INFOWORLD GRIPE LINE BY ED FOSTER Bookmark this page

  
Display: Sort:
Hughes Keeps on Billing | 120 comments (120 topical) | Post A Comment
A fool and his money ...[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#5)
by Anonymous User on Sun Mar 12, 2006 at 08:00:18 AM PDT

Paying money that you don't owe to make someone go away is illogical - all it does is encourage them not to go away.

[ Reply to This ]


"Thug Envy" ?[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#6)
by Anonymous User on Sun Mar 12, 2006 at 09:31:34 AM PDT

"Do what we want (usually means "give us your money") or we'll hurt you."

Schoolyard bullies, organized crime, and governments have been doing this more or less forever. Some companies, or at least some individuals within them, apparently envious of this, adopt a similar viewpoint. Permission? We don't need your steenkin' permission! Pay up or we'll hurt you!

Enduring a smaller pain to avoid a larger one is certainly not illogical; if the person in this case believes the aggravation of taking legal action, time involved, etc. is more trouble (in his terms) than paying the damned bill, he pays it.

The illogical part is the attitude shown by the company, but which is so thorughly embedded in our culture that it's not going away anytime soon. I don't see Ed running out of topics to write about, unfortunately.

All that said, I hope he takes them to court and kicks their butt!

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


It is illogical[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#8)
by Anonymous User on Mon Mar 13, 2006 at 06:00:09 AM PDT

He cancelled his account and they still charged him for a "child account" whatever that is. If he pays them now don't you think there is a strong possibility that they'll create another "child account" and charge him more a couple of months from now? The best predictor of someones future actions is their past actions and this companies past actions show that they are happy to charge for services not rendered. As for the bully analogy - it is right on. If you fight the bully a couple times (win or lose) - he probably won't bother you anymore because you're not worth the effort. If you pay him today, you are going to pay him tomorrow, and the next day and the rest of your life.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Exactly...[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#18)
by Reziac on Tue Mar 14, 2006 at 12:11:05 PM PDT

"Once you pay the danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane." -- 10th century British proverb

As I point out above, *disputed* charges cannot be laid against your credit rating anyway. And collection agencies generally will not pursue such accounts, especially for trivial amounts.

.
~REZ~
[ Parent | Reply to This ]



The Danegeld[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#23)
by Anonymous User on Wed Mar 15, 2006 at 07:17:00 AM PDT

Kipling, actually: http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/verse/english_history/danegeld.html

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Paying while not responsible[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#27)
by BlackbirdCS on Tue Mar 21, 2006 at 11:29:28 AM PDT

S'funny but people and corporations do it all the time; Settle out of court, with a lock on disclosure. Agree to stop a practise and pay damages without admitting guilt. Its all about intimidation, those who can will. Those who can't get honest. And those who cannot be intimidated are frequently left alone.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Hughes Keeps on Billing | 120 comments (120 topical) | Post A Comment
Display: Sort:

Menu
· create account
· faq
· search

Login
Make a new account
Username:
Password:

 HOME  NEWS  COLUMNS  BLOGS  PODCASTS  TECHNOLOGIES  TEST CENTER  EVENTS  CAREERS  IT EXEC-CONNECT   About Awards Contact Us 

Copyright © 2006, Reprints, Permissions, Licensing, IDG Network, Privacy Policy.
All Rights reserved. InfoWorld is a leading publisher of technology information and product reviews on topics including viruses,
phishing, worms, firewalls, security, servers, storage, networking, wireless, databases, and web services.

 ComputerWorld :: LinuxWorld :: Network World :: CIO :: PC World :: Darwin :: CMO :: CSO
IT Careers :: JavaWorld :: Macworld :: Mac Central :: Playlist :: GamePro :: GameStar :: Gamerhelp
ITWorld Canada :: Computerwoche :: Techworld UK :: tecChannel :: IDG.se :: IDG.no :: IDG.pl

create account | faq | search