[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett]
Or, you can refund the unsatisfied customer, express sympathy (or empathy) by apologizing that you weren’t able to meet their needs, and close the business relationship. We’re talking about $15 here.
[/QUOTE]
Or, they can keep the $15 as they clearly reserve the right to do and close the business relationship. We’re talking about $15 here.
IOW, you can’t really make the argument that “it’s only 15 bucks” without recognizing that if it’s not worth the Board making a big deal over, then it’s not worth Johnny or anyone else making a big deal over, either.
It IS only 15 bucks, which is why I’m continually amazed by the people bitching and moaning and whining and crying and kvetching and sobbing about how the Board suxx0rs and we pay to post here goddammit and if things don’t improve we’re going to sue you.
If I didn’t like it here, I would leave. I wouldn’t set myself on fire on the way out the door, because no one would give a shit if I left or stayed. And I sure as hell wouldn’t waste my time bleating about the 15 small “owed” to me because they have been very clear that they ain’t giving it back.
[QUOTE=Jodi]
Or, they can keep the $15 as they clearly reserve the right to do and close the business relationship. We’re talking about $15 here.
IOW, you can’t really make the argument that “it’s only 15 bucks” without recognizing that if it’s not worth the Board making a big deal over, then it’s not worth Johnny or anyone else making a big deal over, either.
It IS only 15 bucks, which is why I’m continually amazed by the people bitching and moaning and whining and crying and kvetching and sobbing about how the Board suxx0rs and we pay to post here goddammit and if things don’t improve we’re going to sue you.
If I didn’t like it here, I would leave. I wouldn’t set myself on fire on the way out the door, because no one would give a shit if I left or stayed. And I sure as hell wouldn’t waste my time bleating about the 15 small “owed” to me because they have been very clear that they ain’t giving it back.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett]
Or, you can refund the unsatisfied customer, express sympathy (or empathy) by apologizing that you weren’t able to meet their needs, and close the business relationship. We’re talking about $15 here.
[/QUOTE]
If someone has threatened legal action, couldn’t this be viewed as an admission of guilt?
[QUOTE=velvetjones]
You paid $15 to be entertained for a year and you’re going to threaten to sue because you couldn’t get connected a couple of times and the response wasn’t as lightening fast as you wanted? Sheesh, get a fucking life.
Step away from the computer and walk outside. There’s a whole world out there. With actual people in it.
[/QUOTE]
Well, yeah, but sometimes I experience trouble connecting to them, and I don’t get the kind of response I want. Where do I sue?
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett]
I don’t follow. Guilt?
[/QUOTE]
“We can’t meet the service time you expect”
You’ve just admitted that, if the other party can show their expectations were reasonable, you entered into a bad faith contract. You went in knowing that you couldn’t meet reasonable expectations.
Something along the lines of “we’re sorry to see you go”, might be okay, but it really is best to break off contact and let lawyers handle it once lawsuits have been threatend.
[QUOTE=Yag Rannavach]
“We can’t meet the service time you expect”
You’ve just admitted that, if the other party can show their expectations were reasonable, you entered into a bad faith contract. You went in knowing that you couldn’t meet reasonable expectations.
Something along the lines of “we’re sorry to see you go”, might be okay, but it really is best to break off contact and let lawyers handle it once lawsuits have been threatend.
[/QUOTE]
Actually what I said was, “express sympathy (or empathy) by apologizing that you weren’t able to meet their needs.”
That is very different than, “We can’t meet the service time you expect”. Please don’t misquote me.
Moreover, if a full refund ($15) is offered, any legal action, ESPECIALLY in this context – no physical or mental harm, no other expenses were incurred, etc. – would be far-fetched at best.
[QUOTE=Yag Rannavach]
“We can’t meet the service time you expect”
You’ve just admitted that, if the other party can show their expectations were reasonable, you entered into a bad faith contract. You went in knowing that you couldn’t meet reasonable expectations.
Something along the lines of “we’re sorry to see you go”, might be okay, but it really is best to break off contact and let lawyers handle it once lawsuits have been threatend.
[/QUOTE]
If I were a business I would assume the ever-looming threat of a lawsuit; voiced or not.
pretty common business practice realy. When i workd for GTE Internet, the fastest way to get terminated was to threaten a lawsuit. We were instructed that the second a customer threatened a lawsuit, we were to refer them to our legal deapartment, disconnect the call, and terminate their account.
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett]
But you’re not going to win this argument, not here. Those arguing with you more than likely believe in the mantra, “it’s just business, not personal,” which is just an excuse to screw someone out of their money. This board seems to attract lots of those types. The philosphy is for the weak-minded, ill-mannered, and dishonest.
[/QUOTE]
Uh…I admit I’ve only read this whole thread once, and your post twice…but I don’t get it. Can you parse this for me? I’ve lost track of what that poster was really getting at and whyu you think we’ll disagree.
And…are you saying a lot of members of this board are “weak-minded, ill-mannered, and dishonest?”
I realize that this is probably the posting equivalent of putting a target on my forehead but: In Hildo’s thread I suggested a boycott and was not reprimanded, sanctioned or given a slap on the wrist. Was my suggestion not considered a “threat” or not a serious enough infraction of the rules to warrant a comment from the mods?
