750,000 Customers Still Lease Phones > According to some of you

said by wentlanc:

The larger issue here is that most companies would rather take your money and not try to steer you toward a better solution.

Even in your case, the provider is NOT going to come to you any say, hey, we offer less expensive solutions now, so come pay less for the same thing or better. Why would they clue you in that you should pay less?

Then again, there are some companies who do exactly that. This is more an issue of corporations being greedy and not doing the morally proper decision of automatically rolling the customers to a better solution that is cheaper.

puritan

said by Fatal Vector:

Regardless of if she made the decision or not, the point is that it's 21 YEARS later and Ma Bell has been ripping her off to the tune of $14 THOUSAND dollars for ONE, 1960's rotary phone that cost them MAYBE $50 to make to begin with.

It is exactly this kind of predatory behavior on the part of companies that leave a sour taste in most peoples mouths. Just because they CAN keep charging, doesn't mean the automatically SHOULD. And the "well, they made the decision" defense doesn't cut it.

If you or I as a individual were to do such things, we would be buried under the prison for fraud or some such in short order.

Corporations want the right to suck their customers dry for every penny they can get, while having absolutely NO responsibility to be a respectable corporate citizen, or, to be held accountable for their actions like we are as citizens.

said by Fatal Vector:

It's a matter of ripping off the elderly and incompetent for 21 YEARS for rental on a obsolete device originally furnished by a monopoly. Cable modems are not obsolete devices.

said by R4M0N:

Oh come on... The old lady in the article is complaining that she likes the rotary better than the new phone she got! It's not a company's resposibility to hand-hold their customer's every decision.

said by shortckt:

The larger issue is that after renting the phone to the customer for that many years (and the customer prefers rotary) the company should have just given it to her and stopped charging for it. After all, could they still repair or replace that rotary phone today if it broke? Do you think the phone company still keeps spares for something this old?

said by Karl Bode:

Better yet, let's go mug some old people! It's their fault their brittle bones can't stop our body blows! If they don't fight it means they deserve it! Let's go! I'll bring the death metal!

said by Karl Bode:

Ooh, I'm mentally ill. Touche! Maybe you can charge me $10 for a cure made up of mud-puddle water and horse hair, then applaud your own capitalistic ingenuity!

Instead of regurgitating talk radio punditry, lets go door to door tonight and see how many of these 750,000 have full control over their faculties, and if they understand their bills.

If they don't, we can laugh at them! Maybe hit them with fruit!

said by Karl Bode:

You're absolutely no fun.

said by Fatal Vector:

It's called sarcasm. Ever hear of it? How dense can you be?

said by Karl Bode:

Ooh, I'm mentally ill. Touche! Maybe you can charge me $10 for a cure made up of mud-puddle water and horse hair, then applaud your own capitalistic ingenuity!

said by R4M0N:

Wow. Dan Savage is right. Liberalism IS a mental illness. Shoot, maybe you're ENTITLED to some compensation for that.

said by Fatal Vector:

"Was she entitled to a free phone? Did the company promise her a free phone after so many years of service?"

Yes, as a matter of fact, she was, since that was part of the deal she agreed to back then: Repair or replace.

said by R4M0N:

Awwww. Let's all hold hands and sing kumbayah too while we are at it.

Was she entitled to a free phone? Did the company promise her a free phone after so many years of service? If I keep my cable TV for 25 years, should the compnay just give me free cable after that?

Come on people... Get a grip on reality.

said by R4M0N:

Businesses are not in business to make your decisions for you. They are in business to make a profit.

said by R4M0N:

It seems elderly people cease to be responsible for their own choices after a certain age... Old people are still over the legal age if I remember correctly. If they are so gullible, remove their freedom to make their own choices or shut up about it.

Old people have kids, where are they to help them make wise choices in regards to things they don't understand?

I know squat about mutual funds (about as much as old people do about technology). Does that mean the ugly investment firm should be vilified if I make a bad choice in investments?