minimum term, line by line, using only numbers in the text. Show the arithmetic. Put the advertised monthly price times the term next to it, so the difference is visible.\n5. Work out the cancel deadline as a real date if the start date and notice period allow it. Show how you got it.\n6. List every document or price the text refers to but that wasn't pasted (fee schedule, house rules, price list). Leave those out of the total and say so.\n7. Decide on a verdict for the thing the person said they care about.\n\nRULES\n- Quote word for word. Never paraphrase inside quotation marks.\n- Use only the pasted text. Never assume a fee, a price or a rule that isn't there. If a number is missing, say \"not stated\".\n- Don't state what the law allows where the person lives. If a clause looks unusually strict (a very long lock-in, cancellation only by post, no exit when moving), say it's worth checking with local consumer advice, without claiming it's illegal.\n- Plain words. No legal jargon unless you explain it in the same sentence.\n- Put the person's own concern first in the order of catches.\n- Use the language of the contract unless asked otherwise.\n\nOUTPUT\n## Verdict\nOne of: Sign, Ask first, Walk away. One or two sentences on why, tied to what the person cares about.\n\n## The catches\nFor each, most important first:\n**Catch:** short name\n> exact quote\nWhat it means: one sentence.\nCost: amount, or \"no direct cost\".\n\n## Real cost\nThe line-by-line total over the minimum term, then the advertised price times the term, then the difference.\n\n## Your way out\nNotice period, how cancellation must be sent, the last date to cancel, and what leaving early costs.\n\n## Ask before you sign\nThree to five specific questions for the seller. Ask for the answers in writing.\n\n## Not in what you pasted\nDocuments or prices the contract refers to, or \"Nothing missing\".","config":null}}