[QUOTE=erie774]
I realize that this is probably the posting equivalent of putting a target on my forehead but: In Hildo’s thread I suggested a boycott and was not reprimanded, sanctioned or given a slap on the wrist. Was my suggestion not considered a “threat” or not a serious enough infraction of the rules to warrant a comment from the mods?
[/QUOTE]
It escaped my notice. I’ll note that Johnny Hildo did threaten to sue twice in that thread, and also said his stated purpose was to harm the Reader, both of which were threats. While the policy regarding complaints is to be as hands-off as possible, this situation simply escalated to the point where Johnny Hildo needed to be banned.
That said, do not organize a boycott of the SDMB or the Reader on this board.
[QUOTE=erie774]
I realize that this is probably the posting equivalent of putting a target on my forehead but: In Hildo’s thread I suggested a boycott and was not reprimanded, sanctioned or given a slap on the wrist. Was my suggestion not considered a “threat” or not a serious enough infraction of the rules to warrant a comment from the mods?
[/QUOTE]
Would a boycott involve the additional expenses that a lawsuit would impose? Would the implementation of boycott cause the counsel for the Chicago Reader to order that no one connected to the Reader engage in any exchange with any person participating in the boycott as a precaution against future trial testimony?
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett]
Moreover, if a full refund ($15) is offered, any legal action, ESPECIALLY in this context – no physical or mental harm, no other expenses were incurred, etc. – would be far-fetched at best.
[/QUOTE]
The legal action was already pretty far-fetched. The board offers everyone a free one month trial before they have to pay. The quality of the service being rendered (or lack thereof) ought to be apparent in that trial period. If you go ahead and pay up anyway, it seems unlikely that one could argue that they have not been given the services as advertised. If the time outs so distressed Hildo that he felt he needed legal recourse, he shouldn’t have paid the registration fee in the first place.
[QUOTE=Miller]
The legal action was already pretty far-fetched.
[/QUOTE]
Even a far fetched legal action costs money to defend. Unlike a private citizen, corporations cannot represent themselves, they must hire a lawyer. cite In the case from the cite, the plaintiff presumably has zero right to bring action, the statute of limitation having lapsed, but the company cannot even legally respond to mention that fact without hiring a lawyer.
[QUOTE=fluiddruid]
It escaped my notice. I’ll note that Johnny Hildo did threaten to sue twice in that thread, and also said his stated purpose was to harm the Reader, both of which were threats. While the policy regarding complaints is to be as hands-off as possible, this situation simply escalated to the point where Johnny Hildo needed to be banned.
That said, do not organize a boycott of the SDMB or the Reader on this board.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=tomndebb]
Would a boycott involve the additional expenses that a lawsuit would impose? Would the implementation of boycott cause the counsel for the Chicago Reader to order that no one connected to the Reader engage in any exchange with any person participating in the boycott as a precaution against future trial testimony?
Significantly different level of threat.
[/QUOTE]
Don’t sweat it, folks. I couldn’t organize a one car funeral procession, let alone a boycott.
Since we have three of the great moderating minds here (Colibri had posted upthread) can I suggest that a sticky be created for the purpose of tracking the performance issues? That would help limit the “The performance sucks” threads and might give the network people a better idea of the issue than people bitching in a thread. Maybe a form stating date/time of duration, which thread it was noticed in, duration, and location of person reporting. Having that kind of information can (possibly) be of use to a network or database administrator.
[QUOTE=Uzi]
Interesting. I’d personally think that if a customer threatened to sue me because of my actions, or inactions, I’d be inclined to look at what I was doing to see if there was any validity in their complaint. For everyone who threatens to sue there are probably a whole lot more who never come back once they see how you operate.
[/QUOTE]
I’m talking about customers for whom nothing will ever be to their satisfaction, no matter what we do. We go out of our way to make a custome happy, even the owner goes out there if he has to. Some people will try to weasel their way out of paying their bill for legitimate work done because of a scratch in a unit that’s not going to be seen, for instance. It’s astonishing! We’ve offered a $2000 discount on an $11000 bill just because the work had gone over the estimated time and it was inconveniencing the customer. Now, he doesn’t want to pay a dime! We don’t need customers like that. Fuck 'em!
But in the case where we’ve taken a deposit for a job and they complain about the cost or materials of the job, we will return the deposit in most cases because we want their business in the future.
The Reader may not be building goodwill by keeping the $14.95, but if people know that it’s non-refundable going in, then they should expect not to get it back when they are banned for threatening with a lawsuit or for being a jerk (which I would have banned him for anyway eventually).
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett]
Moreover, if a full refund ($15) is offered, any legal action, ESPECIALLY in this context – no physical or mental harm, no other expenses were incurred, etc. – would be far-fetched at best.
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that’s a great customer policy. “If the customer complains, give him free service, refund his money, and hope like hell they don’t sue.”
Why bother charging for your service, in that case?
[QUOTE=Fish]
Yeah, that’s a great customer policy. “If the customer complains, give him free service, refund his money, and hope like hell they don’t sue.”
Why bother charging for your service, in that case?
[/QUOTE]
Where did I say he’d get free service? He’d get his money and a nice door mark on his backside!